Gainesville Mid-20th Century Cultural Resource Survey

The City of Gainesville, Florida is a Certified Local Government (CLG) with a historic preservation ordinance, five local historic districts, and 12 individual buildings locally designated. Gainesville has four National Register Historic Districts and 34 structures listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places. The local and National Register districts and sites were largely identified through cultural resource surveys undertaken in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Since 50 is the age when cultural resources are typically evaluated for potential significance, Gainesville’s earlier surveys did not assess buildings or sites built after the 1930s.

The purpose of the Gainesville Mid-20th Century Cultural Resource Survey was to complete a city-wide, first-order inventory and assessment of historical, cultural, and architectural resources from circa 1945 to 1975 and to identify themes and areas for future research.

The survey was undertaken by the City of Gainesville in partnership with the University of Florida’s Historic Preservation Program and Gainesville Modern – a local, non-profit advocacy group dedicated to preserving the City’s modern architectural past and promoting its future through education, advocacy, and awareness. The survey was supported by the Florida Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources through its Small Matching Grant program (FY2018, FY2020). Additional financial assistance was granted through the Certified Local Government program’s Historic Preservation Fund, administered by the National Park Service, Department of Interior. The Matheson History Museum hosted public presentations and hosted an exhibition of the outcomes of the first phase of the survey.

Informed by the U.S. National Park Service’s Cultural Resource Management Guideline (NPS-28), Gainesville Mid-20th Century Cultural Resource Survey employed a multifaceted approach to identify and collect information on residential suburban neighborhoods and individual buildings potentially eligible for designation locally or for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

As part of preparing a historic context statement for Gainesville’s post-World War II era (ca.1945-1975), five initial themes were identified for further research and study.

There were six building categories evaluated ranging from commercial structures to single family residences and spiritual buildings like churches. These buildings have been deemed eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places based on Criterion C or G for their representation of the mid-century modern architecture that helps characterize the built environment of post-World War II Gainesville.

It took the loss of several important historical resources by the early 1970s, and the threat of urban redevelopment in and around the “Duck Pond”, to galvanize a citizens’ movement towards protection of the Old Northeast neighborhood’s architectural and historical character. Many of the large, ornate houses of the late 19th and early 20th century had been subdivided for rental apartments since the post-war years, with little regard to their architectural integrity. A key 19th century building within the center of the neighborhood, the Thomas Hotel, was threatened with demolition and redevelopment of the site.

 Historic Gainesville Inc. (HGI) was formed in March 1972 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the cause of historic preservation. One of their first projects was to find a successful adaptive use for the Thomas Hotel. As a result of a dedicated group composed of preservation activists, who were also leading professionals in the community, the building was successfully preserved, and the Thomas Center today houses the City of Gainesville’s Planning and Building Departments as well as numerous cultural events within the building and the grounds.

 Even in the midst of redevelopment plans for the urban core, administrators within the City of Gainesville understood the potential for historic preservation as a redevelopment tool in the downtown area, and had formed a subcommittee to investigate the feasibility of implementing a program. Key figures included prominent figures in the blossoming national historic preservation movement. University of Florida professor and architect F. Blair Reeves had been training his students in HABS documentation and had conducted architectural and historical inventories around the City for several years. Dr. Carl Feiss, a professor of urban planning, had inventoried the historic structures of Charleston in 1932, and served as executive director for the US Conference of Mayors Special Committee on Historic Preservation. Feiss was the editor of that committee’s report document “With Heritage So Rich, “ [1] which ultimately lent the framework to the creation of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act.[2] The City subcommittee developed public educational programs on the benefits of historic preservation and worked on strategies for funding projects. Volunteers were recruited to conduct inventories, research the history of local buildings and neighborhoods, and develop case studies for local preservation ordinances in effect in other parts of the county. As the HGi webpage noted,

Eventually, hundreds of people contributed to write the 1978 federal nomination for the Northeast Residential Historic District, as well as a county-wide historic structure inventory. HGI sponsored out-of-town speakers to lecture on historic preservation experiences, both good and bad, in other cities and turned this information over to the city and county planning staffs. Out of the research effort the residents became more than a feisty crowd; they became contributors to a city and county effort that enjoyed broad community support. [3]

In an interview, local Gainesville architect, realtor and board member of Historic Gainesville Inc., William (Bill) Warinner AIA, recalls the evolution of the HGI committee for historic preservation. 

We formed and I initially chaired the preservation review, or preservation committee, that morphed ultimately into what became known as the urban conservation advisory board. And that was a standing committee. Now [called] the urban conservation advisory board. Then that morphed into the city's historic review board, historic preservation review board. So all of that came together.[4]

From the inception of the preservation movement in Gainesville in the early 1970s into the 21st century, the City of Gainesville remains committed to the benefits of historic preservation and continues to promote historic preservation as a tool for sustainable community revitalization. Recent issues addressed by the City include the use of innovative regulatory tools such as the creation of heritage overlay districts (areas that and preserve distinct identities of neighborhoods, where the area may not meet the traditional criteria for a designated historic district, and expansion of the historic tax credit to these designated areas.

1. "With Heritage So Rich”, Random House, 1966.
2. http://www.afn.org/~hgi/ Web page link for Historic Gainesville Inc.
3. http://www.afn.org/~hgi/ Web page link for Historic Gainesville Inc.
4. Interview with architect Bill Warinner AIA, February 2020.

The study was completed over two phases: Phase 1 (2017-2018) and Phase 2 (2019-20200. Survey activities were informed by coursework and research of the University of Florida Historic Preservation Program (2015-2019). For more information about the program, click the link below.

Survey outcomes of the multi-year project include, among others:

• Context Statement developed identifying four primary historic themes: University of Florida, Civil Rights, Historic Preservation, and Mid-Century Modern Architecture
• Survey of post-World War II residences and buildings within existing local historic districts
• Some 60 single-family, residential suburban neighborhoods identified, mapped, and summarized
• 11 single-family, residential suburban neighborhoods surveyed and evaluated (six by UFHP and five by volunteers coordinated by Gainesville Modern)
• 32 individual buildings representing six types (commercial / corporate, educational, governmental, residential, and spiritual were identified and researched
• 1,000 new and 45 updated Florida Master Site File forms prepared for neighborhoods and individual buildings
• Bios for 16 architects who designed a building(s) during the study period (12 based in Gainesville)
• Some 120 home builders and / or developers identified
• Two National Register of Historic Places nominations prepared: University Lutheran Church as prime, local example of mid-century modern design and Old Mount Carmel Baptist Church for its association with local Civil Rights movement.
• Geospatial database to track and disseminate survey information on neighborhoods and individual buildings
• ArcGIS StoryMap to share summary of survey and its outcomes