Jacksonville's Historic Architecture

Barnett National Bank Building

"Florida's most dynamic bank."
112 West Adams Street
Downtown Jacksonville

  Erected in 1926, the Barnett National Bank was the tallest building at its time. Designed by architects Mombray & Uffinger (nationally known bank architects from New York who also constructed Madison Square Garden in New York and the Mitsui Bank in Tokyo,) for The Barnett Bank during the peak of the 1920's building boom, and the contractor was the James Stewart Co.
The construction of the Barnett Banking and office center cost a near $1,500,000.. For 1926, thats alot! It remained Jacksonville's tallest building until the construction of the building now known as the Aetna Building in 1954. The building is topped with double-arched windows and a parapet with obelisks. A series of lion heads between the third and fourth stories are among the other interesting and artistic details.

It was founded in 1877 by William B. Barnett and his son Bion, as the Barnett Bank, with $40,000 in working capital. Within four years, it became the largest bank in Florida.

By the 1990s it had fallen to disrepair, but plans to restore it along with three nearby buildings known as the Laura Street Trio have been proposed.

The Barnett National Bank Building reflects the eclectic influences of commercial architectural styles of the 1920's.

Laura Trio

(Independent Life Insurance Co., Florida National Bank,
& The Bisbee Building)
Corner of Laura and Forsyth St.
Downtown Jacksonville

 
The Bisbee Building

designed by architect H.J. Klutho, was Florida's first skyscraper in 1908.

The Florida Life Building (left) was also designed by Klutho 3 years later, between 1911 and 1912...It was constructed at the same time as Klutho's St. James Building (now Jacksonville City Hall). and was one of the most elegant skyscrapers in the South. Standing 45 meters and 11 floors high, it was Jacksonville's, and Florida's tallest building when it was built.. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the Florida Life Building on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.

 

 

Florida Life Building

117 North Laura Street
Architect: Henry J. Klutho
Builder: Frank Richardson

The two Klutho high-rise office building frame the classical "Marble Bank," making this one of the most unique architectural groupings in Florida. In 2002 the City of Jacksonville purchased both the Florida Life and Bisbee buildings, as well as the “Marble Bank”. Known as "The Laura Street Trio,"

All three buildings are in deplorable condion, and were listed by the
Florida Trust for Historic Preservation as among "The Eleven most Endangered Buildings in Florida. Preservationists are hopeful that this significant complex of buildings in the heart of Downtown will be restored.

 

 

 

Restoration plans for

Laura Trio & Barnett Bank Building

 

 

In the 2000s the Laura Street Trio were recognized as some of Jacksonville's most significant  and endangered  historic buildings. In 2002, under Mayor John Delaney, the City of Jacksonville purchased all three buildings to transfer them to a developer who could restore the... Orlando developer Cameron Kuhn purchased the Laura Street Trio, as well as the nearby Barnett National Bank Building, but went bankrupt in the 2008 housing market cracsh before restoring them.

In 2010 Jacksonville investment group Atkins Group, together with the Tallahasse-based Capital City Partners, presented a new, $70 million plan to restore the Laura Street Trio and the Barnett National Bank Building, as well as construct a fifth building. In June 2011 Atkins Group requested $5 million in historic tax credits to move forward with Phase I of the project.

 



The REAL Jax History

Archaeological evidence indicates humans have habitated the land of what is now called Jacksonville for more than 6,000 years. Pottery has been found dating to 2500 BC,

Some of the oldest in the United States..


   

In the 16th century, the beginning of the historical period, the area was inhabited by the Mocama, coastal subgroup of the Timucua Indians. Their distinctive culture developed around 500 B.C. according to archaeologists. Most Mocama villages in present-day Jacksonville were part of the powerful chiefdom known as the Saturiwa, centered on Fort George Island near the mouth of the St. Johns River.

   

In 1513, Tumultuous times in Europe brought explorers to the shores of the New World. these explorers landed in Florida and claimed their discovery for Spain. The first Europeans to visit the area were Spanish missionaries and explorers from this time.

