Vintage Jacksonville

“This is an extreme wide angle camera, 110 degrees.  Picture taken in front of Brown’s Camera Store, 118 West Bay St.  The Seminole Hotel, middle top.  About 1958.”  LS

I don’t know exactly what camera Loyd Sandgren used for this shot.  I’ve seen the negatives and it was shot on 120 mm roll film.  My guess is that Brown’s Camera had the camera in their shop and he took it out to play with and shot a couple of rolls of film with it.  This format image only shows up once in his collection of work.  Great looking car!

Tags: 001692, Brown's Camera Store, car, downtown, historic photograph, street scene, vintaqge photography, West Bay Street, wide angle

United States Congressman Charles E. Bennett (on right) shakes hands with an unidentified gentleman in a photo that I would date around 1960. Charlie Bennett was a Law School Graduate of the University of Florida and served in WWII working with guerrilla fighter’s in the Philippines.  There he contracted polio and relied on two canes to help him walk for the rest of his life.  For almost half a century Congressman Bennett represented Jacksonville in Washington, DC.  He first served in the United States Congress in 1949 and was re-elected to the post 21 times before he retired in 1993.  Charlie Bennett was a true “old school” politician who put his constituents ahead of his personal gain. When he first went to congress he did not accept a congressional paycheck and consistently voted against pay raises.  He also returned his military disabilities checks believing it was wrong to accept two salaries.  He was known to drive back and forth from Jacksonville to Washington to save taxpayers the cost of airfare.

Congressman Bennett was a historical scholar and authored over a half dozen books on North Florida history.  He was responsible for bringing the copy of the Andrew Jackson statue to Jacksonville, one of four in the country with the original being located in front of the Capitol building in Washington, DC.  Bennett died in 2003 and his ashes were interred in an unmarked location that he picked out himself in Arlington National Cemetery.

In Loyd Sandgren’s collection of images there are several photographs of Congressman Bennett taken in the earlier days of his career. They are special to me because I had the honor of shadowing the congressman during his final week in Washington where he was gracious and patient with me as I tried to document the end of his tenure.  I also returned to Washington to document his final trip to the Nation’s Capitol when his family and friends, on a cold and rainy day, placed his ashes in the ground in a quiet tree covered corner of Arlington.

Tags: Andrew Jackson, Arlington National Cemetery, Charles Bennett, Charlie Bennett, Congressman, historic photograph, vintage photography

“Another view of the Baptist Hospital with the new Prudential Insurance Company in the background.  This was in 1948, lots of changes since then.”  LS

It is likely that the date of this photograph is in the 1950’s rather than the late 1940’s.  Please check out the additional comments.

Here is a little earlier version of the two buildings.

Tags: Baptist Hospital, building, historic photograph, hospital, Prudential Insurance, southbank, vintage photography

“The Bisbee-Baldwin real estate Co. on the corner of Forsyth & Pearl St.  In the background you can see the George Washington Hotel, on the extreme left is the post office.  1955.”  LS

This downtown Jacksonville building was built in 1951 and is currently on the market for just shy of a million dollars.

Tags: Bisbee-Baldwin, downtown, Forsyth Street, historic photography, mortgage, office building, Pearl Street, vintage photograph

Bodybuilding demonstration at the old Jacksonville Beach Bandshell that backed up to the boardwalk on the property next to the lifeguard station. The Quality Suites Oceanfront hotel now occupies that portion of the lot on 1st. Street North.  Looks like it packed them in!

Tags: 1st. Street North, Bandshell, bodybuilder, bodybuilding, crowd, historic photography, jacksonville beach, vintage photograph

No information left behind by Loyd Sandgren but judging from the audience this was a Navy boxing match, probably from the 1940’s.  Safe to say this was not the heavyweight division.  Looks like they could use a little meat on their bones.

Tags: boxers, boxing, fight, historic photography, men, navy, vintage photograph

“Here is one of the displays of equipment at the Yellow Water Gunnery School, this was taken on Hogan St. Downtown.  October 15, 1945.”  LS

The truck and trailer had machine gun turrets like those found on Navy patrol aircraft and were used to train aircraft gunners.  According to the sign on the trailer ‘Naval Air Gunners School has trained 29,700 Aerial Gunners For Victory’.  Another photo in the collection shows the same truck on the base.

Tags: crowd, float, historic photograph, hogan street, Machine Guns, navy, parade, vintage photography, Yellow Water gunners school

“This is the Eastman Kodak Store before the government forced them to close, because you can’t manufacture, wholesale and retail.  This was on Adams St. Between Laura & Hogan Streets.  1954.”  LS

The building still stands but it would be easy to miss just driving past it since most of the character has been erased with a flat surface covering the facade where the upper floor windows used to be.  The Eastman Kodak Stores, Inc. storefront at 129 West Adams Street and the Lahn’s dress store next door have been combined into one storefront called Scottie Stores.  If you look up to the roofline, the crest with the EKS initials (Eastman Kodak Stores) is the only remaining trace of the building’s origins.

Tags: Adams Street, advertising, building, business, Eastman Kodak Stores, historic photography, Kodak, Lahan's, photography, vintage photograph

“Here is the plant of the Royal Crown Cola Plant, on San Marco Blvd. near the RR Tracks. In the 50’s.”  LS

Now all you need is a semi load of Moon Pies and you’ve got yourself a proper Southern party.

Tags: 001774, advertising, Bottling Plant, business, cola, delivery trucks, factory, historic photography, RC Cola, Royal Crown Cola, San Marco Blvd., soda, vintage photograph

“The Chevrolet Parts Division on 11th. and Liberty Streets.  This was in the 40’s & 50’s.”  LS

This Springfield industrial building has had a number of incarnations since it was built in 1929.  Until 1958 this Albert Kahn designed structure served as a Chevrolet Parts warehouse.  It also housed a printing business and later served as a plastics recycling business until purchased in 2011 and beautifully renovated into the offices, cleaning facilities and storage space for Paul Davis Restoration of North Florida, a business that restores homes and businesses after fire or water damage.

Albert Kahn also designed a few more buildings of note in Jacksonville.  The 576-foot long Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant that sits on a pier on the St. Johns River is one of Kahn’s Jacksonville structures.  There are also Four matching seaplane hangers and a Torpedo Workshop and Storage Building at Naval Air Station Jacksonville that Kahn designed for the US Government in the 1940’s.

Tags: 11th. Street, Albert Kahn, building, business, Chevrolet, historic photography, Liberty Street, parts warehouse, Paul Davis Restoration, Springfield, vintage photograph