Visual Ephemera's Most Threatened Sites for 2012

The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation is publishing their call for the 11 most threatened historical places in Florida, so I thought I'd come with my own. Introducing the Visual Ephemera Top 12 Threatened Places in Florida. To qualify it has to be a subject I've blogged about, or at least closely related. Drum roll please....

12. McNamera Pontiac Sign(s), Orlando

I've blogged about vintage stuff in my town before and this is one of our best neon signs. There is also a great service sign around the corner. This dealership has been vacant for quite some time now and I see these signs ending up in someone's collection...

11. Firestone in St. Augustine

Every time we return to see the nation's oldest city, I am surprised to see this mid-century dealership still hanging in there, as it is prime real estate. It would be fun to see it re-purposed into something cool, but that seems unlikely.

10. Wreck Bar

A certain mermaid has been working hard to keep the Wreck Bar relevant while the Sheraton chain considers remodeling. One of the few porthole bars left in this country, it would be a shame to lose.

9. Tomoka State Park sculpture

Created by renown artist Frederick Dana Marsh, this monumental sculpture needs some loving in a big way. With our underfunded State Parks as caretakers, I don't see it happening soon.

8. Orange City Historic District

Historic District advocate Dallas Wittgenfeld says "most historically significant houses in Orange City are going to be demolished soon and right across the street from our historic founding hotel. Very sad."



7. The Marion S. Whaley Citrus Packing House, Rockledge

Despite being on the National Register of Historic Places, this future looks grim for this complex on US 1.



6. Bob White Citrus Packing Plant, De Leon Springs

What does one do with an old citrus processing facility? This complex of buildings on US 17 continues to deteriorate.

5. Glen Springs pool, Gainesville

Three Elks club members are doing all that they can, but without some help, the pool will eventually start to cave in.



4. Lake Worth Shuffleboard Courts

See previous post. The meeting to determine the future of the courts is later this month.

3. North Florida lakes

Drought+overuse of the aquifer=dry lakes. Livelihoods are being destroyed as it is difficult to fish where there is no water.


2. Florida Springs

Artist Margaret Tolbert says "although flow in the Itchetucknee has declined 15 percent, and White Springs, Nassau County no longer flows, it has scarcely excited notice..." in her book "Aquiferous". The quality and quantity of the water is at big risk, and the current political climate has made their preservation even more perilous.

1. Belleview Biltmore

The real reason for this post. I've blogged about Henry Plant's Tampa Hotel and the PICO building but never actually seen his former Hotel Belleview near Clearwater. Florida's last operating grand wooden hotel, the city of Bellair meets to consider a demolition permit next week. Want to help try to preserve it? Send an email to: the Mayor and commissioners: gkatica@townofbelleair.net, sfowler@townofbelleair.net, tshelly@townofbelleair.net, kpiccarreto@townofbelleair.net, mwilkinson@townofbelleair.net

Quick stop in tiny Citra

Like Orange City, Citra is a small town with an old US highway going through it, (US 301), that was centered around the growing of citrus. The town's most distinctive feature today is the wonderful Citrus Shop, which has been in business since 1936. My stop last weekend fell during the citrus off season, so I could only take photos of the building and the signs and plan a return trip later in the Fall.




The freeze of 1894 forced many 19th century citrus growers further south.
Image from the State Archives of Florida.

This wonderful Baptist church was built in 1893.


This former bank appears to be in the midst of restoration.

What I enjoy about little towns like Orange City and Citra is that they have in large part escaped the out-of-control growth and bland homogenization that plagues the rest of Florida. There are contemporary structures, but here and there are wonderful historic structures without fanfare or celebration. And the landscape outside of town, especially around Citra, is pure Old Florida. It has a rural feeling with wonderful moss draped live oaks and large palmetto stands instead of strip malls and convenience stores.

Overgrown in Old Volusia

On my recent visit to De Leon Springs, I returned to the Strawn Citrus Packing House to show my friends and see how it was holding up. This collection of buildings in West Volusia County, on the National Register of Historic Places, is also on the most threatened list of historic structures in Florida. As you can see by the photos, it's falling into increasingly worse shape: more broken windows and it looks like more trespassing has occurred. The property still appears to be for sale and is obviously not being maintained.

I found vintage photographs of the packinghouse in the State Archives that show the buildings in their prime. Shots on Flickr of the interior show it littered with wooden crates like the ones stacked in the bottom picture. It would have been nice to preserve some of these artifacts of Central Florida's agricultural past, but I'm sure they've all been stolen or vandalized.

The Volusia County website says this about the property:
"The 12 contributing buildings and three contributing structures that comprise the packinghouse complex retain their original architectural integrity to a high degree and represent the largest citrus-related historic district documented in Florida. The sawmill is one of few examples left in Florida of an early 20th century timber processing operation. All the buildings and structures associated with this listing are in an advanced state of deterioration." The question is does anyone care enough to stop the deterioration?

Preserving America

It seemed like no one I knew was working on Friday, July 3rd so I decided to take the day off and take a little road trip to see a little bit of America. My wife and I headed to Volusia County, two counties north of our home in Orlando, and spent most of this hot summer day exploring historic sites. First, we stopped at the Bob White Citrus packinghouse in DeLeon Springs. Located just off Hwy 17, this abandoned facility is on the National Historic Registry, but is also listed as one of the top ten threatened sites in Florida by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. According to the website, this collection of interesting buildings, marked by a large "for sale" sign by the road, is "threatened by vacancy, lack of financial resources for their preservation, and proposed demolition."


My wife's grandfather and uncles all worked in citrus packing houses like this, maintaining the machinery and keeping things running. While we didn't venture inside, I imagine that in its heyday, it didn't look all that different from this photograph of the Dr. Phillips Citrus packinghouse in Orlando.

Image from the Orange County Regional History Center

Next, we headed south to DeLand, home of Stetson University. DeLand has a wonderful little downtown, somehow it managed to remain vital and relevant through the years and we love to visit there. On this trip, we stopped at two restored historic homes. First we visit the DeLand House Museum, a little beauty a block off the main drag with a gift shop and citrus display in the back. Part of the display is memorial to Lue Gim Gong, a Chinese immigrant who was a pioneer in citrus horticulture.


Just a little ways from DeLand's downtown is the Stetson Mansion, the former home of John B. Stetson of Stetson hat fame. This 10,000 foot beauty is only open for private tours of 12 or more people and I hope to return one day to see the inside for myself!


Down the road from DeLand is DeBary, (not sure why all the towns in southern Volusia start with "De", there is Deltona too), home of the DeBary Hall. The former winter estate of German-born immigrant Frederick de Bary, this restored home is kept up wonderfully by Volusia County. Built in the late 1800s, this magnifcent structure held a commanding view of Lake Monroe, and it is a intersting place to visit. DeBary, an avid hunter, made his fortune importing Mumms champagne, but built great wealth creating an empire that included orange groves and a fleet of 13 steamships that worked up and down the St. Johns River.

The "Frederick de Bary" steamship from the State Archives of Florida

Vintage images of DeBary Hall from the State Archives of Florida

What a vivid contrast to visit historical sites in dire need of preservation and those that have been lovingly restored. Historic preservation can trace it roots to the efforts of a group of dedicated ladies who bought and then restored Gerorge Washington's home, Mt. Vernon. The results of their efforts and others, who champion historic sites, is a gift to us all. Let us hope we have the wisdom to preserve more of America for future generations to enjoy and learn from.