Hotel Thomas
Encyclopedia
The Hotel Thomas, also known as Sunkist Villa but currently known as the Thomas Center, is an historic building in Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located on the block bounded by Northeast 2nd and 5th Streets and Northeast 6th and 7th Avenues. It was built starting in 1910 in the Classical Revival style by noted Atlanta-based architect, William Augustus Edwards
William Augustus Edwards
William Augustus Edwards, also known as William A. Edwards, was an Atlanta-based American architect renowned for the educational buildings, courthouses and other public and private buildings that he designed in Florida, Georgia and his native South Carolina.- Early life and education :William...

, designer of academic buildings at 12 institutions in Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 and Florida, including the original University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

 campus, as well as a dozen or more county courthouses in those states plus other building and houses,

The building began as the private home of William Reuben Thomas
William Reuben Thomas
William Reuben Thomas was a politician and businessman from Gainesville, Florida.-Background:Thomas was a native of Gainesville, Florida. After graduating college he became a teacher at the East Florida Seminary...

, his wife Kathryn, and their five children. In 1928 Thomas more than doubled the size of the home and converted it to a hotel. On July 16, 1973, the building was added to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

.

The Thomas Center celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 12, 2010.

Thomas Center

Today the Thomas Center serves as a local art and cultural center, and is the home for the Gainesville Cultural Affairs Division. The Thomas Center Galleries feature changing exhibits of art. The Center also features 1920's period rooms, local history exhibits, a performance space, banquet rooms, and meeting rooms.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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