Remembering The F.W. Woolworth Building
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1163820149_J7LPs-L.jpg)
Metro Jacksonville takes a look into the past of the federal courthouse's underutilized public plaza: The Woolworth/JCPenney Building.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2011-may-remembering-the-fw-woolworth-building
Ughhhhh....these 'look how awesome we used to be' picture threads are starting to get depressing....
I have to agree with Ben. Our city's past glories make today look all the more dreary and hopeless.
I remember being in there just before they closed, removing the popcornn and Icee machine. It was one of my first jobs out of high school.
I went to Woolworth during its final days and had a bite to eat at the lunch counter. I took home a Coca-Cola collectors glass. It was a pleasant visit and I was glad that I had the chance to visit before the end came.
Quote from: ben says on May 13, 2011, 07:44:10 AM
Ughhhhh....these 'look how awesome we used to be' picture threads are starting to get depressing....
Quote from: Jaxson on May 13, 2011, 08:00:06 AM
I have to agree with Ben. Our city's past glories make today look all the more dreary and hopeless.
True. Although most cities have a very similar past with similar cores. The catch is, how far down the crapper did they let it go, how soon did they recognize the problem & take action, and how much needless sprawl did they incorporate during all the madness?
Aside from the poster child cities that are now in near ruin (like Detroit), I would think Jax would be at the top of the shit-list for all of those things. I certainly can't think of another city that had so much going for it, pissed it away & went totally the other direction to such a degree. It's a night & day difference.
Really enjoyed this article Ennis.
Quote from: peestandingup on May 13, 2011, 08:21:51 AM
Quote from: ben says on May 13, 2011, 07:44:10 AM
Ughhhhh....these 'look how awesome we used to be' picture threads are starting to get depressing....
Quote from: Jaxson on May 13, 2011, 08:00:06 AM
I have to agree with Ben. Our city's past glories make today look all the more dreary and hopeless.
True. Although most cities have a very similar past with similar cores. The catch is, how far down the crapper did they let it go, how soon did they recognize the problem & take action, and how much needless sprawl did they incorporate during all the madness?
Aside from the poster child cities that are now in near ruin (like Detroit), I would think Jax would be at the top of the shit-list for all of those things. I certainly can't think of another city that had so much going for it, pissed it away & went totally the other direction to such a degree. It's a night & day difference.
Exactly! Which is why it is so madly depressing and frustrating!
Don't worry Jacksonville, your "next" mayor won't spend any more of your tax dollars on a wasteful downtown...
Through early morning fog I see
visions of the things to be
the pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see...
[REFRAIN]:
that suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
I try to find a way to make
all our little joys relate
without that ever-present hate
but now I know that it's too late, and...
[REFRAIN]
The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
so this is all I have to say.
[REFRAIN]
The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I'm beat
and to another give my seat
for that's the only painless feat.
[REFRAIN]
The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger...watch it grin, but...
[REFRAIN]
A brave man once requested me
to answer questions that are key
is it to be or not to be
and I replied 'oh why ask me?'
[REFRAIN]
'Cause suicide is painless
it brings on many changes
and I can take or leave it if I please.
...and you can do the same thing if you please.
(M.A.S.H. THEME - "SUICIDE IS PAINLESS")
Trivia? M.A.S.H. = Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.
OCKLAWAHA
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1279045057_GPLC4f8-M.jpg)
I have been trying to find info on R.M. Rose Co. Distillers. I just love...
"Ask the Revenue Officer"Little Brown Jug??
(http://p2.la-img.com/355/8071/1357589_1_m.jpg)
Here is a starting point...
http://www.ellenjaye.com/4roses.htm
Interesting stories... but even they admit they are unsure of authenticity...
QuoteIn reality, the most likely story of all, and the one we tend to believe, is bit more mundane. The fact is that the R. M. Rose Distilling Company of Atlanta and Chattanooga was owned and operated through two generations by Rufus M. Rose, his brother Origen Rose, and their two sons. Those would, of course, have been the "four Roses". But of course the stories are nice, too.
Something I can't help noticing, neither of those stores is a mega-store. I remember shopping there as a kid with my parents and never felt something was lacking. Of course, space wasn't needed for thousands of products made in China; most stuff then was made in the USA.
Sad, sad, sad. I can't believe how much was destroyed in the 50's and 60's in the name of "progress". And we apparantly have learned nothing since it still continues.
Quote from: BridgeTroll on May 13, 2011, 09:02:17 AM
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/1279045057_GPLC4f8-M.jpg)
I have been trying to find info on R.M. Rose Co. Distillers. I just love... "Ask the Revenue Officer"
Little Brown Jug??
(http://p2.la-img.com/355/8071/1357589_1_m.jpg)
Here is a starting point...
http://www.ellenjaye.com/4roses.htm
Interesting stories... but even they admit they are unsure of authenticity...
QuoteIn reality, the most likely story of all, and the one we tend to believe, is bit more mundane. The fact is that the R. M. Rose Distilling Company of Atlanta and Chattanooga was owned and operated through two generations by Rufus M. Rose, his brother Origen Rose, and their two sons. Those would, of course, have been the "four Roses". But of course the stories are nice, too.
Hmmm. It is a campaign slogan for William Jennings Bryan...prohibitionist...
