Tag Archives: St. James Building

Laura Street Trio: A History

The distinction of being the founder of Jacksonville unquestionably belongs to , and he lived to see the town develop into a place of more than 2,000 people. At one time or another, he owned nearly all the land now known as old Jacksonville, and also the most of Hogan’s Donation (Springfield). He outlived all the early settlers and died in 1861. He was buried in a vault on a plot of ground at the northeast corner of State and Laura Streets, and his resting place was marked with this inscription: When I am dead and in my grave, And …

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Making History: Ebb and Flow on the Northbank

The incorporated in 1859, two short years before the Civil War began and destroyed much of its nascent commercial district. Development was a long and slow process for the remainder of the century, often driven more by outside capital than the local sawmill and lumber trade. In 1868, local citizens successfully lobbied the to construct a school for black youth. Stanton Institute opened the following year. The Board of Trustees christened it “the best school building in the state.” At the same time, northern capitalists financed the construction of the , the fanciest of several downtown hotels catering to a …

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Eco Relics, Dyal-Upchurch, Klutho designs

Jacksonville’s First Klutho: The Dyal-Upchurch Building

The morning of May 4, 1901, a young architect named opened his New York Times to discover that a great fire had burned downtown Jacksonville nearly to the ground. In June, Klutho left his two-year-old New York City architecture practice to board a steamer bound for Jacksonville. He arrived to find the debris and rubble already nearly cleared, and local imaginations captivated by the blank canvas presented to builders and developers. Newly elected mayor declared a cease-fire for partisan politics, insisting that “the one all-absorbing idea now is the restoration of Jacksonville.” The city council quickly authorized the fire marshal …

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