Words by Alli Patton
Photos courtesy of Norman Stuios Silent Film Museum, Inc.
For years, the dilapidated wooden structures that slumped lifelessly at 6337 Arlington Road had held a secret, one that barely called out to the residents of Jacksonville, Florida, anymore. It wouldn’t be until the mid-1990s, decades after their weathered boards and worn walls had borne witness to the lights, the cameras, and the action, that an entire city’s hidden history would be rediscovered.
In their bellies, these battered buildings kept safe the treasures of a bygone era—sleepy-eyed klieg lights and dark coils of nitrate film, the tools through which soundless characters fell in love, fought in battles, and found themselves in velvety black and white. There existed a forgotten monument to North Florida’s brief but barrier-breaking history in the silent film industry, those buildings having been among the most revolutionary of them all: Norman Studios.
In the early 1900s, filmmakers were looking to escape the harsh winters that blanketed their usual filming locales, such as New York and Chicago. The frigid temperatures often damaged equipment and kept casts and crews from working outdoors.
“You don’t really want to give your actors frostbite,” says Barbara Wingo, president of Norman Studio’s Board of Directors.
Florida offered them that balmy retreat. Soon, cities like St. Augustine, with its stone fortresses and towering palm trees, and Jacksonville, with its diverse landscape, its positioning on the rail line from New York City, and its reconstruction boom after the Great Fire of 1901, became filming destinations. The latter, especially, was known for a time as the “Winter Film Capital of the World,” with some 30 motion picture companies calling the city home by the late 1910s.
One of the largest among them was Eagle Film Manufacturing Company. The venture operated on the then-cutting-edge strategy of having many aspects of the filming process—the production, the costumes, the sets—all in one place, creating a five-building complex where silent films were streamlined and brought to life.
The operation that Eagle Film and other companies had established in Jacksonville, however, would be short-lived. As the 1920s neared, several factors, such as the First World War and the Spanish flu epidemic, as well as the birth of Hollywood and the growing draw of Los Angeles’ year-round filming climate, greatly impacted the film industry and ultimately led to the demise of filming in the Sunshine State.
“The one thing that Jacksonville really didn’t have was the all-year filming allure,” Wingo explains. North Florida may have offered filmmakers a reprieve from the winter months, but Florida offered them that balmy retreat. Soon, cities like St. Augustine, with its stone fortresses and towering palm trees, and Jacksonville, with its diverse landscape, its positioning on the rail line from New York City, and its reconstruction boom after the Great Fire of 1901, became filming destinations. The latter, especially, was known for a time as the “Winter Film Capital of the World,” with some 30 motion picture companies calling the city home by the late 1910s.
One of the largest among them was Eagle Film Manufacturing Company. The venture operated on the then-cutting-edge strategy of having many aspects of the filming process—the production, the costumes, the sets—all in one place, creating a five-building complex where silent films were streamlined and brought to life.
The operation that Eagle Film and other companies had established in Jacksonville, however, would be short-lived. As the 1920s neared, several factors, such as the First World War and the Spanish flu epidemic, as well as the birth of Hollywood and the growing draw of Los Angeles’ year-round filming climate, greatly impacted the film industry and ultimately led to the demise of filming in the Sunshine State.
“The one thing that Jacksonville really didn’t have was the all-year filming allure,” Wingo explains. North Florida may have offered filmmakers a reprieve from the winter months, but come the summer season, filmmakers were forced to battle with extreme heat and humidity. “Just think about filming in Jacksonville, outside in the summer. Los Angeles is 80 degrees all year, basically, so it’s really perfect for filming all the time.”
In their bellies, these battered buildings kept safe the treasures of a bygone era—sleepy-eyed klieg lights and dark coils of nitrate film.
There would be one titan of the silent film scene, however, that endured in Jacksonville for some time after others had followed their aspirations westward, someone who would dare to chip away at racial barriers and champion accurate representation in an age and industry where that was virtually nonexistent.
Richard Norman, who would purchase the Eagle Film properties to establish Norman Studios, spent much of the 1920s producing what were called “race films,” which featured Black actors in positive roles, upending the negative stereotypes being consistently presented on screen during this era.
“There was a large audience out there that was not being given anything of any stature or dignity in the mainstream media of the time,” Wingo shares, adding that one of Norman’s first feature-length films to star an all-Black cast, “The Green-Eyed Monster,” became hugely popular and set the studio on its mission.
Recruiting local talent from Jacksonville and eventually casting from New York City’s pool of professional actors, like those who made up the renowned Black theater company, the Lafayette Players, Norman made a space for often marginalized creators and gave largely excluded audiences worthy entertainment.
As advancements in filmmaking technology and techniques evolved, the production of these films would cease, and the studio would eventually close, left to sit dormant on Arlington Road and wait for its era-altering past to be resurrected.
Today, Norman Studios is actively being refurbished, all five of the original buildings having been reunited and made a landmark of the City of Jacksonville. “The exteriors of the buildings are fairly well restored,” says Wingo, mentioning future plans for their interiors. “The museum just opened again at the end of 2023 on the first floor of the production building. We hope to get money to do the second floor, as well.”
With tours open on the first and third Saturdays of each month, visitors are welcome to step back in time to when Jacksonville was the “Winter Film Capital of the World” and discover, through posters, memorabilia, and the existing films themselves, an important moment in early cinema.
You don’t really want to give your actors frostbite.
Need to Know
Getting there: Norman Studios is located in Jacksonville’s Old Arlington neighborhood at 6337 Arlington Road.
Best time to go: Tours open on the first and third Saturdays of each month, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
What to eat: Make a day of it! Pay a visit to the city’s Riverside Arts Market, where you can grab some light fare and a souvenir, get the Norman Studios experience in the mid-day, and then have dinner at one of Jacksonville’s premier eateries. We recommend the Southern-style French bistro, Orsay.
Where to stay: With coves, islands, and beaches galore, many stays in Jacksonville will feel like an escape. Check out one of the city’s many charming inns and quaint beach houses when looking to rest your head.
What to bring: Your curiosity.
