734 Jefferson Avenue - Built 1925

Uncovering Lakeland's Hidden Histories: 734 S. Jefferson Avenue

 

The history of 734 S. Jefferson Avenue is defined by two remarkable families: one of ambitious entrepreneurs who helped build downtown Lakeland, and one of dedicated civil servants who anchored the neighborhood for forty years.

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Part One: The Entrepreneurial Spirit of the Washburns

 

Though born just after the Civil War, the roots of Harold “Harry” & Susan Washburn are a bit of a mystery, though their impact in Lakeland is not. City history records them arriving in 1917, but from at least 1912 through 1918, Harry worked for the Central of Georgia Railroad as a conductor.

 

The couple first visited Lakeland in September 1919, staying with the Kibler family who owned and operated the Hotel Kibler downtown at the corner of Kentucky & Lemon. Clearly interested in the hospitality business, Harry spent the years 1920 through 1923 working as the manager for the Elks Hotel, located at 202-204 S. Massachusetts Avenue, where the couple also resided. The Elks had a grill, club, and hall, serving as a great business model for Harry’s next venture.

 

In 1923, Harry invested in the construction of his own establishment: The Washburn Hotel, built at a cost of $125,000!

 

• Business Ventures: The Washburn Hotel offered a dining room and several nearby, complimentary shops, including The Style Shop that Susan operated with Hattie McKeel across the street corner. Harry had also extended his interests, becoming partner/president of Norton-Washburn Company Inc., a real-estate company with offices on the sixth floor of the Marble Arcade Building (a familiar address!).

 

• The Move: While they initially lived at their hotel, they finally made the jump to the emerging residential neighborhood of Jefferson Avenue. Moving into 734 S Jefferson Avenue in 1925.

 

Around 1929, they sold the house and returned to hotel life, now that they had two hotels, splitting their time between the Washburn (managed by Susan) and the Palmarin Hotel on Davis Boulevard in Tampa (managed by Harry)! They remained in town and conducted business for the rest of their lives. Harry and Susan Washburn are both buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery.

 

An interesting tidbit, outside of our neighborhood, was that Harry’s partner at Norton-Washburn Company was James S Norton. James lived on Lake Hollingsworth at was the corner of Bartow Road (now, Crystal Lake Drive), before we had fire insurance maps of the area or even street numbers. His house was simply referred to as “Greylocks”, now, I believe, 1405 Crystal Lake Drive, a residence I am sure everyone has driven by and wondered about the history. It is multi-stories and includes an antique fountain in the front yard and he is simply noted as a partner in Harry’s company and a fruit grower.

 

• Dunn, Hampton, "Washburn Hotel, Lakeland, Florida" (1920). Hampton Dunn Collection of Florida Postcards. Image 3839. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/dunn_postcards/3839

 

• Sanborn, Dan, "Gilbert-Washburn Hotel" (1948). Dan Sanborn Photograph Collection. Image p0428. https://cdm15809.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15809coll10/id/376/rec/1

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Part Two: Halbert Faulkner, Civil Servant and Community Anchor

 

After the Washburns, the house saw two short-term occupants. By 1935, the house found its long-term stewards: Halbert “Happy” & Lula Faulkner, who remained here for the next forty years.

 

Halbert's family moved from Santa Anna, Texas, to Washington D.C., when Halbert was only a couple of years old, where his father worked for the government, ultimately becoming a bookkeeper for the Treasury Department. Halbert himself grew up in D.C., graduated high school in 1914, and attended George Washington University to study pharmacy before serving in WWI.

 

His career took an initial turn into bookkeeping for the dairy industry before he found his calling as an Assistant Auditor for the Treasury Department. After marrying Lula White in 1927, Halbert was assigned to Tampa as an Agent for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He was assigned to Lakeland in late 1930.

 

• Finding a Home: They rented first at 704 Poinsettia Avenue, then 704 S. Winfree Avenue, before finally buying 734 S. Jefferson Avenue in 1935.

 

• A Lakeland Family: Their daughter, Phoebe, was only two when they moved from Tampa, making Lakeland the only hometown she ever consciously knew and echoing Halbert’s own childhood experience.

 

Halbert worked as an IRS agent until the early 1950s before leveraging his expertise to start his own tax consulting and accounting business. He first worked out of the Peninsular Life Building at 114-116 S. Tennessee Avenue, eventually consolidating his work to business advising from the same office space in the 1960s.
 

Phoebe, their only daughter, followed the neighborhood's academic path: Lakeland High School, followed by Florida Southern (after starting at Stetson University). She earned her Bachelor of Science in education in 1951, going on to teach at Avon Park High School. She met and married James Humphries there in 1954, an engineer with a chemistry degree working for the government. They had two sons, James and Thomas, in the late 1950s.

 

Lula passed in 1967, followed by Halbert in 1973. Halbert left the home to Phoebe, who sold the house just five months later, right as her two sons had started attending Lakeland High School. The Faulkner family's four decades of stewardship truly made this house an anchor on Jefferson Avenue.