Editing Keyser Building

{{Infobox Building
|image=KeyserBuilding1943.jpg
|caption=The Keyser Building in 1943
|name=Keyser Building
|location=16-26 [[Palafox Place]]
|architect=
|client=
|engineer=[[Charles Hill Turner]]
|owner=[[William Swift Keyser]]
|construction_start_date=[[1910]]
|completion_date=[[1912]]
|renovations=[[2008]]
|date_demolished=
|cost=
|structural_system=
|style=
|size=Two stories
|mapcode=
}}
The '''Keyser Building''' is a two-story commercial building located at '''16-26 [[Palafox Place]]'''. Current occupants include [[Cactus Cantina]], [[Jewelers Trade Shop]], [[Play]], [[Wild Greg's Saloon]], and [[The Wine Bar on Palafox]].

Since its construction, the building has been altered numerous times, including the creation of a breezeway through the northernmost end of the building's ground floor. A portion of the building's historic facade has also been covered over.

==Construction==
[[William Swift Keyser]] purchased the Palafox Street site from the [[West Florida Steam Bakery]] on January 28, 1910. The $85,000 purchase — about $2.3 million in 2018 dollars — set a record-high price for Palafox Street frontage.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32160765/brent_keyser_real_estate_transactions/ "Largest Real Estate Deals in Many Years Put Through"]. ''The Pensacola Journal''. January 29, 1910. p. 1. Retrieved June 1, 2019 – via [[Wikipedia:Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]</ref> Several months later, Keyser purchased the adjacent property, formerly the site of the [[Sisters of Mercy]] convent and school.<ref>[http://brokert10.fcla.edu/DLData/CF/FullText/fhq_37_3.txt Florida Historical Quarterly, Volume XXXVII, January-April 1959, Numbers 3 and 4]</ref>

The contractor for construction of the Keyser Building was the local [[C. H. Turner Construction Company]]. Workers began excavations for the building's foundation in September 1910.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32159885/foundation_work_keyser_building/ "To Start Work on Foundation"]. ''The Pensacola Journal''. September 18, 1910. p. 7. Retrieved June 1, 2019 – via [[Wikipedia:Newspapers.com|Newspapers.com]]</ref> Construction was completed by October 1912.

Long vacant, the second floor of the building was renovated in [[2008]] by the developers of [[Will Call Sports Grille]], who also added a new balcony and facade to the front of the building.

==Historical tenants==
*[[B & B Cafe]]
*[[Ball Boo & Novelty Co.]] — 24 South Palafox
*[[Gutman's Dry Goods & Notions]] — 16 South Palafox
*[[Joseph Galin]] (clothier) — 26 South Palafox
*[[Southern Express Company]]
*[[West Florida Development & Investment Company]]
*[[White & White]]

==Other images==
<gallery>
File:KeyserBuilding2008.jpg|The Keyser Building in 2008
Image:KeyserBuilding.jpg|The [[West Florida Development & Investment Company]] occupied the Keyser Building in the 1920s
</gallery>

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==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Palafox Street buildings]]