Barnett National Bank Building

History of Jacksonville’s Barnett National Bank Building

In the heart of the Central Business District in Downtown Jacksonville, Fla., stands an 18-story building once proudly known as the Barnett National Bank Building in all its former glory. It stands high in Jacksonville’s skyline across from the First National Bank Building, the 10-story Bisbee Building, and the 11-story Florida Life Building—the three buildings known by the locals as the Laura Street Trio. The Barnett Bank story began fifty years earlier on May 7, 1877, when William Boyd Barnett opened the Bank of Jacksonville.

William Boyd Barnett, The Bank’s Founder

William Boyd Barnett was born on September 2, 1824, in Nicholas County, West Virginia, the son of William Barnett Sr. and Mary Jane Murray. His father was recognized as a pioneer of West Virginia and Ohio and served as a Captain in the Pennsylvania regiment during the War of 1812. Barnett married Sarah Jane Blue on November 9, 1848, after moving to Leesburg, Indiana. Her father was Dr. Elijah Blue, who was a successful Leesburg physician.

Six years later, their first child, William D. Barnett, was born on April 3, 1852. The family then moved to the Kansas Territory, which at the time was known as the “Far West.” On October 7, 1857, Bion Hall, their second son, was born while the family lived in Hiawatha, Kansas. On January 2, 1871, Barnett partnered with former Kansas Governor E. N. Morrill and Vermont Banker Lorenzo Janes to form the Barnett, Morrill and Janes Bank. It was located in a second-floor room of a stone corner drug store.

Move to Jacksonville, Florida

In 1874, the young William D. Barnett moved to Jacksonville, Florida, to start a furniture business. His father and mother visited from Kansas the following year. His mother suffered from neuralgia following the birth of their son, Bion. During their visit, her health improved, so they decided to move to Jacksonville as well. The elder William sold his business interests in Hiawatha, Kansas, and moved his wife and 19-year-old son Bion to Jacksonville in March 1877.

During this time, the United States was in the midst of a worldwide economic recession, and Jacksonville lacked the improvements of larger cities. Following the Civil War just a little over a decade earlier, one Union commander described Jacksonville as a “pathetically dilapidated, a mere skeleton of its former self, a victim of war.” The city had poor roads, little electricity, no city water, and a poor sewage system. Reportedly, it was the city’s poor sanitation that led to the two major outbreaks of Yellow Fever.

Humble Beginnings and the Bank of Jacksonville

Jacksonville in 1877 was small, with a population of just 7,500, with no sewage or electricity, no paved roads, and only one rail line. There were also three established banks already in the city. Despite these circumstances, Barnett opened the Bank of Jacksonville on May 7, 1877, with a capital of $43,000 and offices located in Freedman’s Bank Building on the southwest corner of Main and West Forsyth Streets, which had an interesting, albeit short, history of its own.

Incorporated on March 3, 1865, the Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company, better known as the Freedmen’s Bank, was established by Congress alongside the Freedmen’s Bureau to help formerly enslaved people transition into freedom and financial independence. Over time, the institution grew to include 37 branches across the country. However, widespread fraud and mismanagement at the upper levels of leadership led to its collapse, and the bank ultimately closed in 1874. The building in Jacksonville was lost to fire in 1891.

William was the president, Bion was the bookkeeper, and someone was hired as a teller. By the end of its first year, deposits only amounted to $11,000. William pressed on and invited Bion as a full-time partner. William D. Barnett operated his furniture business until 1880, when he joined the bank his father and brother had established as a cashier.

Henry Augustus L’Engle, the Duval County Tax Collector, was conversing with Bion one day when he told him how he was annoyed that the bank that was holding the county’s funds charged $6.75 for each transfer to New York City banks. Bion immediately offered to waive the fee if the county’s funds were deposited into the Bank of Jacksonville, which L’Engle accepted.

The Bank of Jacksonville began to prosper, and by the following year, L’Engle was appointed Treasurer of the State of Florida, having the state’s funds deposited into the bank as well. In 1881, the bank had its first break when Hamilton Disston purchased four million acres from the state for $1 million. This purchase was followed by the first drainage projects, the construction of new railroads, and an influx of new settlers, all of which contributed to Florida’s growth and, in turn, the Bank of Jacksonville.

