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.