Let's Take a Stroll Around the Block! You Never Know What You Missed!
Originally founded in 1914 by Albert B. Johnson, the Johnson Electric Company provided essential services to the Orlando area. As the business grew, Johnson expanded the by taking up additional slots on the block. By 1938, Johnson Electric Co. had been in business for 24 years and proudly boasted its years of service in the 1938 Orlando City Directory.
As one would expect, the Johnson Electric Co. grew to be a major component on the block by the 1940s. By 1946, Johnson Electric Co. occupied the 23rd through 29th addresses on East Church Street. By 1940, Johnson would see his sons, Donald Johnson and Paul Johnson, joining the company as driver and salesman, respectively. Donald was 24 years old and Paul was 22 years old at the time.
An older gentleman by the name of Charles W. Johnson, of no noted relation to Albert B. Johnson, was listed as the 79-year-old secretary of the company. Meanwhile, Ben P. Brisbane was the 44-year-old treasurer of the company. Johnson Electric Co. seemed to be on the right track to flourish through the 1940s. The business catered to anyone in need of electrical work, including lighting and electrical contracting and appliance, washing machine, and refrigerator repair.
Johnson Electric Co. survived the purchase of the block at the start of the 1960s, but was later purchased by Harry A. Ferran in 1981. Ferran merged Johnson Electric with Ward Air-Conditioning in the same year to form Ferran Engineering Group, Inc. Today, Johnson Electric adds its long business history to Ferran Servicing and Contracting. The vans of Ferran can still be seen in the streets of Orlando today, along with their headquarters at 530 Grand Street.
The image to the left is a fishing lure intended to replicate the kinds of goods that William R. Jackson sold at his sporting goods store. Jackson Sport Goods, as it appears in the Orlando Remembered SunTrust Center exhibit, opened its doors sometime between 1935 and 1938, but is only confirmed to be in existence beginning in 1938 through the Orlando City Directory.
Secondary evidence from scanned versions of the 1940 census mention William Jackson, who was married to Ozzie Jackson beginning in 1935. However, the accuracy of the census scans is questionable due to a multitude of mistranslated information; the least of which is the couple living in Lakeland, Florida.
Milton Stanley Vergowe moved to the Orlando area in 1926 and served as an assistant secretary to First Bond & Mortgage Company. Vergowe’s prospects improved over the following years, and, in 1930, he achieved treasurer status at the company. However, for an unknown reason, by 1940, Vergowe was no longer listed as an employee for the First Bond & Mortgage Company; instead, he was a listed as real estate salesman with no company affiliation. By 1942, Vergowe joined the block when he opened his business at 29 East Church Street.
Ethleen Vergowe, Vergowe’s wife, was also listed in 1940 census as a real estate saleswoman. Although the records regarding Ethleen’s involvement are scarce, it is highly likely that she aided her husband’s venture agency on the block. The pair’s experience in real estate and Vergowe’s experience at First Bond & Mortgage Company must have played a part in their agency still being present in the 1952 Orlando City Directory.
Amos Andrew Roper, the listed broker for Roper Realty, was 54 years old when he moved to the Orlando area in 1930. At the time, he was listed in the 1940 census as a real estate agent with no company attached to his name. George Oliver Roper, Amos A. Roper’s son, entered into the family business of real estate, but did not move to the Orlando area until he was 45 years old in 1945. The Roper Realty business is listed in the Orlando City Directory beginning in 1946, but does not seem to be present in the 1956 Orlando City Directory. The business appears to have moved in 1949 to the address listed in the advertisement; however, before this date, the directories listed the business at 72 East Church Street. Both Roper and his son died in 1961 and are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, according to the U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms dating from 1928-1962.
Information on J. Daniel Kolar is fairly sparse and difficult to obtain. Kolar’s business is listed in the 1948-54 Orlando City Directory, but it does not appear in the 1946 or 1956 Orlando City Directory. Therefore, it would be highly likely that J. Daniel Kolar’s business was only in operation from 1948 to 1954-55. The only listing for J. Daniel Kolar beyond the 1948-54 city directories is a listing from a 1943 Orlando City Directory, which listed him as Vice President of Sunray Product, Inc. According to the 1943 listing, Kolar resided at 473 South Orange Avenue with his wife, Helen M. Kolar. By 1954 the couple is listed as living in Ocoee, Florida, with no address listed.
Stanley Deware first appears on the block in the 1945 Orlando City Directory at 226 Main Street (present-day Magnolia Avenue). According to the directories, Deware was a radio mechanic AFTC, which was an acronym used by the government and military to refer to Audio Frequency Track Circuits. Deware was listed this way to denote his experience with this form of radio communication as a form of credentials. Deware was listed to be in business on the block up until 1956, which coincides with the rough date in which the block began being bought out for the future CNA Tower and plaza.
Deware was married to Hester P. Deware, who was also listed as Ester P. Deware in some directories. Deware’s wife was a registered nurse in the Orlando area. The two resided at 217 West Orlando Avenue.
Nick Serros was born in Greece in 1888 and immigrated to the United States in 1923. According to his son Robert “Bobby” Serros, “My grandfather came to Orlando in the 1920s and he did what a lot of Greeks did when they arrived in a new town – he opened a restaurant.” Robert Serros stated this while remembering his father on July 12, 2002, during a press release about Amber Diagnostics, a radiology firm of which Robert Serros was a partner.
Nick Serros opened the Serros Fish & Poultry Company in the late 1930s. The business remained on the block until it was bought out to make way for the CNA Tower and parking. The company itself was listed in the Orlando City Directory at 37 East Jackson Street. In 1946-47, it expanded to 37-41 East Jackson Street. Besides Nick Serros as owner, the directories list George C., who was a traveling salesman for Serros. George C. is also listed in 1949 as the president of the Order of American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) Lodge No. 161 and as a resident of 937 South Mills. Robert Serros and his brother, Andrew N. Serros, also worked for their father.
Nick Serros lived at 1316 East Washington Street with his wife, Antoinette Serros, and three sons, Jerome Serros, Andrew N. Serros, and Robert Serros, until 1945 when he moved to 1400 East Washington.
Serros was an active citizen of Orlando who contributed to the founding of the Tangerine Bowl, was a member of the Elks Lodge #1079, and contributed to the local newspaper The Orlando Sentinel. Andrew N. Serros, in a letter to Bill Baer, stated, “Bill, I remember a meeting with my dad, Nick Serros and Larry Sattariano in the kitchen of our house at 1400 E. Washington, over a loaf of bread, some cheese and a jug of wine. We were planning a way to raise money for the B.P.O. Elks Lodge #1079 and the Harry Anna Cripple Children Home in Umatilla, Florida.” In the letter, Andrew N. Serros mentions how Sattariano suggested that a college football game could be organized and ads could be run for the game to raise money. This discussion is how the Tangerine Bowl and future Citrus Bowl that replaced it were born.
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