13 Pitchforks, Plumes, and Photo-Ops

There was once a time in Jacksonville where you could ride an ostrich, an alligator, and a rollercoaster all in one place. It can be hard for residents of modern-day Jacksonville to imagine the city as a tourist destination. However, Jacksonville was widely known and praised for its beauty and attractions unlike any other during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In the early twentieth century, Jacksonville had even been dubbed “the Gateway to Florida.” Jacksonville during this era was a haven for Northerners desperate to escape their harsh winters. Jacksonville’s identity as a quintessential tourist destination led to the birth of a plethora of unique attractions. One of the most notable was the Florida Ostrich Farm, one of the only places in the country where ostriches were kept. In addition, the Jacksonville location was even more significant because it was aimed directly at tourists. The presence of the farm in Jacksonville made the city a unique location and gathered the attention of visitors far and wide. The Florida Ostrich Farm helped sustain Jacksonville’s identity as a captivating tourist destination.

The Florida Ostrich Farm opened in November 1898 and operated in various locations until its closure in 1937. The farm first opened off Talleyrand Avenue in the Fairfield area of downtown Jacksonville and was owned by Edwin Cawston. The farm offered a variety of attractions catered to tourists’ every whim. The farm included a wide variety of unique activities such as ostrich riding, either in a small wagon or an ostrich drawn cart. They even offered opportunities for pictures while seated on an ostrich. There were scheduled feedings and races offering entertainment for the masses.

Despite the alluring attractions catered to visitors, the Florida Ostrich Farm has a surprising history that is seemingly unrelated to its identity as a tourist hub. Ostrich feathers were the epitome of high fashion and viewed as a symbol of wealth and status. Throughout the Victorian Era, wide-brimmed hats and elaborate feather boas were in vogue, and ostrich plumes grew increasingly in demand. The increased demand for ostrich feathers from roughly 1880 to 1914 was so astronomical that it had even been designated as the “plume bloom.” People of the time were quoted saying “A well–dressed woman nowadays is as fluffy as a downy bird fresh from the nest . . .,” alluding to the craze. The ostrich feather trade was so lucrative that, at one point, ostrich feathers were more valuable than gold. In 1908 alone, the Bureau of Statistics for the Department of Commerce and Labor reported that around $3.5 million worth of ostrich feathers were imported into the United States, which would equate to roughly $120-25 million 2025. In 1885, Edwin Cawston shipped fifty ostriches from South Africa, out of the Cape of Good Hope, all the way to Galveston, Texas. Only eighteen survived the trip, and those remaining eighteen were sent by train to Pasadena, California. Cawston originally imported the fleet of ostriches from South Africa after learning of the astronomical value of ostrich feathers at the time. The craze for ostrich feathers was overwhelming, and Cawston saw an opportunity to capitalize by bringing ostriches back to the United States. This was what led to the founding of his first farm in Pasadena.

After the opening of the farm in California, Cawston realized the appeal and exoticism of the foreign ostriches to travelers. He decided to open another farm in Florida centered around tourism, as opposed to his original farm purely for the harvesting of plumes. Florida was seen as an idyllic location for its warm climate, perfectly suited for ostriches, not to mention its already booming tourism economy. This led to the birth of the Florida Ostrich Farm in Jacksonville, Florida in 1898. The original farm was located on twenty acres off Talleyrand Avenue and was hugely successful. It offered ostrich races, ostrich riding, and picture opportunities atop the ostriches. This also included the famous “Oliver W., the trotting ostrich,” the best known and beloved ostrich out of the entire farm. He was widely considered the face of the farm and was on some of the most popular postcards. Oliver W. was considered the most mannered and sociable of all the other ostriches on the farm. He was the most frequently ridden out of the bunch as a result of his benign personality and gained notoriety as the pride of the farm. Oliver W. gathered attention when described in newspapers nationwide as “the ostrich who can run a mile in two minutes and 22 seconds,” and can outrun any racehorse that dares to rival him. Oliver W. was the crown jewel of the farm and would follow the farm throughout its evolution.

