The Historic District contains 27 historic buildings and runs along Park Avenue and Call Street. The posted coordinates and street address are for one of the District's contributing buildings: Knott House. The District includes a combination of privately owned and State owned structures.
From the Tallahassee Trust for Historic Preservation, Inc. website:
Description:
The parks of Park Avenue began their history as a dirt clearing to protect the residents of Tallahassee from Indian attack. Soon the area, known as the Two-hundred Foot Street because of its width, became one of the finer locations in Tallahassee. Residences clustered along the eastern end of the district, while churches, hotels and government buildings were situated along the western end. Civic groups and private residents converted the dirt clearing into parks beginning in the 1880s. Today, this linear park system provides a distinctive green space in our growing downtown. It features numerous historic resources open to the public. The Park Avenue National Register Historic District has been designated by the City of Tallahassee as a Special Character District, with design review to protect its historic character and charm. The City also has an incentive program, including grants, low interest loans, and fee waivers, to assist with the rehabilitation of historic buildings.
Facts and Figures:
Tallahassee began its existence in 1825 as a quarter square mile city, with Park Avenue to the north, Bloxham Street to the south, Meridian Street to the east, and Martin Luther King Boulevard to the west. The city was surrounded by a 200 foot dirt clearing, reportedly to help protect residents from Indian attack. Today, Park Avenue and portions of Martin Luther King Boulevard retain grassy remnants of these earlier clearings.
Two of Tallahassee's oldest cemeteries were located outside of these original limits. Old City Cemetery, founded in 1829, was the first public burying ground. Restored in 1992, the cemetery features a self-guided walking tour brochure at the entrance kiosk. St. John's Episcopal Cemetery was founded in 1840.
Some of the City's finest early residences were built along Park Avenue. The oldest is the c. 1830 "Columns," now home of the Tallahassee Area Chamber of Commerce. This brick Greek Revival structure was built by William "Money" Williams, a prominent banker. Threatened with demolition in 1971, the Columns was relocated across Park Avenue restored by the Tallahassee Chamber. It is now undergoing rehabilitation, partially funded by the State of Florida and a low interest loan from the City of Tallahassee.
Other early Park Avenue residences include the c. 1838 Murphy House and the c. 1843 William V. Knott House. Both may have been built by George Proctor, a free black contractor. In the 1850s, Gothic Revival detailing was added to the Murphy House, which now houses antique stores. The William V. Knott House was remodeled in 1928 to its Colonial Revival style, and is a historic house museum open to the public. Furnished with fine antiques, the Knott House transports visitors back to the 1930s. Known as "the House that Rhymes," it features poems tied to the antique furnishings.
Built in the 1840's, the house at 316 East Park Avenue was acquired by Benjamin C. Lewis, the founder of what became Lewis State Bank, in 1850. A City of Tallahassee historic preservation grant helped rehabilitate the building as offices in 1993. It is now open to the public on a limited basis.
Other landmarks include the churches. The elegant Greek Revival First Presbyterian Church, built between 1835 and 1838, is Tallahassee's oldest remaining church building. St. James C.M.E. Church was founded in 1868. Its 1899 building was rehabilitated as offices in the 1980s.
The Park Avenue Chain of Parks was started in the 1880s, as private organizations and individuals improved the open space in front of their Park Avenue properties. At the turn of the century, the Tallahassee Improvement Authority began improving the open spaces, until all seven parks were landscaped. The parks were given their current names in the late 1930s. In 1994, the City of Tallahassee rehabilitated four of the parks.