Personnel at the Downtown Orlando Post Office, 1941
Orlando (Fla.)
Taken in 1941, this group photograph shows all the operational staff at the newly constructed Downtown Orlando Post Office, located at 51 East Jefferson Street in Downtown Orlando, Florida. All employees of the Post Office, including the custodians, were considered full employees of the federal government making these jobs quite sought after by the general public. Employees were well taken care of thanks to government benefits and job security was rather high making these jobs secure and reliable sources of income.
In 1935, when James Beggs, Jr. became the postmaster, he began petitioning to move the post office from its Central Boulevard and Court Avenue location to a more spacious building. In 1939, St. James Catholic Church sold a plot of land on Jefferson Street for the new building. The building's designer was Louis Simon, who used a Northern Italian Palazzo Revival-style. The new building opened in 1941 and housed the post office, the courthouse, and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offices.
Original black and white photograph, 1941: <a href="http://orlandoremembered.org/" target="_blank">Orlando Remembered</a> Exhibit, <a href="http://tinyurl.com/o4zfrls" target="_blank">Downtown Orlando Post Office</a>, Downtown Orlando, Florida.
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Downtown Orlando Post Office, Downtown Orlando, Florida
Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to S. M. Crowell (April 23, 1931)
Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948
Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)
Crime--Florida
An original letter of correspondence between Joshua Coffin Chase and S. M. Crowell, a laborer at Isleworth Grove. Topics discussed in the letter include instructions to obtain padlocks to use on gates in case of breakage and a reward for the detection and conviction of any individual breaking in to Isleworth Grove. <br /><br />Chase & Company was established by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase in 1884. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century. By 1886, the Chase brothers purchased several citrus groves to expand their business, including Isleworth Grove in Windermere, Florida. Isleworth Grove covered a total of 1,300 acres along the Butler Chain of Lakes. Between 1894 and 1895, Central Florida was hit by several freezes and most of the citrus crop was destroyed. Chase & Company did not grow citrus crops again until 1904 when Joshua came back from an extended stay in California. Between 1894 and 1900, different types of pesticide equipment was created, including equipment driven by steam, machines, and horses.Randall Chase joined in the family business soon after his brother, Sydney Chase, Jr., did in 1922. Randall became the president of Chase & Company from 1948-1965. The Isleworth property stayed in the Chase family until 1984 when Franklin Chase, the son of Sydney Chase, sold the property to famed golfer Arnold Palmer.
Chase, Joshua Coffin
Original letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to S. M. Crowell, April 23, 1931: box 49, folder 20.84, <a href="http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm" target="_blank">Chase Collection (MS 14)</a>, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
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Isleworth Grove, Windermere, Florida