A late LaVilla businessman’s folk-art version of the Smithsonian Institution is one vote away from receiving historic protection after advancing through the City Council Land Use and Zoning Committee on Nov. 6.
On 5-0 votes, the committee approved legislation that would designate The Whetstonian Building at 801 N. Jefferson St. and the neighboring Atlanta Life Insurance Co. Building at 821 N. Jefferson St. as city landmarks. The actions came on ordinances 2024-0771 and 2024-0772 after a public hearing in which no one commented.
The late Walter Whetstone used the buildings to display his collection of antiques, artifacts and art, which he spent decades pulling from curbsides and buying from thrift shops and yard sales.
Taking a cue from the Smithsonian Institution, which is named for founding donor James Smithson, Whetstone called his collection the Whetstonian.
With its weathered metal awnings, brightly painted iron window coverings and exterior decorations like wagon wheels and bathtub planters, the two-story brick building at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Union streets is likely a familiar site to Downtown commuters and sports fans who travel on Union from Interstate 95 or West Jacksonville.
Whetstone, a Jacksonville native, purchased the buildings in 1998. He had risen from being a Western Union bicycle messenger in his youth to a career as a Gulf Life Insurance Co. agent that culminated in an induction into the company’s hall of fame.
A report from the city Planning and Development Department said the buildings had historic value preceding Whetstone’s ownership.
The report identified the structures as among the last remaining buildings from LaVilla’s days as a vibrant commercial and cultural area, which ended in the 1990s when the neighborhood was largely razed in the name of urban redevelopment.
Businesses that operated in the building at 801 N. Jefferson St. through the 1970s included grocery stores, restaurants, a pharmacy, a TV shop and an investment company. By the late 1980s, the building had been condemned and was slated for demolition when Whetstone bought it.
The Atlantic Life Insurance Co. Building was built in 1965 from a design by Jacksonville architect Emilio Zeller III. A former slave, Alonzo Herndon, founded the Atlanta Life Insurance Co. in 1922.
With the LUZ committee approvals, the ordinances advance to a final vote by the full City Council on Nov. 12.
If approved, the legislation would require that any alterations, additions, new construction, relocation and demolition that would be visible from the public right-of-way would be subject to approval by the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission.