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Dancy Terrace or Redell Street between 9th and 10th, Main and Hubbard Streets, Springfield, Jacksonville, Florida

The Federal Building (Hogan and Forsyth)



The Federal Building was located on the northeast corner of Hogan and Forsyth Streets in downtown Jacksonville, Florida.

Work on the Federal Building (known also as the U.S. Courthouse and Post Office) began in 1892 and was completed in 1895 at a cost of $250,000. The walls were made of Tennessee marble.



Photo from the Florida State Photo Archives, about 1930s.
In addition to the Post Office the building housed the offices of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The balcony above the main entrance on the left may have been the site of several photographs (click on a small picture below) taken of Percy Leon Thomas, Sr., and various co-workers. PLT worked as a Deputy Collector for the Internal Revenue from 1910 to about 1922 when he became an Attorney-at-Law.

At 168 feet, this was the tallest building to survive the Fire of 1901. Many of the panoramic photos taken afterward as well as the fire-in-action photographs throughout the conflagration were shot from its top.



A view south on Main Street from Springfield showing the Federal Building on the distant right. Photo from the Florida Collection in the Jacksonville Public Library; reproduced in The Grand Fire of 1901, Bill Foley and Wayne Wood, Jacksonville Historical Society, 2001. P.63. This book is available directly from the Jacksonville Historical Society at this web address: http://www.jaxhistory.com/
Panoramic view of downtown Jacksonville a few days after the fire was taken from the waterworks tower across Hogan's Creek in Springfield. Note the tallest building to survive the fire in the distance is none other than the Federal Building (U.S. Courthouse and Post Office) where 10 years later Percy Leon Thomas would work as a Deputy Collector for the Internal Revenue until about 1922 when he read the bar and became an Attorney. A view similar to this but with the fire still raging might have been seen by the 3 little Cooke sisters from the roof of their shed at their home on 1st Street. Springfield, one of the oldest and most historical suburbs in Jacksonville survived the BIG One of 1901 thanks to Hogans Creek and the favorable winds. Springfield did not survive in tact the neglect and degradation promoted by the City of Jacksonville over the past 60 or so years. Slowly and with much perserverence the neighborhood is being salvaged and restored by hardcore local preservationalists who understand the longterm values history and heritage.

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