Lost Florida Theme Park - Six-Gun Territory 1966

Six Gun Territory, a TPBWDW (Theme Park before Walt Disney World) was located in Ocala on the north side of SE 40 in a patch of Florida pine scrub. (Silver Springs is across the street and is one of the State's first tourist attractions.) Developed by the creators of "Ghost Town in the Sky" in North Carolina, Six-Gun consisted of a complete 1880's western town with a Jail, Courthouse, Bank and Saloons, which provided backdrops for live-action gunfights. Of course there were gift shops: Six Gun Apothecary, Ann's Hat Shop, Six Gun Photo, General Store, B & B Shirt Emporium, Cousin Will's Variety Store, etc.

The park amused kids from 1963 to 1984, and is now completely gone. Google Map it here. In 2002, I located the old town behind the Six-Gun Plaza shopping center and walked on the old gravel which was still there.

These slides are old family slides Dad shot of us back when a kid would think this was really cool. The gun battle was awesome to a six-year old, as was the cap gun and a peace pipe I got from the Indians.

Territorial Ave - The Marshal's office. He'd come running out to shoot first and ask questions later when the Bank was held up.

Central Court House and administrative offices

Oklahoma Indian war-dancing. Can't remember if authentic or not — I'm going with not.

A victim of a dramatic shoot-out. I remember a guy being shot on the roof and falling into the street! I believe he robbed the Territorial Bank. The joke came when “Digger” the undertaker tried to put him in a casket — Rigor Mortis had set in so much his legs kept springing out. Great fun for the Kids...

The Red Dog Saloon had old movies. For Mom & Dad.

The Frontier Gazette printed replicas of old newspapers with your family's name in the headline.

Mom & sis. Down one of these streets was the "Mystery Shack" a building with weird sloping floors and forced perspective. I loved it.


Look at all the undeveloped land.







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The Florida Shell Shop

I just read a good article about shells (“Mad About Shells”) in the August Smithsonian Magazine; it rekindled memories about my days growing up on the West Coast Florida beaches. I always enjoyed the shell shops, especially in Tarpon Springs. It was a place where a local kid could be a tourist and buy all the shells you could just never find on the beach (although even at the age of 10, it felt like cheating).

I recently took my little boy down Gulf Blvd. as far as St. Pete Beach, and was glad to see the Florida Shell Shop in Treasure Island alive & well. It's a great old roadside Florida shop; not a florescent-lit neon T-shirt shop. They have a web site. We had a great time here and at the Suncoast Surf Shop just down the street. Suncoast Surf opened in 1966, making it one of the oldest and longest running surf shops in Florida! I need to do a more intensive trip here in the near future.


Here's a partially obscured slide from the late 40s of the entrance to the iconic Shell Factory. I'm assuming Ft. Myers Beach, because the neighboring slides were of Hialeah and Miami, but it doesn't look 100% like the building here. There's something so honest & intriguing about these display windows, offset with turquoise and peach tiles. Most photos I've seen of this shell institution is of the huge sign & conch shell on US 41.


Well, here I am breaking a promise I made myself: to never post old postcards. But what a card to fall off the wagon with: Priestly's Shells & Gifts, 222 North Federal Highway, Dania — postmarked Feb 1954. The interior just glows with promise, the huge plate glass windows allowing it all to be taken in. You can almost smell the cypress and salt inside!

The wonders of the neon and retro roadside are tempered, however, by the huge piles of Queen conch shells out front selling for 10¢ each. No takes of these shells are allowed in the United States or Virgin Islands anymore, and populations are rebounding around Stock Island and Key West.

Have fun at the beach this month, hope you find a treasure — and remember to throw the live ones back!

Bok Tower Sanctuary - October 1949

One of my favorite eras in the history of Florida tourism is the period between WWII and the arrival of the interstates. The nation was entering an unparalleled era of growth, opportunity and optimism. Visitors holding off on those expensive trips to exotic places (yes, Florida) were now road-tripping with dollars and looking for something to do.

