I recently received an email from a Detroit architect who had purchased an old photo album at an estate sale. He sent me some rarely seen and never before published photographs of the Jungle that have been hidden inside a photo album for decades.
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Mike writes:
Last week, I bought an older photo album at an estate sale. My research so far tells me that it was owned by a John Yeats who was an architect born in Scotland in 1897 and died in Detroit in 1975.
A number of the photos show buildings under construction amidst palm trees, and Mr. Yeats in front of his car (with a 1925 Massachusetts license plate). One photo shows signage for the "Gangplank"; researching that led me to the Jungle Country Club neighborhood. And then I found your website.
A photo of Walter Fuller's house in the development on your website seems to match a number of my black and white photos - I've attached both to this email. I would be very interested in knowing the architect of this project.
My working theory is: Immigration records show that Yeats arrived in the USA at Boston in 1920. I assume he stayed in that area, started working for an architect, and was sent to Florida in 1925 to observe construction on both the Fuller residence and the Jungle Country Club development. I know that Yeats later moved to Detroit, where he married and had a baby girl in 1930.
How a Boston architect would be hired - and be able to design in the 1920s Spanish style - is a quandary. A local architect such as Henry Dupont would be more logical.
Any thoughts?
Photos attached: Walter P. Fuller house (from the blog), 2 photos of Walter P. Fuller house during construction (from the photo album)
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Mike,
Thanks for sending the old photos of the Walter Fuller house. I was very excited to see some never before seen pictures of the Jungle area in the 1920's. Since St. Petersburg welcomed a lot of tourists from the north in 1925, my first thought was that John Yeats was just visiting and taking pictures of interesting buildings, especially since you found a picture of the Gangplank speakeasy in the photo album. Then I did a search in newspapers.com and found that a Boston architectural company (Ritchie and Wakeling) opened an office in St. Petersburg around that time and that they had been involved in the "planning" of the Walter Fuller home !!! I haven't been able to connect the name "John Yeats" with Ritchie and Wakeling - next time I visit the library I will see if I can find John Yeats in the city directory for 1925-6.
According to my blog (I had to look it up since I forget these things and the blog is sometimes my best reference), Henry Taylor designed Fuller's Jungle Country Club Hotel and the Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg, so I would have expected him to be involved in the Fuller house, but my blog never mentions the architect of the Fuller house. I'll need to add something about Ritchie and Wakeling to that post.
I have written about the Gangplank, but I have never seen a picture of a sign on the building that said "Gangplank," please send that photo and anything else that might be related. That photo album you purchased was an incredible find.
Thanks for writing and sharing and helping me understand more about my neighborhood history.
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| St. Petersburg Times, Jun 17, 1926 |
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Steve,
I'm almost shocked that my prediction of a Boston architectural firm proved true. Usually my hypotheses blow up big-time.
Attached are the photos I scanned of the Gangplank signage. In the picture on the left, there's a wireframe sign above the woman's head, and to its right is a different sign Gangplank Office.
I believe these two views match the far left of the postcard I got from your site.
Since I scan these photos at 1200 dpi so I can blow them up, the files are resultingly large. I will send another photo in a second email.
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| Jungle Prada building. Jungle Home Exhibit - Open to the Public. "Allen-Fuller Corp" on wireframe sign. The Jungle Prado (now Prada) retail space included the Gangplank speakeasy (Pinellas county's first nightclub), a drug store, grocery store, photography shop, landscape and nursery store, art and metal shop, bead store, drapery shop, real estate offices, and a hardware store. |
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| Jungle Prada building. "The Gangplank" on sign above woman. "Gangplank Office" on another sign. |
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Attached is another pair of photos. I believe the man is John Yeats. Maybe I'm imagining, but I detect some pride of ownership.
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| John Yeats in his automobile on brick paved Park Street. Trolley tracks run down the middle of the street. Golf clubhouse is in the background. 1925 Massachusetts license plate. |
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| John Yeats, Boston architect. Unknown building in background. |
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| colorized |
Mike,
You have made my day!
These are never before published historic photos of the Jungle neighborhood. I can't thank you enough.
Yes, I think John Yeats should be proud of that fine automobile.
In the background of one of the pictures is the clubhouse that was torn down in 1926. The car is parked on the brick-paved Park Street (those bricks are still there today).
Thank you!
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Steve,
I should also thank you. Your blog made it possible for me to connect the one word "gangplank" to the location of my photos.
_________________________________Enlarged details:
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| Gainsborough(?) Studio |
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| The Gangplank |
