Manufacturer: Sterling China
User: Hotel Seminole – Jacksonville, Florida
Date of examples: circa 1930 – 1967
Notes: The Hotel Seminole, on the corner of Hogan and Forsyth Streets in Jacksonville, Florida, opened January 1, 191o. It was ten-stories high, with 250 rooms and 175 baths. It had three cafes, and two convention halls, or ballrooms. One hall seated 500 and the other 400. Below the third-floor windows were terra cotta ornaments depicting the bust of a Seminole chief. Over the entrances, on the second floor of two facades, there were covered balconies. These were popular gathering places on hot days, before air conditioning was available.
When it opened the Hotel Seminole was owned by the Florida Hotel Company. By 1917, Ucita Investment Company was the owner, with J. B. Pound as company president. By 1946, the J. B. Pound Hotels Company was the operator. The Seminole closed September 14, 1967, and was torn down in 1974. A couple of the Seminole chief terra cotta ornaments were salvaged and reused nearby.
Around 1930, the Hotel Seminole logo was redesigned. The new bust is Seminole Chief Osceola in a slightly right facing profile, within a circle. This new logo was used on a china service that Sterling made on Desert Tan base. The brown transfer crest is below a brown rim border.
Source:
FloridaMemory.com – lunchroom photo
For additional info:
Seminole Hotel by Maddock Pottery
Seminole Hotel 2 by Syracuse China
Seminole Hotel 3 by Unknown German Pottery
Contributor:
Author and photos: Larry Paul