Several buildings Downtown aren’t known so much by their street addresses as they are by their names.
One such structure is the Edward Ball Building at 214 N. Hogan St.
Ball came to Florida in 1923 with his sister, Jesse, and her husband, Alfred I. duPont.
The duPonts built Epping Forest, which was sold in 1984 to Gate Petroleum for development as a gated community.
After duPont’s death in 1935, Ball was the manager who built the Alfred I. duPont Trust from $30 million to more than $2
billion.
In his will, duPont decreed his financial legacy would be used to create the Nemours Foundation with the earnings from the trust to be used to support children’s hospitals in Delaware and Florida, including Nemours Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville.
Ball used his personal assets to acquire millions of acres of land in Florida, including the holdings that became the St. Joe Co.
He also had interests in the Florida East Coast Railroad and the Florida National Bank. That’s where his connection with the building along Hogan Street comes in.
Construction began along Hogan Street in 1960 on a new 11-story headquarters for Florida National Bank. It was designed by local architects Saxelbye and Powell and built by the George A. Fuller Co. of New York City, Fuller also built the U.S. Supreme Court Building and Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the United Nations Building, Time-Life Building and Flatiron Building in New York City.
The structure was purchased by the City in 2006 for $23 million and named in honor of Ball to recognize his contributions to the city, the state and Florida National Bank.
It’s the location for several City departments, including Planning & Development and Housing & Neighborhoods, as well as the 630-CITY call center.
(904) 356-2466
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