Dana Fellows Fuquay
Dana Fellows Fuquay, son of John M Fuquay, CSA, and Mary E (Mollie) Weeks, born 05 Aug 1881, Hastings, St Johns CO, FL, died 10 Feb 1970, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL (502 Earl St), married 28 Sept 1903, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, Annie Eula Parker, dau of Henry Hyson Parker and Sarah Sloan, born 10 Jan 1883, Savannah, Chatham CO, GA, died 28 Jul 1952, Halifax Hospital, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL. Both buried Bellevue Memorial Gardens, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL.
He was an architect and building contractor with offices in Daytona who at one time owned one out of every five feet of intercostal land in Volusia and Flagler counties. He began his career as an apprentice carpenter at the age of 12, became a building contractor in 1902 and did business throughout the state with the U S and Florida governments, municipalities, corporations, private estates and industries.
A native of Hastings, Mr Fuquay moved to Daytona Beach in 1887 from Cartersville in St Johns CO. He began buying land in Flagler Beach around 1915.
D.F. Fuquay and George Moody were the primary movers in the building the Flagler Beach Hotel (location of the present week-end Farmer’s Market).
The original Flagler Beach Hotel Company consisted of Dana Fellows Fuquay, president; A B Mosely, VP; George Moody, Treas; R D Peterson, Sec; and Claude Grady Varn, counsel.
This same company also formulated plans on 16 May 1924 for the erection of a light and water plant and was to develop parks and athletic grounds and other activities. In Jul 1925, he turned over the Flagler Beach light plant, which he had purchased and installed, to the City of Flagler Beach.
In May of 1924, he, as an architect and property owner in Flagler Beach, submitted plans and offered his services gratuitously as architect and superintendent of the work for the building of the Flagler Beach School (now the Wickline Center). The school was opened on 29 Sep 1924 with a Miss Southwick as principal.
He purchased all of the Flagler Beach Hotel Company's property on 28 Jan 1925. The company, which was organized in Sep 1923 for the purpose of building the magnificent 46 room hotel, which was nearing completing and which would cost approximately $150,000 when completed.
The Fuquay family resided at the Flagler Beach Hotel while their home was built on Oceanshore Blvd. south of the Pier. In Apr 1929, he, as owner of the Flagler Beach hotel, leased it to R W Hardee of Greensboro, NC
Dana was the 13th architect to be licensed in Florida. He was named to the Florida Inland Navigation District when it was established in 1927, serving as chairman.
In Feb 1930, the D F Fuquay Construction Company completed the new Holden Drug Store in Bunnell located on the corner of Moody Blvd and SR 4 (now, US 1 - building was torn down in 2005) and was also awarded the contract by the City of Daytona Beach for the construction of a permanent roofed grandstand overlooking the measured beach where Kaye Don, British track champion, was scheduled to make beach runs from 15-30 March 1930.
Dana and Eula Fuquay met with a group to establish the first Methodist Church in Flagler Beach. The family moved to Daytona and their home was sold and during WW II it was headquarters for a Coast Guard unit. Presently (2007), the former home is named The Topaz, which offers lodging in two motel wings and the top floor of the house. The Blue Restaurant occupies most of the first floor of the house. (A story on the house follows this sketch).
He and Eula, his son Dana Evens Fuquay and his wife Naomie, deeded the present Veteran's Park to the Town of Flagler Beach on 2 Mar 1940 for the sum of $10. The original deed read, in part, "The lands hereby granted and dedicated to public use shall forever be and remain open so that the view ocean ward shall be free, open and unobstructed."
THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, May 20, 1954Judge Geo. Wm. Jackson Tuesday granted a permanent injunction, following a temporary injunction, against erecting buildings on a block set aside for a park many years ago.
The block was deeded for the purpose of an open park and playground for the town, and dedicated for that purpose.
The present city commission and a group of citizens had planned a building project on the block, objecting citizens filed the injunction and after final hearings the court ruled that no building could be erected.
THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, June 3, 1954"... in a further mover to permit erection of a building on the block....the town commission (Massie, Charon & Wickline for and Moody & Kunkle, against) have decided to employ attorneys to "release restrictions" on the block.
