Joseph Haygood Blodgett (1858–1934), usually referred to as J. H. Blodgett, was an

contractor A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to: Business roles * Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government * General contractor, an individual o ...

and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, living and working in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, during the early twentieth century. He was

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

Life and career

Blodgett was born into slavery in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

on February 8, 1858."Joseph Haygood Blodgett,"
African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary, 1865-1945
' ed. Dreck Spurlock Wilson (New York: Routledge, 2004): 58-60. As a teenager, he left the farm and went to

Summerville, South Carolina Summerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County, with small portions in Berkeley and Charleston counties. It is part of the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Su ...

, where he initially worked as a laborer but eventually established his own businesses, including a drayage operation and a lumberyard, before turning to farming. After a bankruptcy he relocated to Jacksonville, working for the railroad before resuming some of his earlier business operations, including another lumberyard. In 1898, he went into the contracting business full-time and was responsible for much housing in the expanding city."Joseph Haygood Blodgett," ''The National Cyclopedia of the Colored Race'', ed. Clement Richardson (Montgomery, AL: National Publishing Company, 1919): 435. After Jacksonville's Great Fire of 1901, which wiped out much of the city proper, Blodgett joined the rapid rebuilding of the city. By 1919 it was estimated that his firm was responsible for more than 250 houses, a number of which he retained as an investment. Most of these were small houses built in predominantly African American neighborhoods of the city, though he was also responsible for a number of larger homes in the Craftsman and Colonial Revival styles, including his own, called "Blodgett Villa," formerly on West 8th Street in Jacksonville. He also was responsible for housing in Georgia,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. Due to declining health, he retired from business in the 1920s. At the time of his death, which occurred June 5, 1934, he was thought to be one of the wealthiest African Americans in Florida.

Works

Many of Blodgett's buildings were destroyed as part of urban renewal efforts in Jacksonville's African American communities. However, some, chiefly residences, do survive:The architectural works of Joseph Haygood Blodgett
, thejaxsonmag.com, The Jaxson, March 23, 2020. * Mortuary for Lawton L. Pratt, 525 W Beaver St, Jacksonville, Florida (1915) * Houses for Joseph H. Blodgett, 1241 and 1251 Hart St, Jacksonville, Florida (no date) * Houses for Joseph H. Blodgett, 1441 and 1447 N Myrtle Ave, Jacksonville, Florida (no date) * Houses for Joseph H. Blodgett, 1476 and 1480 N Myrtle Ave, Jacksonville, Florida (no date)

Personal life and legacy

In addition to his business success, Blodgett was a community leader. After the 1901 fire, he was a director of a relief organization to coordinate relief within the African American community. Blodgett also supported the local chapter of the Negro Business League, as well as

Edward Waters College Edward Waters University is a private Christian historically Black university in Jacksonville, Florida. It was founded in 1866 by members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME Church) as a school to educate freedmen and their children. I ...

and his church. Blodgett married Sallie A. Barnes of Bamberg, South Carolina in 1894. Blodgett was the namesake of Blodgett Homes, a large 1942-built public housing project in Jacksonville, and also of its replacement, Blodgett Villas.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blodgett, Joseph Haygood 1858 births 1934 deaths African-American architects People from Augusta, Georgia People from Jacksonville, Florida 20th-century African-American businesspeople 19th-century African-American businesspeople American builders American former slaves 20th-century American architects 19th-century American businesspeople