JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As part of Women’s History Month, News 6 and its partner News4Jax are highlighting several history-makers with ties to the River City.
Eliza Hudnall was a woman who played a pivotal role in keeping the peace in Jacksonville during the Civil War, reports News4Jax. “She was ahead of her time,” said Lydia Gallinger, Hudnall’s great-great-niece. “She did have the first hotel in Downtown Jacksonville.
And for a woman of that period, which was around the Civil war, it must have been really hard for her to accomplish what she did.” Hudnall owned a hotel and boarding house in Downtown Jacksonville in the 1800s, a first for women during that time.