.......the property was purchased from D. F. Fuquay on Mar 14, 1940 for the sum of $7,000 said amount being paid from the taxpayers money, instead of being a gift as the citizens of Flagler Beach were led to believe..........
THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday, June 10, 1954There was a letter printed in The Tribune from John W Kunkle and George M Moody stating that they did not vote against a Community Center, they voted against using tax payers money to fight a permanent injunction granted by the Circuit Court.....
The following is a copy of State of Florida House of Representatives Bill No. 803 honoring Mr. Fuquay:
AN ACT naming and designating that portion of State Road A1A lying south of the intersection of State Road A1A and State Road 11 and north of the intersection of State Road A1A and that road in Section 5, Range 32 E., Township 13S, known as High Bridge Road or Mound Grove Road as the D. F. Fuquay Boulevard and providing suitable markers to be erected thereon by the Sate Road Department and providing an effective date.
WHEREAS Dana F. Fuquay since his birth in St. Augustine, Florida, on August 5, 1881, has diligently promoted the growth of the Florida east coast especially Volusia and Flagler Counties; and
WHEREAS, Dana F. Fuquay was instrumental in the following:
a. One of the organizers of the Florida State Board of Architecture, presently holding Registration Certificate No. 13 and served as commissioner and chairman Inland Waterway District.
b. built various buildings throughout the state, such as: Tourist Church in Daytona Beach, six principal buildings for the University of Florida in 1918, and many other structures, and
c. subdivided land and built homes throughout the whole Halifax area and Flagler County; and
WHEREAS, Dana F. Fuquay never lost faith in Florida even through the depression, his every moved was towards Florida future, and now during the twilight of his life, his eyes still twinkle with dreams of Florida higher than any rocket can reach; and
WHEREAS, the people of Volusia and Flagler Counties wish to recognize and reward the services of Dana F. Fuquay; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting and appropriate that legislative recognition be accorded to Dana F. Fuquay, vision, services, and sacrifices for the Citizens of Volusia and Flagler Counties,
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
Section 1. That portion of State Road A1A lying south of the intersection of State Road A1A and State Road 11 and north of the intersection of State Road A1A and that road in Section 5, Range 32 E. Township 13S, known as High Bridge or Mound Grove is hereby named and dedicated as Dana F. Fuquay Boulevard.
Section 2. The State Road Department is hereby authorized and empowered to erect suitable markers on each end aforementioned road designating the said portion of State Road A1A as Dana F. Fuquay Boulevard.
Section 3. This act shall become effective immediately upon becoming a law.
Became a law without the Governor’s approval.
Filed in Office Secretary of State May 10, 1963.
Dana F. and Eula Fuquay were the parents of three children;
1. Dana Evans Fuquay, born 20 Dec 1913, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, died 05 Aug 1967, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, married 20 Jun 36, Volusia CO, FL, Naomie (Omie) Roberts, born 27 Oct 1910, died 13 Sep 1961, Volusia CO, FL. Both buried Bellevue Memorial Park, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL. Issue;
(1) Naomi Sue (Susie) Fuquay, born FL, married Charles Simms. Issue;
a. Nicki Ann Simms, born 05 Jun 1967, Halifax Hospital, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL
(2) Eula Ann (Red) Fuquay, born 05 Mar 1947, FL
2. Isla Ann Fuquay, born 05 Apr 1915, FL, died 27 Oct 1984, Flagler CO, FL, married 01 Jul 1945, Volusia CO, FL, Philip Allen Kester, son of Preston Arlondo Kester and Eunice Viola Linch, born 04 May1920, Creek CO, OK, died 28 Jun 1983, Flagler CO, FL. Both buried Hope Cemetery, now Flagler Palms Memorial Gardens, Flagler CO, FL. Philip served as an officer in the U.S. Navy in WW II.
