Blast from the Past: Houses and Hotels

Ever heard of the Alachua County Library District's Heritage Collection? No?! The Heritage Collection consists of over 1,100 historical photographs from all aspects of daily life in the Alachua County area. Treat yourself to a journey of amazing historical detail and profound human interest through this annotated photographic exposé of the Alachua region spanning the 1870s through the 1970s. Experience and understand local history in a different way, through the faces and places of the past that still influence the present.

See how people lived from modest homes to elegant abodes. Some of these homes are still standing today. At the beginning of the 1900s, people traveled by horse and wagon or on trains. They stayed in rented rooms in people's homes or boarding houses. Those with more money vacationed at small inns and luxurious hotels, like the Hotel Thomas, now the Thomas Center.

Houses

Bailey House - 1121 NW 6th St., Gainesville. Built by Major James B. Bailey in 1850, it is one of the oldest homes in Gainesville. It still stands today.

D'Acosta House — DaCosta House – 703 NE 1st St., Gainesville. Built in 1886 for the Alachua County Tax Collector, Aaron Joseph DaCosta. It is currently used as offices for the Alachua County Housing Authority.

Granger House - Built in Waldo in the 1890’s, it was the home of railroad engineer George Sumner Granger and stayed in the family until 1981.

Hammond House - 6705 SE 221st St., Hawthorne. Built in 1880 for Francis J. Hammond, grandson of James M. Hawthorn. Francis sold the house to his brother, who then gave it to his daughter Ella Middleton. The home stayed in the family until 2023.

Harrell House - Addie and Lee Harrell owned this home in Brooker. In the picture Addie and Ruth are on the left, Lee in the middle, and Jessie Knight on the right.

Johnson House - Built in Hawthorne in the late 1800’s. The four people in the photograph are unidentified.

Jordan House - 307 NE 3rd St., Gainesville. The house belonged to Birkett Fry Jordan who is sitting on the steps next to his father-in-law, James Chestnut. Birkett’s wife, Serena Chestnut Jordan is sitting on the porch with her mother Amelia Boykin McCaa Chestnut.

NE 4th Ave and 2nd St Gainesville — Originally on the northwest corner of the intersection of Northeast 2nd St. and 4th Ave., the house was moved to the east, across Roper Park, the former parade ground and barracks of the East Florida Seminary.

Price Dickson House - 5758 Ave. F, McIntosh. Henry Price built the home in 1891 and sold it to H. L. Dickson in 1903. It was the first house in McIntosh to get electricity.

Renault House - Dr. D.L. Renault was from Paris, France. He established a medical practice in Waldo by 1883. He operated an apothecary shop and owned a restaurant near the railroad station.

Rivers House - Leona Rivers' home in Gainesville.

Strickland House - Built in the 1890’s for one of Waldo’s earliest physicians, Dr. Joseph Strickland. In 1901, J. L. McCauley a railroad engineer, occupied the home.

Stringfellow House - The land on which the house was built was originally part of the Baird Estate. This picture was taken in 1925.

Wadsworth House - The house later became a funeral home on US 301 in Hawthorne.

Hotels

Arlington House Hotel - Located on the northwest corner of West University Ave. and Main St. It was Gainesville's best hotel at the time, but burned to the ground in 1884.

Brown House Hotel - 100 Block N Main St., Gainesville. It was a popular hotel for many years. Over the years the building has been used for restaurants, a drug store, government and business offices, billiard parlors, and other hotels. Currently the Alachua County Visitors Bureau uses part of the building.

Harvey's Tourist Home - The home used to be on US 441 where Applebee's on 13th St is currently located.

Hotel Hawthorne or Moore Hotel — The Moore Hotel (aka Hotel Hawthorne) - 6635 SE 221st St., Hawthorne. William and Virginia Moore bought three old railroad houses in 1882 and 1883. The hotel catered particularly to wealthy Northerners wintering in Florida. They enjoyed the hunting and fishing facilities provided by the hotel. The hotel was converted into apartments that are still used today.

Thomas Hotel — Hotel Thomas - 302 NE 6th Ave., Gainesville. Sunkist Villa, was originally built as a private residence. Major W.R. Thomas, his wife Kathryn and their 5 children spent 15 years there. Thomas then renovated and expanded, opening Hotel Thomas in 1928. After 40 years the hotel closed and it was Santa Fe Junior College before the city turned it into government offices. The Thomas Center is a popular venue for weddings and other events.

Littledale House Hotel - Run by Mrs. J.W. Kea and then J.W. Brown and wife. It was eventually the site of the Standard Oil Station on US 301.

White House Hotel - Formerly the women's dorms for the East Florida Seminary, the building was purchased by Major W. R. Thomas and converted into the fashionable White House Hotel. It opened in July 1907 and was located in the 400 block of N. Main St., where Truist Bank is today. This postcard is dated April 30, 1934, and the hotel was demolished in 1962.

Blast from the Past: Houses and Hotels

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