(http://images.ha.com/lf?source=url%5bfile%3aimages%2finetpub%2fnewnames%2f300%2f4%2f3%2f9%2f6%2f4396454.jpg%5d%2ccontinueonerror%5btrue%5d&scale=size%5b220x350%5d%2coptions%5blimit%5d&source=url%5bfile%3aimages%2finetpub%2fwebuse%2fno_image_available.gif%5d%2cif%5b%28%27global.source.error%27%29%5d&sink=preservemd%5btrue%5d)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jennings_Bryan
So it looks like the postcard of Hemming Park and the Windsor may be a form of campaign flyer... for a prohibitionist... sponsored by a Distillery?? :o
Great Article... I well remember the Woolworth/ Penney's Downtown.. along with Sears.
And today to replace these treasures, we have a vertical glass palace, and a parking lot for a Hotel.
Progress.
I'm only 32. By the time I was born, most of the "cool stuff" was gone from downtown. But my dad remembers what a place it was in the 1950s and 60s.
These articles make me sad. At the building on Main and Forsyth is still standing. ...Right?
Quote from: Timkin on May 13, 2011, 11:12:15 AM
Great Article... I well remember the Woolworth/ Penney's Downtown.. along with Sears.
And today to replace these treasures, we have a vertical glass palace, and a parking lot for a Hotel.
Progress.
My memory of Sears was getting redskin peanuts from the candy counter every time I went with my dad. Also in that same area on the Fourth of July going to the SCL building to see the train then watching the Iwo Jima renaactment on the roof of the Civic Auditorium.
"President Nixon gives his speech at Hemming Park in this 1960 image."
Correction:
That's Vice President Nixon in that 1960 photo.
What a grand time that must've been. To see the picture with the old model T car and railcar passing by, and just imagining what it might be like today if we still had rail transportation. What Downtown Jacksonville "could" be, without empty lot after empty lot. Without parking garage after parking garage. Instead, with a vibrant downtown with businesses booming on every block.
Why isn't anyone in the Metro Jacksonville staff apart of City Council or some higher position within the hierarchy to convince these nuts we're not doing any good with the city we've allowed them to create for us?
Nice work Ennis. Appreciate the history.
Imagine Downtown with even 1/3 of these treasures back.. a few of the hotels , theatres and department stores. What a huge difference that would make in our Downtown.
QuoteThe Windsor Hotel was demolished in 1950 to make room for a parking lot.
1950 to 2011: Nothing in Jacksonville has changed when it comes to our "urban renewal" approach. >:(
I grew up buying my school clothes at Penney and May Cohens (now City Hall) downtown. Woolworth's was the place Mom took us for some school supplies, a cold soft drink or snack, etc. I remember the walk through from Woolworth's to Penneys too. Nothing was more entertaining as a kid than walking the aisles of a 5 & 10 store. It would be a neat tourist attraction to recreate a fully stocked period Woolworth's store!
Compare the street vibrancy of that one block (Woolworths, Penneys, Hotel Robert Meyer) to the courthouse there now or to any other contemporary block of downtown. I bet there was more activity on that one block in the 1950's than most all of downtown today. I can't think of one block downtown that compares, not even the Landing. Therein, is much of downtown's problem and potential solution.
You are absolutely right , STJR! Recreation of these places of yesteryear would immensely help to revitalize downtown. All of the Vertical stuff SHOULD have been elsewhere. It was as if the vision then was to make Downtown into a small NYC... and in the process, they killed it .
It is not too late.. but we have to bring back some of what slipped through our hands when the "Master Plan" came into being .
My mom took me downtown to go shopping when I was a wee tiny girl, and I loved it, because we almost always had lunch at Woolworth's, and the milkshakes were amazing.
QuoteCompare the street vibrancy of that one block (Woolworths, Penneys, Hotel Robert Meyer) to the courthouse there now or to any other contemporary block of downtown. I bet there was more activity on that one block in the 1950's than most all of downtown today. I can't think of one block downtown that compares, not even the Landing. Therein, is much of downtown's problem and potential solution.
What is the major difference between the 1950s and now? Population. We have more people living better further and further from the core of the downtown area. Sprawl came to town, and downtown never recovered. People living in an apartment or downtown in less than 1000 square feet found they could double it for less further out. Jobs moved to the people and commercialism with the jobs and soon you had pockets of Lakewood, Mandarin, Beauclerc, Sandalwood, Normandy growing and expanding. To recapture downtown and the hey-dey, its all about economics. When downtown becomes cheaper than living in the burbs, you will see people move back, and with it jobs will follow as will the commercial businesses. Downtown's survival is all about economics.
^ and with the sprawl came the shopping malls and strip malls that gave the population no reason to return to downtown.
Quote from: mtraininjax on May 16, 2011, 06:17:51 PM
QuoteCompare the street vibrancy of that one block (Woolworths, Penneys, Hotel Robert Meyer) to the courthouse there now or to any other contemporary block of downtown. I bet there was more activity on that one block in the 1950's than most all of downtown today. I can't think of one block downtown that compares, not even the Landing. Therein, is much of downtown's problem and potential solution.
What is the major difference between the 1950s and now? Population. We have more people living better further and further from the core of the downtown area. Sprawl came to town, and downtown never recovered. People living in an apartment or downtown in less than 1000 square feet found they could double it for less further out. Jobs moved to the people and commercialism with the jobs and soon you had pockets of Lakewood, Mandarin, Beauclerc, Sandalwood, Normandy growing and expanding. To recapture downtown and the hey-dey, its all about economics. When downtown becomes cheaper than living in the burbs, you will see people move back, and with it jobs will follow as will the commercial businesses. Downtown's survival is all about economics.
Agree M-train (this is kind of scary!) However other cities have sprawl and still have a vibrant downtown. We should as well.