3. Eula Marguerite (Mickey) Fuquay, born 31 Jan 1921, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, died 29 Dec 1987, Bunnell, Flagler CO, FL married Ralph Harold Massie, son of Thomas Newton Massie and Maggie Imogene Evans, born 02 May 1915, Haywood CO, NC, died 03 Jul 1987, Flagler CO, FL. He served in the U.S. Army in WW II.
(1) Marguerite Tess Massie, born 17 Sep 1942, Haywood CO, NC, married, 13 Jan 1968, St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Savannah, Chatham CO, GA, Paul Edward Johnsen.
She attended both Flagler Beach and Bunnell schools, Brenau Academy and Howey Academy and was graduated from the Univ of GA where she was a member of Kappa Gamma Sorority. In Dec 1967, she was employed by the Chatham CO Dept of Children Services of Savannah.
He attended Savannah High School and was a graduate for the Univ of GA where he was a member of the Chi Phi fraternity. In Dec 1967, he was employed by the Reynolds Metals Company in Sheffield, AL.
(2) Trudy Evans Massie, born 22 Jan 1946, married 12 Jun 1964, Fuquay House, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL Michael George Cook, son of Robert Michael (Bob) Cook and Evelyn M Johnson, born 03 Jan 1945
She was a graduate of Howey in the Hills Academy and in Jun 1964 was attending Daytona Beach Junior College. In June 1964, she was employed by Southern Bell Telephone Company.
He was a graduate of Bunnell High School and was attending Daytona Beach Junior College after completing a six month tour of duty with the Florida National Guard. In Jun 1964 he was attending Officers Candidate School at Camp Blanding.
In Sep 1968 he was appointed as a Special Investigator for the State Attorney's Office. He received a AS degree in Law Enforcement from Daytona Beach Community College and had worked with the Daytona Beach Police Dept for 2.5 years before going with the State Attorney. Issue;
A. Lisa Arlene Cook, born 26 May 2967, Halifax Hospital, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL
Source: The First Families of Flagler by Mary Ketus Deen Holland who cites as her sources, Census and Published Articles.
Additional sources used by the compiler were: 1910 United States Federal Census, Daytona Beach, Volusia, Florida; 1920 United States Federal Census, Seabreeze, Volusia, Florida; 1930 United States Federal Census, Flagler Beach, Flagler, Florida; North Carolina Birth Index, 1800-2000 Record; U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946; Florida Marriage Collection, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001; Social Security Death Index; Florida Death Index, 1877-1998 Record; New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 (Ship Ohio); Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 11 Feb 1970; The Flagler Tribune, Bunnell, FL, 20 May 1954, 3 Jun 1954, 10 Jun 1954, 18 Jun 1964, 01 Jun 1967, 08 Jun 1967, 04 Jan 1968, 23 Feb 1978 and the U.S. Public Records Index Record.
Please send questions, corrections or additions to Sisco Deen, P.O. Box 637, Flagler Beach, FL 32136 or email him at Sisco_Deen@hotmail.com
THE FLAGLER TRIBUNE
Bunnell, Florida
Thursday February 23, 1978SOUND OF THE SURF: A VESTIGE OF THE PAST
By David LambertThe house was built in the mid 20's. It's a two story coquina brick mansion, originally designed and constructed by the late Dana F Fuquay, architect, father of Isla Kester of Flagler Beach.
Located on south SR A1A between south 12th and 13th streets, the old Fuquay Home (now known as the Sound of Surf Apartments) was built on a 600-foot lot, 12, 50-foot lots. It wasn't platted until the late 40s when a man named Gallentine took over the property from Fuquay according to longtime resident George Wickline. To this day, no alley bisects the property. Subsequent owners have kept the northwest corner of the property as an egress area.
"Basically, it's the same size as it was when daddy built it," Mrs. Kester told the Tribune recently. "There were no other houses nearby when the house was built. I still can't get over the fact that there are other buildings in the yard where we used to play, " she mused.
"That house was beautiful," she continued. "West of the house, we would walk down steps that led from a.....it seems to me," her eyes turned up, rummaging though years of memories, ".... a screened in porch, to the big old oval swimming pool."
