The DeForest Block

The DeForest Block, built in 1887, was Henry L. DeForest's first brick building in the downtown commercial district. It is one of the oldest brick buildings in Sanford and the only one to survive the disastrous fire of 1887. Its early occupants included a grocery store and the Seminole Bank, and it was also known as the Seminole Bank Building. Designed in the Beaux-Arts Classical style, it has a rectangular floor plan, a flat roof with parapet, an elaborate metal classical cornice, segmental pediments over the windows, a stringcourse, and visible division of bays at the side. Although the building has been covered with a light coat of stucco, its original details remain. The eastern half underwent significant alterations in 1917 when it became the Seminole County Bank, including the addition of corner brackets on the cornice, the covering of the recessed panels of the frieze, and the installation of engaged panels on the facade that were later removed. Additional alterations occurred in 1941, and the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Sanford, Florida · United States