Secretary Detzner Announces Recent Designation of Florida Properties on National Register of Historic Places

TALLAHASSEE –

Secretary of State Ken Detzner announced today that several Florida properties have recently been listed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

“I am pleased to announce the listing of these historic Florida resources on the National Register of Historic Places,” said Secretary Detzner. “These properties represent the broad spectrum of Florida life and history, having served as homes or municipal centers, and as places of business, worship, recreation, and tourism.”

 Florida properties recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places include:

 The Gary-Morgan House in Winter Park, Orange County, is an excellent residential two-story example of the Classical Revival Style. Completed in 1927 at a cost of $20,000, the house was designed by Winter Park architect D. Harold Hair along the north shore of Lake Mizell.  Built just after the collapse of the Florida Land Boom, the house is unusual as relatively few buildings of any type were constructed in Winter Park during that time.

 The Cummings House in Putnam County, was built in 1903 by Henry Cummings, founder of the lumber town of Rodman. This company town was built around the timber business and was the foundation of Putnam County’s economy at the time. During the early 1900s, Cummings also built a hotel, two churches, two schools. From 1915 to 1920, Rodman was at its prime, supporting approximately 4,000 residents. The Cummings House is all that remains of the former company town.

 The W.T. Davis Building in downtown Madison, Madison County, is a two-story brick commercial building constructed in 1892 by local builder William Turner Davis. The W. T. Davis Building functioned as the center of community activity from 1890-1910, with offices and his son’s pharmacy on the first floor, and an opera house on the second floor. Over time, the second floor space served various functions, including as an armory for the hometown militia. The W.T. Davis Building is a local landmark due to the elaborate level of ornamentation, and is now home to the Treasures of Madison County Museum.

 The Taylor House in Tallahassee, Leon County, was built in 1894 for Lewis and Lucretia Taylor and served as the home for several generations of the Taylor family, many of whom became leaders and educators for the Tallahassee and Leon County region. Lewis Taylor was renowned for tutoring children regardless of color, an exceptional role at that time for an African American living in the South. His own children were well-educated, and many also became teachers. In the third generation of Taylor family educators, Aquilina Casanas Howell played a pivotal role in guiding the Leon County school system through desegregation in the mid-20^th century. Now a museum, the house was designated a Local Historic Landmark in 2011. The two-story Frame Vernacular house is one of the last and oldest remaining residences from the historically African American neighborhood of Frenchtown.

 For more information about the National Register of Historic Places program administered by the National Parks Service, visit nps.gov/nr.

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 About the National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places is a list maintained by the National Park Service which includes historical or archaeological properties (buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts) that are considered worthy of preservation because of their local, statewide and/or national significance. Nominations for properties in Florida are submitted to the National Park Service through the Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State. Florida has over 1,600 listings on the National Register, including 275 historical districts and 170 archaeological sites. To learn more, visit dos.myflorida.com/historical/preservation/national-register/.

 About the Bureau of Historic Preservation

The Bureau of Historic Preservation conducts historic preservation and folklife programs aimed at identifying, evaluating, preserving and interpreting the historic and cultural resources of the state. The Bureau manages a grants-in-aid program to help preserve and maintain Florida’s historic buildings and archaeological sites, and coordinates the State Historic Markers program and the Florida Main Street Program.  Under federal and state laws, the Bureau oversees the National Register of Historic Places program for Florida, maintains an inventory of the state's historical resources in the Florida Master Site File, assists applicants in federal tax benefit and local government ad valorem tax relief programs for historic buildings, and reviews the impact that development projects may have on significant historic resources. The Florida Folklife program identifies and promotes the state's traditional cultures, and coordinates folklife apprenticeship and award programs. For more information, visit dos.myflorida.com/historical/preservation/.