(Source of image: Florida State Archives)

The road running into the northern horizon is Blanding Boulevard, and seen in the distance is a traffic light over the intersection of Blanding and San Juan.  This Westside view has changed quite a bit since 1948, the time of the photo.  Blanding is now multilane, and it is crowded with businesses.  A motorcycle dealership, for example, sits in the location of the billboard to the left.  The Lovett's building has survived as the home of Barnett's Art & Frame Shop. 

THE ANONYMOUS POTENTATE? -- When Jax resident William "Bill" Lovett passed away in 1978, the Times-Union called him "perhaps the South's least known multimillionaire."  The eighty-seven-year-old tycoon had created a corporate empire reportedly worth $100 million -- or over $285 million in today's currency!   In large part, the Lovett fortune came from ships, shipyards, supermarkets, and a partnership in Merrill Lynch.  (CLICK HERE for a photo of Mr. Lovett.)   

A flyweight who stood 5'7'' and weighed 130 pounds, Mr. Lovett proved a heavyweight in the retail industry.  Based in Jax, the Winn-Lovett Grocery Company consisted of 73 stores, a sizeable chain at the time.  In 1939, Mr. Lovett sold his controlling interest in this business to a company that eventually became Winn-Dixie.  Although Mr. Lovett no longer owned the stores, the future Winn-Dixie company retained the Lovett name, as shown above. 

Later, Mr. Lovett possessed full or part interest in 200 Piggly Wiggly supermarkets, and he headed the Piggly Wiggly Corporation itself as president and chairman of the board.  This pioneer grocery chain was comprised of about 1,000 stores. 

During the 1960s, moreover, Mr. Lovett purchased two locally-known, competing shipyards.  These were the Merrill-Stevens yard on East Bay Street downtown and the old Gibbs Shipyard on the Southbank, located in the vicinity of today's Charthouse Restaurant.  After merging them into Jacksonville Shipyards Inc., he sold the business to Fruehauf Corporation in 1969.  At one point, the multimillionaire also commanded a fleet of 70 steamships.

Mr. Lovett hailed from the small Florida town of Monticello, near Tallahassee.  For many years, the publicity-shy financier lived in a handsome home overlooking the St. Johns River.  The dwelling still stands on Challen Avenue in the historic Jax neighborhood of Avondale.  Until late in life, Mr. Lovett drove himself to work in one of two 1966 Cadillacs, arriving at about 10:00 A.M. at a spartan downtown office on East Adams Street.  He toiled steadily, breaking only for a meal of peanut butter crackers and buttermilk.  The magnate would leave each evening at 6:00, taking home more work.  One family member described him as being quite devoted to his enterprises. 

In addition to his financial achievements, Mr. Lovett often contributed to a range of charitable causes.  His family has remained one of the River City's most affluent, a mover & shaker on the business scene.

NOTE: The information sources for this description of Mr. Lovett included page B-1 of the Florida Times-Union, March 16, 1978, and Don't Make A & P Mad, by J. E. Davis, published by J. E. Davis, c. 1990.

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