The Jacob’s Jeweler Clock

This photograph hangs in the Brandenberg Room of the Oaklawn Cemetery.  You should go see it if you have some time.  There are other Jacksonville photos in that room and it would be worth a 30 minute stop.

Time Union writer Sandy Strickland wrote of the clock “Once dubbed the handsomest of its kind in the South” that it was later designated “local landmark status”.      When I was a kid growing up and we would ride the bus from the Woodstock area, and would say at some point, “I’ll meet you at the clock at certain time” and a time would bring us there.  I was about 7 or 8 when we spent a good deal of our lives in downtown Jacksonville.  Some of that time was definitely spent near that landmark.

It was by that clock that our little red Simca stick shift wouldn’t crank and my Dad could be seen popping the clutch and with all 4 doors open, each of us hopping on one leg trying to push it for a crank.  My Mother ended up almost falling as we were yelling to her, “Jump in!”  Oh, that was a day and it occurred right there at the corner of Laura Street and the clock.

The clock dates back to the rebuilding of Jacksonville after the Great Fire of 1901.   At the top of the clock it reads “Jacob’s” and is located outside of the Greenleaf building. Jacob Crosby and D. Greenleaf had a jewelry store and the clock, a Seth Thomas was placed on the corner of Laura and Adams.  

Over the years it has had its own tragedy including being hit by a city bus in 1974 and clock parts stolen causing it to be out of commission for a time.  In 1996, the clock was refurbished again as voted on by the City Council. According to theFlorida Times Union, the restoration was paid for by city and private funds.  It was also renovated in 2011 and in 2022, it still sits there as Jacob’s Jewelers move from that location where they have been for over 132 years. Jacob’s gave the clock to the city so it will remain. What are your memories about this clock?

See you tomorrow,

Nan