Jacksonville Architecture

Like the Mercantile Exchange Bank at 51 West Forsyth Street (D-56), this old banking building was built in 1902 and later was doubled in size. In the case of both of these banks, the expansion of the facade was so skillfully done that it is difficult to find a trace of where the old building ended. A photographic comparison of the original and present structures gives one the feeling of an optical illusion. Both of the buildings are good examples of early twentieth-century bank architecture, most of which used classical architectural styles to convey a sense of security and prosperity. This building at 101 East Bay Street was constructed of pressed gray Roman brick with limestone trim. Other noteworthy architectural features are the finely detailed arches on the ground floor, the rusticated pilasters that form the corners of the building, the metal cornice, and the limestone tablets enscribed with the street and bank names.

The past occupants of this location are equally as interesting as the building's architecture. In 1880 the First National Bank was built on this site. It was founded in 1874 as Florida's earliest national bank. Among its first directors was Dr. William M. Bostwick, who later served as mayor of Jacksonville. Its most famous director was General Francis E. Spinner, Secretary of the U. S. Treasury under Presidents Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant. First National Bank built a new building here within a year after the 1901 Fire. The bank failed in 1903, however, and the building was purchased by the Guaranty Trust and Savings Bank, a newly organized bank whose first vice president was Bostwick's son, William M., Jr. In 1919, the building was expanded to its present size. This bank closed in 1922 and the building was taken over by yet another bank, the Brotherhood State Bank, which also failed. (Head cashier Thomas R. Hendricks committed suicide in the bank building on April 11, 1924, and the Brotherhood State Bank never reopened.) In this building on November 27, 1931, W. M. Bostwick, Jr., repaid all of his depositors who had lost money when the Guaranty Trust and Savings Bank closed eight years earlier. The depositors presented him with a silver loving cup. Subsequently, this building has been used as office space under the continuous ownership of the Bostwick family. A sign on the Ocean Street side still bears the name of architect H. J. Klutho, who maintained his offices in the building during the final years of his career from 1944 to 1960.