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8. In 1931, Paul Reinhold, owner of the Oakmont, Pennsylvania Reinhold Ice Cream Company, was approached by J.C. Penney, founder of the department store chain, to direct an ice cream and dairy operation in Florida. Reinhold moved to Jacksonville, and the company was named Foremost Dairies Inc. in honor of Penney’s prize bull, Foremost. By 1955, Foremost had grown to become the third-largest dairy operation in the world with sales of $400 million. Foremost eventually merged with Beatrice Dairies. Despite its disappearance, this Eastside ghost sign remains at the entrance of a space that was occupied by a grocery market for several decades during the early 20th century.

9. Originally built in 1941 as a service station at the intersection of San Marco Boulevard and Lasalle Street, several businesses have occupied 1604 San Marco Boulevard over the last 78 years.

10. The remains of a hand painted advertisement for The Pawnbroker survive on the north wall of the David Brothers Building near 8th and Main in Springfield.

11. 1100 North Main Street in Springfield opened in 1929 as the Downtown Chevrolet automobile dealership. In 1940, it became the Downtown Oldsmobile automobile dealership. Its days as a car dealership ended decades ago but a sign remains.

12. The Jacksonville Coca-Cola Bottling Company relocated from the Springfield Warehouse District to a larger Westside production facility in 1968. 51 years later, ghost signs still exist on various buildings within the abandoned bottling complex.

13. This Springfield building once housed the Duval Laundry Company. Duval Laundry was incorporated by Richard P. McFarlin on February 17, 1902. At the time, the company used horse-drawn wagons to pick up and deliver clothes. A victim of high operational costs and a loss in accounts, the Duval Laundry Company closed its doors in 1997 after 96 years in business.

14. The Atlantic Bag & Paper Company operated a plant in Central Springfield (Phoenix) for decades in a warehouse dating back to 1919. Despite several painting and stucco jobs over this old brick warehouse, the ghost sign words of “Wheat & Mayonnaise Company” can still be seen on a portion of the building that was subleased to several businesses over the years.

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Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com.