Downtown Jacksonville has a shortage of hotels. It’s an issue that has existed for decades and even resulted in national ridicule for the city when it hosted the Super Bowl in 2005.
But there was a time, several years ago, when downtown Jax boasted over two dozen hotels. It was back in the heyday of the area, when theaters, restaurants, and streetcars lined its streets rather than empty buildings and skyscrapers.
Most of those hotels were demolished long ago. The rest have either been adapted for another use or continue to sit unused.
We’ve chosen a handful of these historic hotels to highlight; this is by no means a comprehensive list, but it’s a good sampling of the type of hotels that once graced downtown Jax.
Built in 1909, the Seminole Hotel at the corner of Hogan and Forsyth streets was designed in Prairie style by noted architect Henry J. Klutho. The 10-story building was one of the three tallest structures in Jacksonville when it was first built.
The hotel was owned and operated by hotelier J.B. Pound, who also owned multiple hotels in Savannah, GA. It featured a coffee shop, barber shop, cigar and newspaper stand, and a ticket station that sold tickets for different forms of travel. Each room had a radio, a bath and shower, and full-length mirrors.
Its most distinctive feature was the Indian Room, a cocktail lounge and bar that featured “authentic scenes” of life from Florida’s Seminole tribe.
Like the Windsor, the hotel came under the control of Robert Meyer at some point.
The Seminole closed in the late ’60s and was torn down in 1974, after which the property was used as a parking lot. Its property is now utilized for part of the Bank of America Tower. Some of the original ornamental Seminole heads from the building were preserved and have been sporadically displayed over the years.