A driveway circled the entire house according to Mrs. Kester. "The pool was parallel with the driveway and,, we had fun at that pool. There wasn't much for young people to do in those days."
" In the northeast corner of the lot we had a tennis court. The whole block was clear and open, and you could see those courts from the front of the street," she added.
"Underneath the house was a garage large enough to hold 10 cars or anything, but we would entertain guests from all over the area, so we needed a place for them to park."
In what may well be one of the few basements on the coast of Florida, there are dressing rooms and additional living quarters. In the basement, a 30-foot boiler, long since disconnected from the bicycle-tire sized gasoline-powered drive motor, rests - a rusted relic of times when potable water was a precious, limited commodity.
Directly above the East portion of the basement a flight of stairs leads to the Florida room nearly the length of the building. Today it is glass-enclosed. Earlier in the century it was screened, possibly open at one time. The Florida room currently is utilized as a pass-through area that opens to what was once a stately dining area accentuated by a fireplace large enough to sleep in. The fireplace, like much of the house built of autochthonous coquina rock, centered in the dining area, stretches 12 feet to the ceiling.
To the north and the south of what was the old dining area are living units. There are 12 such units currently in the house, each has its own facilities - kitchen or kitchenette and bathroom.
Upstairs, over the old dining area is a recreation room, a communal living area that divides the living units in much the same way as does the old dining area below.
East through doors of the upstairs living room is a balcony that provides a 180-degree view of Flagler Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
An unencumbered view of and accessibility to the ocean is the obvious attraction of the location.
Mrs. Kester's father, Dana Fuquay was the 13th architect to be licensed in the state. "He drew both commercial and residential plans," she said of her father. His office was always in Daytona, but he lived in and loved Flagler County.
Fuquay was the first Inland Navigation District officer for Flagler County. He had land holdings in Flagler County, New Smyrna and Daytona.
"Very few people know this of my father," Mrs. Kester said, "but he gave the park (now called Veterans Memorial Park) to the city." She continued, "Daddy built and owned the old house, but we lived in the Old Flagler Beach Hotel while it was being built.
The Florida Legislature and the Flagler County Commission thought so highly of Dana F. Fuquay that they proclaimed the segment of SR A1A from the city park to Hi Bridge, D F Fuquay Boulevard. A marker on the ocean side of A1A commemorates the proclamation.
When was the old house sold?
"I remember that," Mrs Kester said. "It happened during WW II. The Coast Guard took overt the place to us as a headquarters for the area. They painted the banisters that awful shade of gray or green, or whatever color they use," she recalled.
There were four bedrooms upstairs and three bathrooms, very, very large bathrooms. The 12-foot ceiling height added to the spacious appearance. Daddy always loved spaciousness," she said.
"The bathrooms were done all in white tile. Lavatories in the bathrooms were desk sized...almost twice the size of today's, and they were on pedestals. They were always sparkling clean," she added.
Mrs, Kester recalled that on here sister, Mrs Mickey Massey's 16th birthday, the Fuquay’s entertained 250 guests. Two orchestras, one upstairs and one down stairs, were contracted to provide music.
Many of the families represented at that party, and parties similar to it, still live in the county: the Wadsworth’s, Moody’s, Upson’s, the Charles Parker’s, the George Deen’s, the Johnson’s, the Ranger’s and the Wickline’s.
"We had an ice man called John Rice," Mrs. Kester recalled. "He had his plant in the Hammock and he used to bring us ice whenever we'd need it."
The old Fuquay house is one of the few remaining original houses left in the county. It is jointly owned by Al Esposito and Gus Simos.
Esposito told the Tribune that a portion of the old house soon might be converted to a restaurant. "Gus and I are still in the talking stages on that one," Esposito said.
"We've also discussed the possibility of building a small motel that would run east and west on the southern portion of the property. But that too is in the talking states," he said.
Last year, Esposito and Simos began a massive re landscaping program for the old Fuquay house. With the help of landscape contractor and consultant Eddy Schatz, they re contoured the land, planted 20 palms and sodded the front.
The landscaping project is generally recognized as the impetus for the Flagler Beach Beautification movement.
