The History of the Walton Building

the land this small building Walton building sat on belonged to the Bento family who had purchased the vacant property corner lot number nine from the uh Steenman family in October 1907 for $125 the Bentle Bakery in Stewart had been started in February 1906 on adjoining property the nearby corner lot number nine though remained empty for years during the building boom of the early 1920s a building contractor Fred M walton from St augustine had come to the Steuart area by 1917 he was known for his finely constructed buildings and residents using the very popular Mediterranean style with the use of strong concrete blocks and a stucco exterior finish he built on lot number nine leasing the

land from the bentals his new construction office in February 1926 the business office for his construction enterprise in the 20s was located on Avenue C which would later be named Akran Avenue and Second Street the building itself was known as the Walton Building he had a mortgage for $6,500 that he took out from the Seminal Bank for its construction many of his construction projects were right in the downtown Stewart area he did the addition in 1923 for the remodeling of the Babcock garage along Dixie Highway a second story the very same size as the first story was put on the building and the entire building then finished over in a buff and white stucco the

nearby Flat Iron Building was constructed by Walton harrison Hotel in 1923 was constructed at the corner of the Dixie Highway and Avenue C by Walton and had three stories that would include 23 rooms and an owner's apartment on the upper two floors and two large stores on the first floor also along Dixie Highway he built the new Little Dixie Cafe and later that would serve then as the Steuart Office Equipment Company owned by Ed Meninger bigger projects were awarded to Walton 1925 and 26 the famed El Bitlor Apartments consisting of 57 apartments located along High School Avenue and facing Fourth Street now later known as East Ocean Boulevard was in a U-shape and three stories

tall work on the Third Lyric Theater was begun by Walton and his crew on June 1st 1925 he had an average of about 35 men a week employed in the construction of this large structure it was ready for its grand opening in March 1926 his work was celebrated during the January 1926 parade for the creation of Martin County he also constructed the Hibiscus Apartments along US1 the Elver Hotel with 38 rooms the Pitchford Apartments the residence of Earl J ricko along with the store and apartment building for Harry Speedy walton built hotels apartment buildings cafes and business buildings on both sides of the tracks during the 1920s his construction stood for decades walton building was

serving him well right in the heart of Stewart 1940 his Walton building which had served Fred well for so many years even during the very destructive hurricanes of 1928 and 33 everything was about to take a new turn in Stuart's history with this building walton's construction operations became limited during the 1930s due to the Great Depression so he mostly was handling repair construction of other buildings he renamed his business in 1939 to the Stewart Building Company with Fred Walton as the president and Charles Leighton the secretary in 1940 the building became Mary's Beauty Salon operated by Mary Rhoden for a very short time then used also by a local photographer the next new owners were

Edna Decker and her husband Allan who in the spring of 1945 were ready to transform this former office into a first class beauty salon edna's first leased it then purchased the building besides providing a muchneeded service for Stuart's ladies Edna always bestowed contributions for any charitable events again the shop withtood the massive destructive 1949 hurricane the popular beauty shop continued under Edna Decker's guidance in the 1950s throughout the decades until Edna was ready to retire in the 1980s she sold the business portion to one of her longtime buticians Nancy Gillson Frederickson who had worked for Edna for 26 years it was the downtown deli in the late 1990s then 33 degrees and more recently the

Stewart burger all popular with locals and visitors to downtown Stewart downtown Stewart needs to truly live up to its honored name and preserve those buildings that are nonreplaceable repurposing a structure can be beneficial to the community and save a part of Stuart's history to save this 1926 building it was moved in 2016 to another location for the time being so well built by Walton it was a fairly easy move longtime historic preserver Bou Lowry was on hand for the move too many historic buildings the Frasier home the Stewart Hotel the Hibiscus Apartments St lucy Hotel and even the original Stewart Jail are examples they've already had their past destroyed solely because they were old this

building has age it has history and can continue to provide purpose to the local citizens