A view of the Bennett Hotel looking from the fort green south down Bay Street. (about 1955)
For decades, the Bennett Hotel stood on the corner of Bay Street, overlooking the Castillo de San Marcos. Several references note it was built in the 1890s, but an 1893 photo of that area shows no hotel or signs of construction.
On the bay, 3 blocks from post office. Close to Castillo de San Marcos and City Gates. Everything modern, new and up to date. Elegant steam heated rooms with or without private baths. Electric elevators. Private sunny piazzas overlooking bay and ocean. (Postcard caption)
In the mid-1950s, construction began to widen Bay Street and the sea wall to make the stretch between the Bridge of Lions and the Castillo more attractive and improve the traffic flow. The Bennett Hotel was one of the casualties of that effort. Today, that corner is home to a Mexican restaurant (in the building that used to be the Chimes Restaurant) and the 50′s era Monterrey Motel.
Construction to widen Bay Street and the sea wall from the Bridge of Lions to the Castillo (about 1955).
Photos courtesy of Florida’s Photographic Collection, part of the Florida Memory project at the State Library and Archives.