Garden-based attractions were at their strongest in this period — Cypress Gardens, Sunken Gardens, Eagles Nest Gardens, Oriental Gardens, Killearn Gardens, Ravine Gardens, Sarasota Jungle Gardens, Hialeah Tropical Park, Everglades Reptile Gardens, Monkey Jungle, Parrot Jungle, Busch Gardens — the list goes on (including all the Springs and their pastoral settings).

Known geologically as the Florida Ridge, the orange sand hills around Lake Wales and Winter Haven provide an excellent environment for orange groves. This part of the state up and down US 27 was one blanket of groves in 1949.

The roads leading to the Mountain Lake Sanctuary and the “Singing Tower” were desolate and passed through acres of groves. We're almost there!


Mountain Lake Sanctuary was the vision of naturalist Edward Bok, a Netherlands native and editor of Ladies Home Journal. Dedicated by Calvin Coolidge in 1929, the carillon tower is made of Creole & Etowah marble from Georgia as well as Coquina rock from Florida. It contains 71 bells covering a range of 4-1/2 octaves. The largest bell weighs 23,000 lbs.

Although architecturally neo-gothic in conception, the Florida imagery (found throughout the building) is decidedly Art-Deco. Cypress trees festooned with moss, pelicans, herons, palms, eagles and doves are carved into stutues and panels that surround the structure.

This carved window grille depicts a youth watering plants.

This is a nice view showing the contrast of rock. One of the stone eagles can be seen perched on the balcony to the bottom-right of the right window.

The Florida relief is above the fireplace in the Tower Room. Only members are allowed inside. The interior is a whole other story.

The Erect Declining Dial or vertically mounted sundial. Surrounding it are reliefs of the zodiac signs and the dedication plaque by Calvin Coolidge.

A view of the lake and gardens next to the Tower. What makes this sanctuary extra special is the view west from its meadows located on top of Iron Mountain (or hill depending on where you're from).

Here's an idyllic view from the top of Iron Mountain — The highest point in peninsular Florida (324 ft.). It's a great spot to meditate and reflect. You can get dizzy from the thin air. Bok quotes Burroughs on the entrance sign: “I come here to find myself. It is so easy to get lost in the world.”

And if you're feeling lost, you can follow Bok Tower Gardens on Twitter. Check it out on Google satellite view.

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Forgotton Architecture - Clearwater, Florida 1974

I came across this little set of slides as I was going through a new box of found photos. The vacationer must have stayed at Schrafft's Motel, and took a walk around the Cleveland St. / Drew Street area with his camera. It's a beautiful spot of high bluffs overlooking the bay and Clearwater Beach to the west. It dawned on me that ALL these buildings are now gone! So here's a post for Clearwater lost architecture.

Clearwater Baptist Church
Was located on the bluffs overlooking Clearwater Beach on Cleveland Street. Torn down to make way for a huge condo project.

The Clearwater Chamber of Commerce
This googie/mid-century modern building was on the bluff behind the old Library. Not sure when it was taken down. It would make a cool house, I think! This is now the northern end of Coachman Park.

Back of the COC.

Clearwater Public Library.
This was taken down and replaced with a new one in 2004.

Schrafft's Motel, Restaurant and Lounge.
Across the street from the COC and Library, this was a great place to sneak into and take a dip in the pool after a hot day at the beach. The zig-zag building shown here is gone, but its double still exists on the water (was the restaurant). It is now owned by the Church of Scientology.

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Sunrise Shopping Center - Mid Century Modern Ft. Lauderdale - 1956

A brilliant blue sky and bright Florida sun highlight the Sunrise Shopping Center in Ft. Lauderdale in May 1956. Saks Fifth Avenue was the anchor store. Enclosed in 1980 and renamed the Galleria, it has no resemblance to this at all.

Dad just moved to Florida to start his architecture practice and this mall must have interested him. I have to agree. Shot on Kodachrome 35mm transparency, Argus Rohlik camera.


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Kodachrome trip to West Florida, 1949

In response to the sad news that Kodak has formally stopped producing Kodachrome, I felt compelled to post some original scenics and found these in our archives. Scanned from 35mm slides taken on a trip through Florida 60 years ago in 1949, they exhibit remarkable color and sharpness (and a bit of warmth and oversaturation) typical of Kodachrome.

