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This Jacksonville trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers Florida's biggest city, from the Timucua and the French at Fort Caroline to the Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. It takes in the St. Johns River that runs backwards through downtown, the 1968 consolidation that made Jacksonville the largest city by land area in the contiguous U.S., the Great Fire of 1901, the decade when the city was the 'Winter Film Capital of the World', the Navy bases at Mayport, and the beaches, museums and landmarks that give the River City its character. Early questions suit anyone who has driven I-95 through town. Later ones are for locals: who the city is named after, what it was first called, and where Florida's oldest plantation house still stands. Use it for a Jacksonville trivia night, a First Coast newcomer quiz or a Florida geography lesson. Every answer has been checked against a documented source shown under the explanation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Jacksonville is the county seat of which Florida county?
Duval
The city consolidated with the county government in 1968.
Q 02Jacksonville holds what distinction among cities in the contiguous United States?
Largest by total area
The 1968 consolidation extended its boundaries to some 900 square miles.
Q 03The city is named after which U.S. president, who was Florida's first military governor?
Andrew Jackson
The town was platted in 1822, a year after Spain ceded Florida to the United States.
Q 04Before it was named for a president, the settlement was known by what name?
Cow Ford
British colonists named it for a shallow spot where cattle crossed the St. Johns.
Q 05Which river straddled by Jacksonville is the longest in Florida?
The St. Johns
At 310 miles it is unusual for flowing northward.
Q 06The area around Jacksonville was originally home to which Native American people?
The Timucua
A coastal subgroup, the Mocama, lived near the river mouth.
Q 07In 1564 the French founded which short-lived colony near the mouth of the St. Johns River?
Fort Caroline
The Spanish sacked it in 1565 after founding nearby St. Augustine.
Q 08What is the name of the disaster that swept 146 downtown blocks in eight hours on 3 May 1901?
The Great Fire
It destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and left about 10,000 people homeless.
Q 09In the 1910s more than 30 movie studios earned Jacksonville which nickname?
Winter Film Capital of the World
The rise of Hollywood soon ended the city's film industry.
Q 10The surviving silent-film studio site in Arlington, preserved as a museum, is called what?
Norman Studios
It houses the Jacksonville Silent Film Museum.
Q 11In which year did Jacksonville's NFL expansion team begin play?
1995
They entered the NFL alongside the Carolina Panthers.
Q 12The Jaguars' first-ever draft pick, a Hall of Fame offensive tackle, was who?
Tony Boselli
He was taken second overall out of USC in the 1995 draft.
Q 13Which businessman bought the Jaguars from original owner Wayne Weaver in 2012?
Shahid Khan
The 2012 sale made him the franchise's second owner.
Q 14With the top overall pick in the 2021 draft, the Jaguars chose which Clemson quarterback?
Q 21During the 1888 yellow fever epidemic, roughly how many of Jacksonville's 25,000 residents fled the city?
10,000
The cause of the disease was not yet understood, and quarantines were imposed.
Q 22Jacksonville sits in which region of northeastern Florida?
The First Coast
It lies about 12 miles south of the Georgia state line.
Q 23Jacksonville is the most populous city proper not just in its state, but in what wider region?
The Southeast
Its 2020 population was about 949,000.
The University of North Florida, in Jacksonville, began offering classes in which year?
Trevor Lawrence
Fred Taylor had been the franchise's first 1,000-yard rusher years earlier.
Q 15Jacksonville's Naval Station Mayport is notable for a harbour that can hold what?
Aircraft carriers
Together with nearby bases it forms one of the largest U.S. military presences.
Q 16What record did Friendship Fountain hold when it opened in 1965?
World's largest and tallest
It was designed by Jacksonville architect Taylor Hardwick.
Q 17The riverfront art museum and gardens on Riverside Avenue grew from the 1961 bequest of whom?
Ninah Cummer
About 130,000 people visit its art collection and riverfront gardens each year.
Q 18What makes the Kingsley estate on Fort George Island historically significant?
Florida's oldest surviving plantation house
Its well-preserved slave cabins are among the best in the country.
Q 19The Maxwell House coffee brand was named for a hotel in which city?
Nashville
For nearly a century it was the best-selling coffee brand in the United States.
Q 20The Jacksonville Landing, a downtown festival marketplace demolished in 2019, opened in which year?
1987
It was built by the Rouse Company along the Riverwalk.
1972
Its teams are the Ospreys.
Q 25Spain first handed Florida to Britain in 1763 under which agreement, after the Seven Years' War?
The Treaty of Paris
Spain regained Florida after the American Revolution before ceding it to the U.S. in 1821.
Q 26Little Talbot Island State Park near Jacksonville protects maritime forests, salt marshes and what else?
Sand dunes
The barrier island has a full campground and beachside pavilions.
Q 27The Spanish mission of San Juan del Puerto on Fort George Island served which coastal subgroup?
The Mocama
It was the most prominent local mission during the First Spanish period.
Q 28How many yards did Fred Taylor become the first Jaguar to rush for in a season?
Over 1,000
He remains one of the most productive backs in franchise history.
Q 29Through the 2025 season, the Jaguars were one of four NFL teams that had never done what?
Played in a Super Bowl
The Browns, Lions and Texans were the others.
Q 30The 1901 downtown blaze started when hot ash landed on drying moss at what kind of works?
A fiber factory
It became the largest urban fire in the history of the Southeastern United States.