The St. James Hotel, Jacksonville, Florida 1889 Promotional Brochure.
AN UNRECORDED COLOR-LITHOGRAPHED PROMOTION FOR JACKSONVILLE'S GREAT GILDED AGE HOTEL.
An exceptionally scarce and visually impressive promotional piece for the St. James Hotel, one of the landmarks of 19th-century Jacksonville and an important destination for winter visitors to Florida.
JACKSONVILLE AT THE HEIGHT OF THE WINTER-RESORT ERA.
Opening accordion-style to nearly 27 inches, the brochure forms a continuous sequence of five lithographed views. The reverse combines hotel promotion with practical information for the traveler, including distances from Jacksonville and transportation connections.
The brochure dates from the St. James's mature period under longtime proprietor J. R. Campbell. Contemporary accounts describe it as Florida's pioneering fashionable tourist hotel and emphasize its importance not merely as lodging but as a center of Jacksonville's winter social life.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: FIVE VIEWS IN AN ACCORDION-FOLD FORMAT.
+++ Single sheet folded accordion-style into five panels on each side.
+++ Unfolded 27.0 × 3.5 inches; folded 3.5 × 5.5 inches.
+++ The illustrated side contains five color-lithographed views, including the pictorial title panel. The sequence depicts the exterior and grounds of the St. James, broad verandas and public spaces, the hotel's large dining room, and its landscaped setting.
+++ The reverse contains promotional and descriptive text arranged across the five panels, including a general description of the St. James, comments on its facilities and location, a Table of Distances from Jacksonville, and transportation information.
+++ Dated within the text Jacksonville, Fla., November 1, 1889.
CONDITION: Very Good. Light rubbing along the margins of the title panel. Neat repairs to several folds. Minor expected handling and age wear. The accordion structure remains complete, and the five illustrated panels present well.
No copies located in OCLC/WorldCat.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE HOTEL THAT HELPED MAKE JACKSONVILLE A FLORIDA DESTINATION.
Opened in 1869 and repeatedly enlarged and modernized, the St. James became one of Jacksonville's best-known hotels and a center of the city's winter resort culture. By the mid-1880s advertisements emphasized its elevator, steam heat, electric lights, baths, large public rooms, and seasonal orchestra—amenities intended to attract affluent Northern travelers.
GOLDEN AGE OF JACKSONVILLE TOURISM.
A period history described the St. James as the pioneer fashionable tourist hotel of Florida, capable of accommodating 500 guests after successive expansions. Its corridors contained ticket and baggage offices, shops and other services, while its parlors, concerts and dances made the hotel an important center of Jacksonville social life.
A LOST JACKSONVILLE LANDMARK.
The St. James did not survive the Great Fire of 1901, making ephemeral views produced during its operation an important record of a defining Jacksonville landmark.
GENRES: Florida Ephemera, Hotel Ephemera, Travel Ephemera, Tourism Brochures, Promotional Literature, Illustrated Brochures, Color Lithography, Accordion-Fold Ephemera
SUBJECTS: Jacksonville Florida, St. James Hotel, J. R. Campbell, Florida Hotels, Florida Tourism, Gilded Age Florida, Jacksonville Tourism, Winter Resorts, Florida Travel, Hotel Architecture, Transportation History, Jacksonville Great Fire of 1901
Ref: Florida Memory
Item #22565
Price: $795.00
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