Destination? An unknown trailer park somewhere between Sarasota and Ft. Myers (Anyone know where this is?). Our vacationers look relaxed and happy. To anyone not from Florida, this is a blast from the past. Almost every square inch of Florida sand has been privatized and leveraged to it's monetary fullest with towering condos, private McMansions or corporate chain hotels. (Ok, it's not that bad yet, but you gotta look hard to find that salty strip of paradise where you can enjoy a beverage and a campfire at ease...)

Trailers on a Florida Beach? Gotta be the 40s!

Paradise found!

Dinner around the trailers. Pull up a chair!

Wonderful scenic, probably Charlotte Harbor area.

Aquamaids, Cypress Gardens, posing after a show

Familiar Cypress Gardens Ski logos
Used on almost all mid-century skis. Which one is older?


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Busch Gardens' Hospitality House - 1963

Flamingos and swans accentuate the Hospitality House at Busch Gardens, Tampa in this 1963 original slide. It was designed by William Harvard, a modernist architect who was active on the west-central coast of Florida (He designed the "upside-down pyramid" at the pier in St. Pete, and many MCM homes in the area). Opened in 1959, it was a place to receive two free Budweisers or Michelobs and relax. There were 4 employees and 4 parrots. In January 2009, InBev, the new Belgian owner, stopped the tradition of free beer at the Hospitality House. Ouch!

A trio of smartly-dressed women pose in front of the "Stairway to the Stars" — a somewhat rickety escalator that carried you to the roof of the brewery to begin the famous brew tour. In the early days, there were seals in a pool below. The brewery always reminded me of Willy Wonka's factory. Lots of mint-green tiles and brass boilers. You looked down from windows near the ceiling.

Float at the Fun 'n Sun Parade, Clearwater, FL – March 1960.
A large Hospitality House model shares the attention with the Anheuser-Busch logo, and a number of Ann Margaret lookalikes. Colorful palm trees and swans, flamingos and herons add to the effect. Not sure what the rock-like motif is for, but with pretty girls like the one in front of the eagle, who cares?

Float at the Fun 'n Sun Parade, Clearwater, FL – March 1961.
What a difference a year makes! The Hospitality House model has been re-done and is more true to the original, yet sits on a sea of pink, green and yellow. The natural birds give way to foil peacocks and flamingos while the palms are all snowy white. The dress code obviously changes to southern belle debutante! I can almost see the parade wave now. The eagle logo is also less stylized. McCrorys 5-10-25 store is fighting for my attention here, but the deco looks dated compared to Harvard's modern design.

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Lido Beach Casino, Sarasota, Florida - 1950s

A wonderful, breezy day at the Lido Beach Casino captured on 35mm Kodachrome in the early 50s. The casino was designed by Sarasota School of Architecture icon Ralph Twitchell in 1939-40 as a WPA project. Of note are the precast concrete seahorses barely seen here on the second story. Structure at end (above green benches) is an "entry tower." It was demolished in 1969 at the request of local politicians and businessmen. A good book on the mid-century works coming out of Sarasota is The Sarasota School of Architecture, 1941-1966 by John Howey.

Close-up of the sign from the previous Lido Beach photo. Scanner maxed at 6000 dpi.

Sarasota promotional brochure (Not dated, late 40s?)
Modern youth, ready to be ruined by rock 'n roll, hang out under the precast concrete sea horses on the upper deck of the Casino. Note the delightful lack of development on the south beaches.
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Eagle's Nest Gardens, Bellair, FL - 1955

Royal Palms and tasteful landscaping surround the pure Florida-style estate of Dean Alvord near Eagle's Nest Gardens in Bellair, FL. The Alvords developed Japanese Gardens as a waterfront paradise filled with pagodas, statuary, and all things Japanese. After World War II, however, they changed the name for patriotic reasons to Eagle's Nest Gardens (after a pair of nesting eagles).

Being a minor attraction, there is not a lot of info about it, except for the typical postcards and brochures of the era. It had a run of about 30 years, folded in the 60s and was parceled into smaller lots and sold. Nothing remains today except million-dollar estates, the view of Clearwater Beach, some coastal pines and the name of the street.

 

Eagle's Nest Part 2 »

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