Tag Archives: Independent Life Building

Wesley Plott’s Downtown Bottlescape

Posted on August 15, 2020 | Leave a comment

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He knew all the best places to dig downtown, in Springfield and in Riverside for hundred year old bottles. He found Indian pottery, toys, newspapers, parts of skulls and Civil War munitions. His 40 year old 50 page book, Antique Bottles Found in Northeast Florida, contains chapters called “Locating Dumps,” “Known Bottle Dumps” and “Hidden Treasures Just for You!” He also claims to have unearthed an ancient body, then reburied it, downtown on Adams Street. Click below for the story.

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Tagged A Century of Medicine in Jacksonville and Duval County, A.S. Baldwin, Antique Bottle Club of Jacksonville, bottle collecting Northeast Florida, Dr. A.S. Baldwin, Duval County Board of Health, Florida history, Henry John Klutho Park, Independent Life Building, Jacksonville Free Public Library, Jacksonville history, jaxpsychogeo, McCoys Creek, Old St. Luke's Hospital, Purple Petunia, Springfield Jacksonville, Tim Gilmore, Timucua, Timucuan Indians, Tudor Revival, Webster Merritt, Wesley B. Plott, Windsor Hotel

The Independent Life Building / Wells Fargo Center

Posted on May 8, 2020 | Leave a comment

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From lightning strikes to the locomotive buried in its foundation, from loyalty to President Nixon to overtures to the National Football League, from the architectural sketches of Wah Yo Eng to the immigrant family of Bulgarians, Haitians and Jamaicans, the Independent Life Building (now the Wells Fargo Center) has reflected Jacksonville back to itself since 1974.

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Tagged Accustaff, Accustaff Building, Bay Street, Beth Dunlop, Bill Ectric, Bill Ectric King, Bill Foley, Bill Kinh, Bob Irsay, Bud Adams, C.J. Holmes, Colt Fever, Consolidation, David Eisenhower, Doug Eng, Drew Company, Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad, Florida Gothic, Great Fire of 1901, H. and W.B. Drew, Henry Flagler, Independent Life Building, Independent Life Insurance Company, J.H.W. Hawkins, J.M.W. Hawkins, Jacksonville Bulls, Jacksonville Businessmen’s Club, Jacksonville Colts, Jacksonville Oilers, Jacob Bryant III, jaxpsychogeo, JMW Hawkins, John C. Christian, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, KBJ, KBJ Architects, Kemp Bunch Jackson, Lyubomira Lazarova, Mayport, Mayport Naval Station, Mayport Navy Base, McConihe Building, Modis, Modis Building, Richard Nixon, River Club, Southern Gothic, Tim Gilmore, United States Football League, USFL, Veliko Tarnovo, Way Yo Eng, Wayne Wood, Wells Fargo Center

Remembering Jacksonville Mayor Jake Godbold, who passed away 1/23/2020

Posted on January 24, 2020 | Leave a comment

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Nobody else ever brought Jacksonville together like Jake Godbold did. After Godbold died earlier today, 1/23/2020, the T-U quoted Mike Tolbert saying, “Jacksonville just lost its best friend.” Indeed. Not quite three years ago, I wrote this story about Jake’s days at Fred Cotten’s Barbecue. It made me quite happy that he read it and liked it.

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Tagged Brentwood, Fred Cotten, Gateway Chemicals, Godbold Jake, Golfair, Independent Life Building, Jacksonville mayor, Jacksonville Mayor Jake Godbold, Jake Godbold, Kirby Smith Junior High School, Mayor Jake Godbold, Melanie Dosztan, River Club, Tim Gilmore, Tommy Hazouri

New Story: The Lions of Drew and McConihe

Posted on November 30, 2019 | 1 comment

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The lions looked out on Bay Street, facing north, four stories high, for 70 years. Irony brought them down: the life insurance company cut short their reign. Now they stand beneath the glass giant that for years so awkwardly dwarfed the city and await our pilgrimage.

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Tagged Drew Building, Florida history, Great Fire of 1901, H. and W.B. Drew, Independent Life Building, Independent Life Insurance Company, J.H.W. Hawkins, Jacob Bryant III, jax psycho geo, Louise Sullivan, Luther McConihe, Main Street Bridge, McConihe Building, Tim Gilmore, W. Stokes Boyd

The Life and Multiple Deaths of the Drew Building

Posted on November 25, 2019 | Leave a comment

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The story of the building at 45 West Bay Street concerns a bear, Jacksonville’s first bookstore, Ottis Toole, the tragic deaths of construction workers, multiple demolition plans, the ghost of a third floor and the love of an architect who refused to let this building die. Now Urban Grind Coffee, Folio Weekly and other businesses call the Drew Building home. Click below for the story.

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Tagged Claire Goforth, Clements Rumpel, Columbus Drew, Deluxe Cleaners, Don Ingram, Doug Hutchins, Downtown Development Authority, Drew Building, Drew's Bookstore, F. Kyle Marshall, Fletcher Morgan, Florida Alligator Farm, Florida history, Florida Whig Party, Folio Weekly, George Sonnenberg, Great Fire of 1901, H. and W.B. Drew, H.J. Klutho, Henry John Klutho, Hodson Drew, Horace Drew, Independent Life Building, Jacksonville history, James Clements, Jaquelin Daniel, Julie Delegal, Lenny Curry, Loading Dock Restaurant, Lyman Fletcher, Madeleine Peck Wagner, McConihe Building, Morgan's Department Store, Osky’s Alligator Store, Ostrich Farm, Otis Perkins, Ottis Toole, Peter Rumpel, Pine Street Fire of 1891, Regina Hersey, Richard Martin, Robert Broward, Robert LeMoine, Rocco Morabito, Shelton Hull, Sohrab Fracis, Stalking Ottis Toole, The Architecture of Henry John Klutho: The Prairie School in Jacksonville, The City Makers, Tim Gilmore, Urban Grind Coffee, W.B. Camp, Wilbur Bacon Camp, William L'Engle