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LaVilla Remembers Walter Whetstone

Many drivers through downtown Jacksonville have seen the Whetstone building, with its collection of found objects arranged as sculpture — but not many people know the story of the man behind the quirky building.  

Walter Whetstone passed away this month at the age of 81.

On Tuesday’sFirst Coast Connect, historian Tim Gilmore said the Whetstone is a marvel, with one wall made up of everything from carousel horses to old bottles.        

“There’s a folk art structure of Harriet Tubman on one side of it  there are these metal sheets that have quotes from architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe, it just goes on and on,” he said.

Gilmore has written several blog stories about Whetstone and his legacy in LaVilla with Whestonian.

There has also been agofundme site established to financially help his widow Dorothy.

Kevin Meerschaert can be reached at kmeerschaert@wjct.org, 904-358-6334 or on Twitter at @KMeerschaertJax.

   

 

Kevin Meerschaert has left WJCT for new pursuits. He was the producer of First Coast Connect until October of 2018.