The Columns

In its original location, the residential portion of The Columns faced Park Avenue and the banking wing was on the east side, facing Adams Street. The house had fourteen fireplaces and was vacated by William "Money" Williams in 1833. Williams sold the bank and home to the Central Bank of Florida, run by Benjamin Chaires. It is not known if Chaires moved into The Columns. Since Chaires also owned a country house named Vendura east of town, he may have used The Columns occasionally. Legend has it that the house served to shelter women and children during raids by Native Americans.

The Central Bank became part of the Union Bank in 1838. A separate building for the Union Bank was built in 1841 behind The Columns on Adams Street. Two lawyers, William and Thomas Duval, had offices in the basement of the bank wing in the early 1840s, after which "Peachy" Gratten and Carrington Cabell did the same. A cashier named John Parkhill may have lived in the house at this time. The building was auctioned off in in 1847 in a sheriff's sale due to an unpaid debt of the Central Bank owed to John Bellamy; the new owners were William Bailey and Isaac Mitchell. The Columns was leased to a Mrs. Demilly, who operated a boarding house.

Mitchell sold his interest in the building to Bailey in the 1850s. Bailey and his family moved into The Columns in 1862. Bailey died in 1867 and Alexander Hawkins bought the building two years later; Hawkins had married one of the Bailey daughters. Hawkins may have been a medical doctor who used the banking wing as his office. The 1870 census places an Alex B. Hawkins in Tallahassee; the 42-year-old wealthy planter owned $6,000 in real estate and $20,000 in personal property. The North Carolina native shared his residence with Martha L. Hawkins (32, a Florida native) and 9-year-old Martha Hawkins Bailey. In 1880, Hawkins and his wife shared their Adams Street home with "Nellie" H. Bailey (Martha, 18) and three more Baileys: twins Margaret and Mary F. (17), and William (12). Mr. Hawkins worked as a receiver for the I.P. and M. Railroad. A domestic servant named Alfred Palmer (60, Black, widowed) also lived in the Hawkins' home.

Thomas Roberts purchased The Columns in 1897 but died in 1901. His widow, Sarah continued to live there, and remarried in 1905 to Henry Felkel. The house was purchased by a real estate firm in 1925 and resold in 1926 to Charles L. Snyder and Ray Dew. They leased the ground floor of the banking wing, which Ada Clark and her daughter, Ethel Stewart, converted into a restaurant named the Dutch Kitchen. The ladies ended up buying the entire building and renting out unused space; Mrs. Stewart lived in a second floor apartment. The restaurant moved to the banking wing basement, with a chiropractor's office upstairs. The restaurant lasted until the late 1950s; the building was sold to the Frist Baptist Church of Tallahassee in 1960, who ran a Sunday school from it, and also allowed part of the building to be used as the Public Library in 1961 to 1962.

The church decided that they needed a larger building and more parking, and The Columns was in danger of being demolished. The Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce was given the building with the condition that they would move it. The Columns was moved in the summer of 1971, without its basement. The local Chamber of Commerce offices were in the building by the mid-1970s. The building was renovated in the 1990s with State grant funds.

Carlisle, Rodney. Carlisle, Loretta. Tallahassee in History: A Guide to More than 100 Sites in Historical Context. Lanham, MD. Roman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2020.

Draughon, Dan. History of "The Columns", Tallahassee Then and Now Blog. Accessed November 29th 2020. http://patronis.net/don/TTAN/ColumnsHistory.htm.

Finley, Anthony. Florida. Map. David Rumsey Map Collection. Philadelphia, PA. A. Finley, 1831.

James Madison Institute. 2012 May 7- FYI: JMI Relocating to The Columns, James Madison Institute, Statements. May 7th 2012. Accessed November 29th 2020. https://www.jamesmadison.org/2012-may7-fyi-jmi-relocating-to-the-columns/.

Reeves, F. Blaire. Historic American Buildings Survey, "The Columns," Benjamin Chaires House, Tallahassee, Florida. HABS FL-158. Philadelphia, PA. National Park Service, 1962.

Schuck, J. P.. NRHP Nomination of The Columns (Benjamin Chaires House). National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1970.

US Census. Household of Alex B. Hawkins in Tallahassee, Florida, Dwelling 498, Family 480. Washington, DC. US Government, 1870.

US Census. Household of A[lexander] B.[oyd] Hawkins on Adams Street, Tallahassee District 89, Florida, Dwelling 3, Family 4. Washington, DC. US Government, 1880.

Werndli, Philip. NRHP Nomination of The Columns (new location). National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1974.