This terra cotta ornamentation on display in the lobby of the Museum of Florida History in downtown Tallahassee was originally a part of one of the earliest skyscrapers in Jacksonville, Florida. The downtown portion of Jacksonville had been destroyed by the Great Fire in 1901, one of the most destructive fires in the history of the southeastern United States. The Hotel Seminole was designed in the Prairie School style of Frank Lloyd Wright by Henry J. Klutho during the city's reconstruction. It was constructed in 1909 and rose a whopping 10 stories into the sky. The hotel was demolished in 1974.
14 comments:
good to see they've preserved something from it at least.
This ornament is really beautiful!
Léia
An interesting story, so sorry the hotel doesn't excists anymore. I love the Frank Lloyd Wright style building, I have made a trip in the US to see many of the real buildings.
I love terra cotta decorations, especially those that are colored. Yours is great.
I thought it was a wooden sign at first. It's really remarkable! What a nice piece of history.
That's a very handsome piece. Glad they kept something of the old building.
Anything like that is really worth keeping for all to see.
A 10-story building in 1909?! Wow. It's great that piece still exists.
It is an attractive bit of history. I'm struggling to see work like this part of a Wright-style building. Glad it was saved.
A very impressive ornamentation! And what a fascinating story. It's too bad the hotel was demolished. I wonder why?
Love this ornamentation! Can't believe the hotel was demolished, what a shame...
There's a picture of the hotel here http://www.shorpy.com/node/10795 (click through for a larger picture). The ornamentation is above the 2nd floor windows.
Amazing picture Wayne. Thanks for the link and the comment!
Thanks for this picture.
Hope it was OK for me to show it, credited, in my piece on young Olga at the Seminole Hotel in 1913.
http://viktordonovan.blogspot.se/2014/07/the-seminole-hotell-place-to-be-seen-in.html
Leif
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