Transcript
OPENING OF
Hotel Duval
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA
MARCH 1951
Serving Florida's Capital ... which Serves All Florida
W.G. MANGHAM
Chairman of the Board
HOTEL DUVAL COMPANY
W.W. MANGHAM
Vice-President
HOTEL DUVAL COMPANY
JAMES J. HELM
Manager
HOTEL DUVAL
FOREWORD
HOTEL DUVAL is the brick and mortar manifestation of an ambition of more than a quarter of a century. Many cities were considered, and Tallahassee was finally chosen as the place to build the hotel. Visits to Tallahassee, friendships with its citizens, a son at Florida State University, and an understanding of various vital forces here, such as the gracious culture of the Old South, the intellectual atmosphere created by Florida State University, the political alertness of the State government and the vigorous business activity of the area, all contributed to the selection of Tallahassee as the best place in Florida to erect the hotel.
We think of Hotel Duval as belonging to Tallahassee and to Florida. To live in Tallahassee and have a part in developing the capital city, and to serve the people of our state grips our imagination and inspires us to greater effort. Tallahassee is more than a city. It is an integral part of the state of Florida. We are proud to be apart of Tallahassee. We are here to stay and to do our utmost to help build a better Florida.
W.G. MANGHAM
Chairman of the Board
DUVAL HOTEL COMPANY
THE LAND
THE NAMES OF some of Tallahassee's and Florida's most prominent citizens of yesteryear appear in the chain of title to the land upon which the Hotel stands. George H. Meginniss, T.J. Rawls, and Joseph A. Edmundson, as Court Commissioners, Richard Shrine, Robert S. Williams, Governor William D. Bloxham, and Joseph W. Duval and his wife, Mary A. Duval, are among those whom the title passed.
The property came to Governor Bloxham's family in 1881 and continued there until 1913. the movement of the title in that family is filled with at least two romances, which is another story and which may be found in the records of the St. John's Episcopal Church of Tallahassee. The Governor never lived on the property, although he did live on the lots northeast of this property which face on Calhoun Street, and the present Hotel site afforded him and his family a fine garden for many years. William D. Bloxham has the distinction of being the only person who has served as Governor more than one term (first term 1881-1885; second term 1897-1901) since Florida became a State in 1845.
The first private owner of the hotel site paid $125.00 for the property in 1833. The value of the property continued to increase until it was purchased for the Hotel at a price somewhat greater than the sale price in 1833.
Joseph W. Duval was related to Territorial Governor William P. Duval, who served from 1822 to 1834, the longest any Governor ever served in this State. Joseph W. Duval and his wife, Mary A. Duval, planned for many years, beginning in 1913, for the property to be
Used for a hotel. They believed in the future growth of Tallahassee and that this property was the logical place for a large and beautiful hotel. Often they refused to sell the property for a handsome profit because the prospective buyers did not plan to build a hotel on the site. It is from Joseph and Mary Duval that the hotel takes its name. In the fall of 1949 W.G. Mangham and Chauncey Butler were fishing in the Gulf Stream off Miami and there made the final decision that the hotel should be built in Tallahassee on its present site. So enthusiastic were they about the present site that they used the ship-to-shore telephone on the fishing boat to authorize the purchase of the property. Mary A. Duval, still cherishing the long-held resolution, was willing to sell the property below its market value for use as a hotel site. So the sale was made, the judgement of the Duvals upheld, a beautiful hotel constructed, and the determination of W.G. Mangham and Chauncey Butler to build a fine hotel on the site realized.
The hotel was constructed by Mangham-Butter, Inc, General Contractors. W.W. Mangham, President of Duval Hotel Company, was the manager in the charge of construction. Much midnight oil was burned in many anxious moments striving to complete the hotel by the deadline of March 30, 1951 in time for the biennial session of the Florida Legislature. The hotel was constructed in record time. From the time the ground was broken until completion was 188 working days.
Within a short distance of the hotel lies 23,000 acres of land known as the Lafayette Grant. This land was granted by a grateful government to General Lafayette in recognition of his services to the thirteen colonies in their struggle for freedom from Great Britain. It is from this source that the main dining room of the hotel takes its name - the Lafayette Room.
A special attraction of the hotel is the beautiful Lafayette room, equipped to serve meals daily and for service to as many as two hundred and fifty guests at a time. in addition to the regular service, the Lafayette room caters to banquets and conventions for a maximum of five hundred persons; and for luncheons and parties of any number, from the smallest to the largest.
A particularly attractive feature of this beautiful room is the oak dance floor running the center and entire length of the room.
The kitchen is equipped with the latest Vulcan ranges, boilers and friolators, Blodgett ovens, built-in deep-freeze units, vegetable ice boxes and completely automatic Century dishwashing machines. At the lobby level are a drug a drug store, beauty shop and barber shop. Other features consist of stenographic service and a department to handle all service needs and appointments for the guests. The hotel is organized to offer room service on all these various facilities.
The American Broadcasting Company Affiliate Station WTNT occupies studios in the top floor.
Mr. James J. Helm, the Manager of Hotel Duval, comes to Tallahassee from Miami, with more than twenty-five years of successful hotel management background.
Interior Views
of the Hotel....
A CORNER OF THE LOBBY
CORNER SUITE
TYPICAL BEDROOM
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