Tag Archives: Great Depression

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

Posted on March 8, 2019 | 1 comment

Click below for the full story:

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.”

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged Adrian Pillars, Aetna Insurance Building, Alfred duPont, Atlantic National Bank Building, Atlantic National Bank Building Annex, bank holiday, Bank of Jacksonville, Barnett Action, Barnett Bank, Barnett Center, Barnett Mansion, Barnett National Bank Building, Bion Barnett, Bisbee Building, Carling Hotel, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Charles Adrian Pillars, Charles E. Rice, Chicago School, Cutler Mailing System, downtown Jacksonville, drive-through bank teller, Edward Ball, Epping Forest, FDR, First Union, Florida Life Building, Florida National Bank, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Great Depression, Greenleaf and Crosby, Helmut Jahn, Henry John Klutho, Herbert Hoover, Hoovervilles, Hotel Roosevelt, Jack in the Box, Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission, Jacksonville history, Jacksonville tunnels, Jacksonville's Big Three, Jacksonville's first skyscraper, jax psycho geo, jaxpsychogeo, Jessie Ball duPont, Jessie duPont, Judy Davis, Justin Maximo Uffinger, Karen Bowling, Lippincott's magazine, Louis Montayne Mowbray, Louis Sullivan, McCoys Creek, Memorial Park, Mowbray and Uffinger, Nationsbank, New Deal, Park Lane Apartments, Prudential Insurance Building, Robert E. Fisher, Sam the SuperTeller, Sarah Barnett, Savannah, Seth Thomas clock, skyscraper, Springfield, startup generator, Super Automatic Machine, tallest building in Jacksonville, The Carling, Tim Gilmore, UNF, University of North Florida, Wachovia, Wayne Wood, William Barnett, William Bion Barnett, William Boring, Winged Victory, Year of the Skyscraper

San Marco’s Swisher House (John H.) and Villa Alexandria

Posted on January 13, 2018 | Leave a comment

Click below for the full story.

All big houses harbor the loneliness of unpeopled space. When Heather was a little girl, she didn’t understand the elevator went up and down. She thought it somehow “swapped the rooms around.”

Christina says, “I don’t think Mrs. Mitchell liked that they tore her house down.”

Carl Swisher always carried jokes in his pocket. Workers rolled 600 to 700 cigars a day.

Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged Alexander Mitchell, Carl S. Swisher, Christina Gatlin, Frank Gatlin, Franklin Gatlin, Gae Cavanagh, Great Depression, Heather Cavanagh, Herbert Swisher, Jacksonville, jaxpsychogeo, John Cavanagh, John H. Swisher, Johnnie Swisher, Joseph Davin, King Edward Cigars, Lillian Davin, Little Theater, Martha Mitchell, River Road, San Marco, Stuart Cavanaugh, Swisher and Son, Swisher Brothers, Swisher House, Swisher International, Swisher Place, Telfair Stockton, Theater Jacksonville, Tim Gilmore, Villa Alexandria