Name/Title
Cohen Brothers Department StoreEntry/Object ID
2016.019.038Description
Cohen Brothers Department Store in the St. James Building
Duval Street between Laura and Hogan
(117 W Duval Street)
Architects: H.J. Klutho
Completed on October 21, 1912, it was the largest building in Jacksonville and the ninth-largest department store in Florida. It was on the original site of the St. James Hotel, one of Jacksonville's grandest hotels destroyed by the Great Fire of 1901. Jacob and Morris Cohen purchased this property in 1910, with the stipulation that they could not build a hotel there. In March 1910, they commissioned Klutho to design a department store. Klutho submitted three rather conventional two-story designs followed by a dramatic four-story design covering the entire city block, as well as his innovative concept of a mixed-use design: small privately run shops on the ground floor and a massive department store at the center of the first story and all of the second story; and two floors of rentable office space above the store.
The building was considered Klutho's Prairie School masterpiece, combining design principles of Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan into his own creation. It is decorated with terracotta Sullivanesque ornamentation, depicting seashell motifs and plant likenesses native to this area. Klutho served as architect and construction manager for this project and he completed the building in less than eighteen months.
The interior of the building contained a huge octagonal glass dome, seventy-five feet in diameter and supported by eight colossal heroic statues. Ornate open-cage elevators carried patrons from the lower level to the upper three stories. In May 1927, the domed canopy was removed to create more office space and Klutho removed his offices from the building in disgust.
Another remodeling occurred in 1959 when the ground-floor exterior was "modernized" and the beautiful suspended glass canopies that hung over the main entrances were removed.
The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and was purchased by the City of Jacksonville in 1993 during a major funding program called "The Renaissance Plan". Part of this plan included purchasing, restoring and retrofitting of the St. James for a new city hall which would place the consolidated government at the very heart of the City of Jacksonville’s downtown urban area.
Hemming Plaza & the Confederate Monument
Monument designer: George Mitchell
In 1866, five years after the death of Isaiah D. Hart, this land was sold to the city by executors of Hart's estate for a mere $10. It was originally known as "City Park" and later "St. James Park". During the tourist boom of the 1870's and 1880's, two of Jacksonville's largest hotels, the Windsor and the St. James, overlooked this block.
In 1887, the first city-financed improvements were undertaken, including sidewalks, a fountain and landscaping.
The 1901 Fire destroyed all the trees in the park. Nearly a half century later the oak trees had re-grown only to be chopped down by city workmen to get rid of birds.
In 1978, the grass was removed and the park was redesigned as a plaza.
The most unchanged feature of the park is the Confederate Monument in the center. It was unveiled on June 16, 1898, during the reunion of the United Confederate Veterans. In 1899 the City Council officially changed the name to Hemming Park, as a memorial to Civil War veteran Charles C. Hemming, who had donated the monument to the city. T. Frederick Davis reported that during the 1901 Fire, the residents of Downtown piled their household goods at the base of the monument in hopes that they would escape the blaze. Unfortunately, these caught fire and "the cement at the base of the monument showed a reddened glow. The bronze soldier at the top stood firm amidst the withering torrent of fire about him." The monument stands today as one of the few remaining survivors of the Great Fire.Collection
Woodward Photo CollectionMade/Created
Studio
The Woodward Studio, Inc.Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
Photograph, Black-and-WhiteNomenclature Primary Object Term
PhotographNomenclature Sub-Class
Graphic DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication Objects