“This picture shows a parking lot where the Ball Building is today. Streets are Julia, Monroe, Hogan and Adams Streets. About 1956.” LS
Seems like every transitional space in downtown Jacksonville was a parking lot at one time or another. This image was taken from the corner of Julia Street and West Adams Street looking toward Hemming Park and the St. James Building, most likely taken from the roof of the Hildebrant Building at 300 West Adams Street. The parking lot would become the site of the Ed Ball Building. The 11 story structure began construction on the site in 1960 as the new headquarters for the Florida National Bank. The building was purchased by the City of Jacksonville to house a number of its departments in 2006. In the upper left of this image is a sign announcing the construction of the new Hotel Robert Meyer which was being built on the lot behind the F.W. Woolworth Company building. Both the Hotel Robert Meyer and the Woolworth building would later be demolished to make way for the new Federal Courthouse building which now fills that block of downtown.
Tags: 001601, downtown, Ed Ball Building, Hemming Park, historic photography, Robert Meyer, vintage photograph, Woolworth
