You have no idea of what was once located here!

3. Hotel George Washington


The George Washington Hotel during the 1920s. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/31356

On November 11, 1925, Robert Kloeppel announced his intentions to construct the largest and most magnificent hotel in Jacksonville. Designed by local architectural firm Marsh & Saxelbye, Kloeppel's $1.5 million Hotel George Washington opened its doors on December 15, 1926. Standing 13 stories tall, the George Washington was the nation's first 100% air-conditioned hotel and each of its 350 rooms featured a radio loudspeaker and headphones. The "Hotel George Washington" sign, built on the rooftop, was the first neon sign in the city. With its opening, Jacksonville had arrived on the scene as a rapidly growing cosmopolitan city and hub for conventions and large meetings.  Street level retail uses in the massive structure included a steak house, cocktail lounge, a Rexall drugstore and a barber shop.



In 1927, at a George Washington Hotel dinner-dance party, Kloeppel announced a $1,000 prize for the first flier to conquer the Atlantic.  His hope was that the winner would come to Jacksonville to collect. His wish came true, when Charles Lindbergh accomplished the feat less than a month later, coming to the George Washington to collect the pot on May 16, 1927.

After Kloeppel's death, his son sold the hotel to William H. (Big Bill) Johnston in 1963.  Johnston, owner of Jacksonville's dog tracks and Chicagoland's Sportsman's Park, had ties with the Al Capone mob. Johnston had taken control over the tracks after the former owner, Edward J. O'Hare, was murdered in a Chicago gangland shooting 1939. O'Hare was the father of Medal of Honor recipient Butch O'Hare, for whom Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is named.


The Brook's Fashion Show, sponsored by Levy's and Brook's Motors, Inc., featuring fine clothes and cars, packed the George Washington's auditorium in 1960. Courtesy of http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1960/1960News/02a-reg.jpg

During Johnston's reign, the George Washington was downtown's only five star hotel. In September 1964 on the heals of Hurricane Dora, the Beatles appeared at the George Washington for a press conference.  In town for perform at the Gator Bowl, they had refused to accept the Jacksonville booking until they received assurance that the audience would not be segregated by race.


John Lennon of the Beatles during a press conference at the George Washington Hotel in Jacksonville. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, https://floridamemory.com/items/show/269427

Big Bill Johnston sold the hotel in 1969. After Johnston's departure, one by one, the businesses inside the ground floor went out of business. The hotel was closed in 1971 and quickly torn down in 1973 for a surface parking lot. At the time, surface parking was considered a higher and best use of older downtown properties than the buildings constructed on them. 42 years later, the site of what was once "The Wonder Hotel of the South" still sits underutilized and virtually abandoned in ruin. If you look hard enough, you can still identify the floors where the likes of Charles Lindbergh and the Beatles once roamed.






The structural remains to the hotel's parking garage and auditorium. The Brook's Fashion Show was one of several popular events that took place in the George Washington's auditorium.


Stories Behind the Concrete Slabs of Jax: Part I

Stories Behind the Concrete Slabs of Jax: Part II