MYSTERY IMAGE:

                               THE STORE WITH THE FLOOR                          

(Source of picture: Florida State Archives)

OK, this little mystery shouldn't prove too tough to solve: This store, with a most distinctive floor, served Jacksonville in 1948.  However, the Florida State Archives gives no other details.  Does anyone know its name?

MYSTERY SOLVED!!!   And here's the answer, thanks to Giovanni Dattoli, who grew up in Jax: "The store with the floor is the old Towers Hardware Store on Bay Street near Main Street.  This view is from the rear of the store looking toward Bay Street. Your information is this picture is from 1948, the year I was born. When I would go there with my father in the late 50’s and early 60’s the mounted deer head and osprey were still there. I just found your site and enjoy it very much. I remember most of the places you show in your old photos. My father had an army and navy store on Bay Street, in the block where the now old City Hall is (today's City Hall Annex, a multistory building near the Adam's Mark Hotel)."

The northeast portion of the Modis Building is now situated at the site of Towers Hardware.  CLICK HERE for a photo of the narrow storefront.  The president of Towers Hardware Company, Robert S. Towers, lived in a prominent Georgian Revival home at 1854 Montgomery Place in Riverside.

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