However, there are stories about ostriches kept at the farm that were not nearly as friendly. There are recorded stories of one of the unruliest ostriches held at the farm, known as Napoleon, who was behind multiple attacks towards workers on the farm. Napoleon had been responsible for one of the farm’s most gruesome attacks towards worker George Campbell, where “the ostrich caught him a glancing blow upon the thigh, ripping it open and exposing the bone. The blood flowed in such streams it was feared he would bleed to death, but medical attendance prevented this.” Napoleon was so feared that workers even carried a pitchfork for protection while maintaining the ostrich pen. However, Napoleon made national headlines for his unmanageable behavior. Napoleon had come to be known as the “ostrich on duty as a watchman.” Despite the chaos the ostriches incited, the variety of quirks and anecdotes such as these helped it garner national attention. Within less than a year of the farm’s opening, it had been covered in newspapers nationwide, described as “one of the most peculiar and interesting sights in America . . .”

The farm was able to expand upon its massive success in 1912, bringing their roughly 200 ostrich population along with them. Their rebrand became “The New Ostrich Farm, Amusement Park, and Zoo,” which expanded to a new $200,000 lot providing fifty acres. The ostriches were transported from Fairfield down the river by boat to the new location at Phoenix Park, near present-day Evergreen Cemetery. The new site was sprawling and even served as an event venue. According to their new committee, it was able “to entertain the biggest crowd that ever visited Jacksonville in one day . . .” This upgraded farm had visitors saying it rivaled any place ever seen for entertainment at the time. The ostrich racing accompanied an extraordinary variety of new attractions which were inconceivable for any competing venue at the time. This also allowed for the introduction of new animals like alligators, which brought an array of activities along with them. The alligators were trained for dancing and rope courses among other performances. In addition, there was even the remarkable opportunity for visitors to ride alligators. The acquisition of alligators also brought the famous “Alligator Joe,” who would ride an alligator around its tank at scheduled times for all to see. Alligator Joe was written about in newspapers across the country and was widely known as a “must-see” during a vacation to Florida. What started as a simple farm caging ostriches in Florida in a suburban area blossomed and evolved into a nationwide marvel. By 1915, just a year before moving again to a location in South Jacksonville, the Florida Ostrich Farm was widely talked about, mentioned in travel brochures for “. . . All Preparing to Move South to Escape Rigor of Northern Climate.” Upon arrival at what became known as “the commercial metropolis of Florida,” visitors were urged to “spend an afternoon gazing at the marvels of the Florida Ostrich Farm.”

One visitor wrote in a local newspaper raving about his time, and described the activities:

Here you can find nearly everything on earth to attract the people, a regular carnival the year round, and a roller coaster that covers fully an acre of ground, the cars taking us more than a hundred feet, and after being released they run down at a furious rate of speed. . . There are also dance halls, moving picture shows, theater restaurants, high diving, balloon ascensions, merry-go-rounds, …cow boy and cow girl performances, two bands of thirteen people, an alligator trick farm … and thousands of birds, snakes, animals etc. . .

Unfortunately, the Florida Ostrich Farm was eventually shut down in 1937 and the animals transferred to a different park in Daytona. The maintenance and care necessary for the assortment of critters was expensive and exhausting. “The ostriches would kick the fences down and attack the workers fixing the fences, and would make frequent efforts to escape. . . The repairmen were forced to lasso them back in or struggle not to get kicked,” said Bill Delaney, writer and editor of The Jaxson Magazine, in discussion with the author. The ostriches, much like Napoleon, were unruly and uncontrollable at times which made for a draining business venture. The addition of alligators also proved to be detrimental, with close interactions leading to inevitable problems. For instance, there was an alligator trainer named George Howell, who was in critical condition after an alligator known as Duval Nellie mangled his arm. These events unmasked the dangers of the most loved attractions like the ostrich and alligator rides. This, in combination with the decline of ostrich plume popularity and the introduction of new tourist attractions, led to the Florida Ostrich Farm’s closure in 1937.

The Florida Ostrich Farm was a tourist attraction unique and unparalleled to any other destination at the time. Edwin Cawston, arguably the pioneer of ostrich farming in the United States, opened Jacksonville’s location employed a series of managers to run it as the premier ostrich farm destination catering to tourists. The massive success led to the expansion of the farm, providing attractions unheard of at the time and making Jacksonville’s Florida Ostrich Farm one of a kind. With Wild West shows, ostrich racing and riding, and even alligator rides, the Florida Ostrich Farm embodied the quirkiness and exceptionalism that Jacksonville had to offer. Ostrich attacks and escapes running through the city of Jacksonville sounds outlandish and preposterous, but, upon further reflection, it can be seen as an endearing piece of Jacksonville history that makes it one of a kind.

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