5 Places That Prove We Don't Build Them Like We Used To
They say we don't build them like we used to. Here's five places around town that suggest this saying may be true.
1. Dorsey Company Bakery
100 years ago, this building was the largest and most modern bakery in the South.
Now a part of Kirby Smith Middle School's campus, this Mediterranean Revival style building was the Dorsey-O'Neil Bakery when it opened in 1914. Who would have thought a place created to churn out 200,000 loaves of bread and cakes each day, needed to look like this?
The former bakery's fermentation room along North Main Street.
The bakery's ovens were behind this wall along North Hubbard Street.
2. Greenleaf & Crosby Building
Downtown's 12-story Greenleaf & Crosby Building features terracotta panels depicting griffins, eagles, urns and foral motifs. There's also a two-story vaulted entrance. A trip to to this place will make you yearn for the days when stucco and beige paint were not Jacksonville's dominant building materials.
3. St. James Building
Today the flagship May-Cohens store lives on as Jacksonville City Hall.
The St. James Building was and still is considered one of the most distinctive buildings in Jacksonville. It's considered Architect H.J. Klutho's Prairie School masterpiece, combining the design principles of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan into his own personal creation. When it was completed in 1912, for the Cohen Brothers, it was the 9th-largest department store in the United States and third largest building in Jacksonville. It's 102 years later and the stores at St. Johns Town Center still can't compete with this.
May-Cohens in 1961.
Cohen's display counters showing "Florida fashions" in 1935.
Read More: May-Cohens: Jacksonville's Big Store
Book Review: Cohen Brothers The Big Store
4. Florida Theatre
Image courtesy of the Florida Theatre.
According to Dr. Wayne Wood's Jacksonville’s Architectural Heritage: Landmarks for the Future, the Florida Theatre was a part of a short lived American phenonmeon of fantasy-inspired movie palaces that began with New York City's opulent Regent Theatre in 1913 and was spread by theatre promoter S.L. "Roxy" Rothafel.
Image courtesy of the Florida Theatre.
Lobby image courtesy of AIA Jacksonville at https://www.aiafla.org/upload_documents/FloridaTheatreI6-PhotographerTiffanyManningPhotography-6147631481_ca3d6b0a5d_z.jpg
5. US Post Office
The US Post Office building in 1940. Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/52533
From 1893 to 1940, the US Post Office building dominated Jacksonville's skyline and was a focal point of the city's cultural life. It was torn down for a department store that shut down in 1984. Today, you'd be lucky to find a post office.
Construction of the US Post Office in 1893. Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/28659
Postcard image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/268731
The Post Office Building being demolished for Furchgott's in 1940.
Read More: Remembering Furchgott's Department Store
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com
100 years ago, this building was the largest and most modern bakery in the South.
Now a part of Kirby Smith Middle School's campus, this Mediterranean Revival style building was the Dorsey-O'Neil Bakery when it opened in 1914. Who would have thought a place created to churn out 200,000 loaves of bread and cakes each day, needed to look like this?
The former bakery's fermentation room along North Main Street.
The bakery's ovens were behind this wall along North Hubbard Street.
2. Greenleaf & Crosby Building
Downtown's 12-story Greenleaf & Crosby Building features terracotta panels depicting griffins, eagles, urns and foral motifs. There's also a two-story vaulted entrance. A trip to to this place will make you yearn for the days when stucco and beige paint were not Jacksonville's dominant building materials.
3. St. James Building
Today the flagship May-Cohens store lives on as Jacksonville City Hall.
The St. James Building was and still is considered one of the most distinctive buildings in Jacksonville. It's considered Architect H.J. Klutho's Prairie School masterpiece, combining the design principles of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan into his own personal creation. When it was completed in 1912, for the Cohen Brothers, it was the 9th-largest department store in the United States and third largest building in Jacksonville. It's 102 years later and the stores at St. Johns Town Center still can't compete with this.
May-Cohens in 1961.
Cohen's display counters showing "Florida fashions" in 1935.
Read More: May-Cohens: Jacksonville's Big Store
Book Review: Cohen Brothers The Big Store
4. Florida Theatre
Image courtesy of the Florida Theatre.
According to Dr. Wayne Wood's Jacksonville’s Architectural Heritage: Landmarks for the Future, the Florida Theatre was a part of a short lived American phenonmeon of fantasy-inspired movie palaces that began with New York City's opulent Regent Theatre in 1913 and was spread by theatre promoter S.L. "Roxy" Rothafel.
Image courtesy of the Florida Theatre.
Lobby image courtesy of AIA Jacksonville at https://www.aiafla.org/upload_documents/FloridaTheatreI6-PhotographerTiffanyManningPhotography-6147631481_ca3d6b0a5d_z.jpg
5. US Post Office
From 1893 to 1940, the US Post Office building dominated Jacksonville's skyline and was a focal point of the city's cultural life. It was torn down for a department store that shut down in 1984. Today, you'd be lucky to find a post office.
Postcard image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/268731
The Post Office Building being demolished for Furchgott's in 1940.
Read More: Remembering Furchgott's Department Store
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com