National Bank of Jacksonville

In 1888, the Barnetts applied for and received a National Charter, allowing them to become the National Bank of Jacksonville. In 1890, the bank had outgrown its offices in the Freedman’s Bank Building and moved to a larger building on the southeast corner of Laura and Bay Streets. That same year, phosphate rock was discovered in Florida, leading to an era of land speculation and mining companies, and ending in the failure of two of Jacksonville’s banks. The Barnetts refused to join in on the speculation.

By 1893, the bank’s deposits had exceeded $1 million. In 1895, the entire state citrus crop was destroyed by a hard freeze. This stressed the banking system, but having several accounts from New York correspondents, the National Bank of Jacksonville weathered the crisis. Despite business slowing down, the Barnetts had once again outgrown their offices, so the lot on the northwest corner of Laura and West Forsyth Streets was purchased, and a new building was constructed in 1898. This building was the sole bank to survive the fire that decimated the city in 1901.

Barnett National Bank

William Boyd Barnett died September 2, 1903. When the national charter expired in May 1908, it was decided to liquidate and reorganize as the Barnett National Bank, taking the name of the bank’s founder. After several years of consideration, it was decided by the Board that an expansion was required to continue the bank’s growth. This decision culminated in the Barnett National Bank Building, built in 1926. It was designed by Mowbray Uffinger, an architecture firm known for bank buildings and as vault engineers, and constructed by the James Stewart Co., which constructed Madison Square Garden in New York. At the time of its competition, it was the tallest skyscraper in the city, standing at 18 stories, and it kept that record until 1954.

According to The Florida Times-Union, at the time of the building’s opening in February 1927, “As one enters from the Adams Street entrance, one is struck by the height of the large room, its light and quiet, comfortable surroundings enriched by the conventional Corinthian columns, with friezes and cornices in harmony with this style of architecture.”

It continues, “The great windows, arching a score of feet above the street, add in a great measure to the sense of light and air in the banking rooms and from the beautiful hanging lanterns used as lighting fixtures, to the interesting tapestry glass—semi-obscure, which is used around the cages with pretty effect, there is not a detail which does not reflect it its entirety the modernity of the bank.” It was said that all the walls and floors in the banking rooms were made of Botticino marble. The bank also included a dedicated department for women located in the rear of the building, which featured a dressing room and private restrooms.

Continued Growth

Bion Barnett died in 1958 at the age of 101 and was succeeded by William R. Barnett as president. For the next two decades, Barnett Bank continued growing with the acquisition of many other banks in Florida. This led to another expansion in 1962 with the construction of a new structure adjoining the Barnett National Bank building, and replacing the old 1898 structure. This new building, which is still standing, was designed by the Jacksonville architecture firm Kemp, Bunch, and Jackson, with construction being carried by the William E. Arnold Company.

Decline

Unfortunately, the bank’s growth came to a halt in the 1970s and 80s under the guidance of Chairman of the Board Hugh Jones. Barnett Bank was slow to get involved in banking mergers across state lines, and when it eventually started purchasing out-of-state banks, it failed to grow its brand by not renaming the acquired banks. Because of this, Barnett Bank was viewed as a small player in the area of mergers and acquisitions, so its stocks began weakening.

Despite this, they had a new headquarters built in 1993 in downtown Jacksonville, the same year Hugh Jones retired. The building, then known as Barnett Center, stands at 42 stories tall and is currently the highest building in Jacksonville.

In 1997, Barnett CEO Charles Rice, just six weeks after a month spent at a drug rehabilitation facility for alcoholism, offered the company up for sale. Charlotte-based NationsBank made the highest offer, which was accepted. The purchase was announced on August 29th, 1997, but before Barnett’s signs could even be changed, Nations merged with BankAmerica, creating the Bank of America, in 1998. Under the new ownership, Bank of America leased out the former Barnett National Bank building on Laura Street to smaller companies into the early 2000s, until it was fully abandoned by 2004.

Revitalization

Both the Barnett National Bank Building and the nearby Laura Street Trio were purchased by Southeast Development Group, a commercial real estate firm based in Jacksonville. Through a joint venture partnership with the Molasky Group, they planned on revitalizing the buildings. Aided by KBJ Architects, the Barnett was restored and opened to the public in 2019. It is now home to the University of North Florida Center for Entrepreneurship, commercial offices, 107 apartment units, Vagabond Coffee, and a Chase Bank branch location.

You can read about the Barnett National Bank Building and many other abandoned places in my books, Abandoned Jacksonville: Remnants of the River City and Abandoned Jacksonville: Ruins of the First Coast.

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