Walk more than a few blocks Downtown and you'll pass by an example of Jacksonville's historic architecture.
Local historian Wayne Wood, in his book, "Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage," presents what is considered the most complete inventory of Downtown's significant structures.
At the northeast corner of Adams and Ocean streets is an imposing building with columns at the entrance. It was built in 1904-05 and was originally the "Jacksonville Free Public Library."
According to Wood, the building is one of more than 2,800 public libraries in the United States financed with donations from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
In 1902, Carnegie offered the city a $50,000 donation to build a public library. Through a citywide referendum, local residents barely supported the plan by a vote of 640 in favor of accepting the money to 625 against.
After the donation was accepted, architect Henry Klutho won the design competition.
The most prominent feature of the Neo-Classic Revival design is the portico supported by four columns. The building's steel framework is faced with Indiana limestone.
It served as the city's main public library until 1965, when the former Haydon Burns Public Library, on the southwest corner of the intersection, opened.
In 1983, the City sold the building to the law firm of Bedell Dittmar DeVault Pillans & Gentry, now Bedell Dittmar DeVault Pillans & Coxe.
George Bedell, a founding member of the firm, served in 1903 on the library's board of trustees.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
On the southeast corner of the intersection, the United Cigar Store Building, which opened in 1926, is now the home of Burro Bar.
In the middle of the "Roaring '20s" the United Cigar Stores Co. proclaimed Jacksonville was "destined to become the major metropolis of the South," according to Wood.
The company purchased 26 corner lots in the city for $1.5 million and began building cigar stores with spaces available for other businesses.
Designed in the Mediterranean Revival style, the most distinctive feature of the layout was the placement of the entrance on the corner of the building. The stores also were known for the wood statues of American Indians that usually were placed near the entrances.
While most of the former cigar stores have been demolished or completely altered, the example at Adams and Ocean streets is considered the best remaining example of the original design.
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