The Barnett National Bank Building, Its Deep Roots and Tendrils through Time

Posted on March 8, 2019 | 1 Comment

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It was “the Year of the Skyscraper.” The 10 story building next door began to tilt. Alfred duPont raised Florida from the Great Depression, merely from infusions of his personal wealth. When Barnett began the Bank of Jacksonville in 1877, he couldn’t have known it would grow into one of the largest banks in the South. After Herbert Hoover, Alfred’s wife, Jessie Ball duPont, changed direction. Her hair was graying, but her eyes still sparkled.

Barnett’s personification of its first Automatic Teller Machine frightened Southern working class families. Charles Rice said he’d never sell “Bion Barnett’s bank.” Then he checked into rehab. Then he sold. Then he drowned in his own swimming pool. Now UNF is making the Barnett “the front door to the startup community in Jacksonville.”

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One response to “The Barnett National Bank Building, Its Deep Roots and Tendrils through Time”

Anonymous | June 10, 2020 at 6:40 pm |

Hi there,
I don’t know who will read or see this comment. I would like for the reader of this message to know that Mr. Leroy Gardner hired me in 1966 as a collector in the Installment Loan Dept. on the 6th floor in the “old bank” building. At the time Lionel Fitzner was the collection mgr.
My email is: bobcoker1943@icloud.com

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