   

In February 1562, French naval officer Jean Ribault and a 150 settlers were sent out to find land for a safe haven for the French Huguenots. Ribault explored the mouth of the St. Johns River before moving north and establishing the colony of Charlesfort on Parris Island, South Carolina.

In 1564 Ribault's former lieutenant, René Goulaine de Laudonnière, launched a new expedition to found a colony on the St. Johns River.. The settlers established Fort Caroline atop the St. Johns Bluff on June 22, 1564.. one of the earliest European settlements in the United States..

    

The Spanish continued to occupy Fort Caroline, which they rechristened San Matteo. This was the scene of one more battle between the French and Spanish in 1568, when Dominique de Gourgues burned the fort to the ground. The Spanish rebuilt the fort.. but abandoned it in 1569. Afterwards, the Spanish build Fort San Nicolas further up the river to protect the rear flank of St. Augustine. "San Nicolas" served as their name for the Jacksonville area, a placename which survives in the neighborhood of St. Nicholas. The fort was located on the east side of the St. Johns where Bishop Kenny High School now stands, and was abandoned in the late 17th century.

   

Spain ceded Florida to the British 1763 at the end of the Seven Years War in Europe, in order to keep the city of Havana.. which was more important to their New World Empire..but by 1783 the British were forced to return control of the Florida Colony to the Spanish. Though only 20 years passed before the British lost control of the Florida colony, it was an active time of development. The first permanent settlement Jacksonville was founded as "Cowford" in 1791, at a narrow point in the St. Johns River where cattlemen could ford their livestock across.. this is when Large land grants were issued and plantations were built along the St. Johns to grow cotton, indigo, rice and vegetables. Lumber was harvested to expand the mighty British navy and work began on the first road.. the King’s Road.. from Savannah to St. Augustine. Population grew and commerce in and out of the port expanded. Spanish place names were changed to English. Most notable was the renaming of a narrow plot of land on the river to Cowford, as a place where cows could easily “ford” across the river. Many loyalists settled here during the Revolutionary War.

    Between 1812 and 1814, the US Navy assisted American settlers in "The Patriot War", a covert attempt to seize control of Florida from the Spanish that began with invasions of Fernandina and Amelia Island. The Florida Territory was sold to the United States in 1821, and by 1822, Jacksonville's current name had come into use.

    It first appears on a petition sent June 15, 1822 to U.S. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, asking that Jacksonville be named a port of entry. The city is named for Andrew Jackson, military governor of the Florida Territory and eventual President of the United States..
   

U.S. settlers led by Isaiah D. Hart authored a charter for a town government, which was approved by the Florida Legislative Council on February 9, 1832. Hart is remembered as the city's most important founding father, and is memorialized with the Isaiah D. Hart Bridge over the St. Johns.
   

On May 3, 1901, downtown Jacksonville was ravaged by a fire that started at a fiber factory. The "Great Fire of 1901", it was one of the worst disasters in Florida history and the largest urban fire in the southeastern United States. It took just eight hours to destroy the business district and leaving approximately 10,000 residents homeless. It is said the glow from the flames could be seen in Savannah, Georgia, and the smoke plumes seen in Raleigh, North Carolina. Architect Henry John Klutho was a primary figure in the reconstruction of the city. More than 13,000 buildings were constructed between 1901 and 1912.
 
    

In the 1910s, New York–based filmmakers were attracted to Jacksonville's warm climate, amazing locations, excellent rail access, and cheap labor. Over the decade, more than 30 silent film studios were established, earning Jacksonville the title of "Winter Film Capital of the World". However, the emergence of Hollywood as a major film production capital ended the city's film industry. One converted movie studio site, Norman Studios, remains in Arlington; It has been converted to the Jacksonville Silent Film Museum at Norman Studios.

   

During this period, Jacksonville also became a banking and insurance city, with companies such as the Barnett Bank, Atlantic National Bank, Florida National Bank, Prudential, Gulf Life, and the Afro-American Insurance.

The U.S. Navy also became a major employer and economic force during the 1940s, with the construction of three naval bases in the city, its Florida's third largest seaport.

It ranks alongside cities such as Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.