Jacksonville Architecture

Two years after the remodeling of the sanctuary next door, (D-34) the growing congregation of the First Baptist Church began construction of this six-story building which, according to a 1927 Jacksonville Journal article, was the second largest Sunday School building in the world at that time. The builder R. J. Gallespie had also been the contractor for the 1924 remodeling of the sanctuary. The upper-story level is richly adorned with terra-cotta ornaments, basket-weave patterned brickwork, and paired arched windows within larger arches, which surmount uninterrupted vertical piers. In 1938 the building was sold to the Gulf Life Insurance Co., which was founded in 1911 in Pensacola and transferred its operations to Jacksonville in 1915. Gulf Life maintained this building as its headquarters until it moved into its 27-story office tower on the south bank of the river in 1967. Today, the old Sunday School building is once again used by First Baptist Church. Its handsome and yet restrained facade makes an important contribution to the diversity of Downtown Jacksonville.