Any Guess Where This Picture Was Taken

CS Foltz · July 19, 2010, 05:02:03 PM

Not sure just where this took place at........springer front ends would be pre 1950, if I remember my Harley stuff! None of those bikes appear to be show room new and are modified according to their owners!

904Scars · July 19, 2010, 05:26:24 PM

Ya that's another thing I meant to mention... I don't think it's a dealer. I'm pretty sure it's just a repair shop. Back in 1948 you only had a few choices when it came to motocycle manufacturers, so naturally Harley was most common.

Cliffs_Daughter · July 19, 2010, 06:46:18 PM

There's nothing in the archives designating one area of Jacksonville from another, so this MIGHT be Springfield??

Have a look at the 1460 building, corner of N Main and W 5th St. Same block as Chan's Chinese.

Pottsburg · July 19, 2010, 06:57:35 PM

I think those are drapes in the window making it look like the library. Plus whats the date on the library?

i thought it wasn't that old

Pottsburg · July 19, 2010, 07:03:21 PM

No clue

stjr · July 19, 2010, 07:55:32 PM

I agree this appears to be downtown. Those look like at least two multi-story buildings in the window reflection but they seem to be no more than about 5 floors and one seems rather plain and simple in design. I am thinking, based on the street and building condition, that this is a "grittier" area than the central business district. More like a warehouse type district in the vicinity of the La Villa area, perhaps near Union Terminal or the old West Bay Post Office (could that be the "larger" building reflected in the window?). The sidewalk and street is in poor condition and the ability to park casually in the street like this implies a less trafficked area. Also, the men seem to be informally dressed for those days and leaving scattered empty garbage cans out in the street after a pickup means appearances here don't count for much.

I also agree the license plate shows "2" representing Duval County. The letters "FLA" appear to be abutted on either side by two characters, possibly the numbers "4" and "8" for the year 1948.

Noting that some cycles have carts attached and others have saddle bags, maybe this was the HQ for a motorcycle courier or delivery service. Being near the post office, REA, and the train station would make perfect sense for such a business back then.

blizz01 · July 19, 2010, 09:13:38 PM

Spottswood's photos are ALL OVER Whitey's Fish Camp in Clay County.

904Scars · July 20, 2010, 08:55:10 AM

Quote from: stjr on July 19, 2010, 07:55:32 PM
I agree this appears to be downtown. Those look like at least two multi-story buildings in the window reflection but they seem to be no more than about 5 floors and one seems rather plain and simple in design. I am thinking, based on the street and building condition, that this is a "grittier" area than the central business district. More like a warehouse type district in the vicinity of the La Villa area, perhaps near Union Terminal or the old West Bay Post Office (could that be the "larger" building reflected in the window?). The sidewalk and street is in poor condition and the ability to park casually in the street like this implies a less trafficked area. Also, the men seem to be informally dressed for those days and leaving scattered empty garbage cans out in the street after a pickup means appearances here don't count for much.

I also agree the license plate shows "2" representing Duval County. The letters "FLA" appear to be abutted on either side by two characters, possibly the numbers "4" and "8" for the year 1948.

Noting that some cycles have carts attached and others have saddle bags, maybe this was the HQ for a motorcycle courier or delivery service. Being near the post office, REA, and the train station would make perfect sense for such a business back then.

I have no doubt this is Jacksonville, as the 2 is for sure Duval county. I own a classic car and I recently obtained a vintage tag for it, doing research a while ago I found a site with all of Florida's county codes for tags. I also agree that it is somewhere downtown as the marble curbs are a near dead giveaway. I ALSO agree that it is on the outskirts of downtown, I personally have looked at a few place on google map and though it may not be the exact building (it may be long demolished) it looks quite similar to the long strip of retail 2 stories on the 300 block of Broad Street (right next to Sikes & Stowe Auto Body and United Optical). Notice the extreme similarity in marble curbs, width of the sidewalk and gutter drains on the sides of the building.

All in all, I think it's going to come down to some business record books or somebody who was present in Jacksonville in 1948. But let's keep this going, it's very intriguing.

Cliffs_Daughter · July 20, 2010, 09:15:39 AM

If anybody's headed to the library soon, ask them for the old phone/business directories. I'll bet we'd find it there.

I'd go, but I'm locked in meetings today.

jbroadglide · July 20, 2010, 01:21:39 PM

This proved a most interesting query. Went to the library at lunchtime

According to the city directories:
1923 Harley Davidson sales at 8 Newnan St
1927 and 1930 at 913-15 Main St
1936 at 633-35 W Forsyth St
1940 at 1125 W Forsyth St
1946 and 1950 at 1067 W Forsyth St

The last location was between Stuart and Johnson St so that would have been near the Union Station. Right across the street was an ACL train yard, making that an unlikely location for the picture since there are buildings reflected in the window.

Several of the listings showed the same people as owners. The last one was a K.W. von Katz.

Going to check the Sanborn Maps online and see what I can see based on the other locations.

Cliffs_Daughter · July 20, 2010, 02:42:47 PM

That listing for 633-35 @ Forsyth looks about right.
The Davis Furniture warehouse.

Look at the old photo, then a street view on Google Maps - you'll see the 4-window structure above the doors/street windows is the same.

BridgeTroll · July 20, 2010, 03:06:02 PM

The problem is the date... 1948. To confirm the date of the photo it might be possible to date the motorcycles parked out front...

BridgeTroll · July 20, 2010, 03:19:01 PM

Match this...

to this...

A 1940/41 Harley...

Cliffs_Daughter · July 20, 2010, 03:24:28 PM

If you look at the building on the very left, below the long dock/warehouse "Thingies", that's the building I'm thinking of.

Wacca Pilatka · July 20, 2010, 03:58:22 PM

Quote from: 904Scars on July 19, 2010, 04:48:23 PM
Upon further looking I'm not sure it is the London Bridge location... unless they have done some serious remodeling of the store front.

If you google map (street view) London Bridge it just doesn't quit look right.

I couldn't find the date of the building (London Bridge 100 E Adams St) on COJ either.

London Bridge was built in around 1926. It's one of the first buildings listed in Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage and was originally a United Cigar Store. There was some remodeling of the store front over time, though I do not know what other businesses the building housed other than London Bridge and something called Ye Olde Downtown Tavern (from an '80s picture).