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| image_name =WABlountSrWilliamABlountSr.jpg| image_size =288px225px

| occupation =lawyerAttorney, politician

Blount initially practiced law in Pensacola with [[Charles W. Jones]], but with his background in corporate law, combined with his father's connections and influence, William soon attracted an impressive clientèle of his own. Some of his clients included the [[Pensacola Street Car Company]] and [[Daniel F. Sullivan]], who purchased the [[Pensacola & Louisville Railroad]] and transferred majority control to the [[Louisville & Nashville Railroad]] under Blount's legal counsel on [[February 27]], [[1880]]. This transaction would lead to the creation of the [[Pensacola & Atlantic Railroad]], which received a charter of incorporation on [[March 21]], [[1881]], opening new western eastern railway routes for Pensacola.<ref>[http://stmichaelscemetery.org/bios/WABlount.htm William Alexander Blount] - St. Michael's Cemetery Foundation essay</ref>

Blount's brother, [[Alexander Clement Blount, Jr.]], joined the law practice in [[1883]], forming '''Blount & Blount'''. He served as [[Pensacola City Attorney|City Attorney]] for several years during this time. In [[1907]], the firm welcomed former Florida Supreme Court Judge [[Francis B. Carter]], becoming '''Blount & Blount & Carter'''. Later partners included [[J.E.D. Yonge]], [[E. Dixie Beggs, Sr.]] and [[Bert Lane]]. When the list of partners became unwieldy, the firm was renamed '''[[Beggs & Lane]]''' in ''({{date needed)'' }} and is the oldest continuous law practice in Florida.

In [[1894]], Blount purchased lots 257 & 258 on block #29 of the [[Old City Tract]] (later known as the [[Brent Block]]) from [[Thomas Watson]], including a three-story building at the corner of [[Garden Street|Garden]] and [[Palafox Street]]s that would be was called the [[Blount-Watson Building]].<ref>[[John Appleyard]]. ''The Brent Block,'' p. 7.</ref> After it burned in the early morning of [[November 1]], [[1905]] (called the [[Halloween Night Fire]]), Blount immediately began plans to rebuild on the site, enlisting his son, [[Fernando Moreno Blount]], as the architect. Construction of the new '''[[Blount Building]]''' began in [[1906]], concurrent with the [[Brent Building]] to which it is connected, and was completed in [[1907]]. At seven stories, it was the tallest building in Florida at the time. (This title would also be was later claimed by the ten-story [[American National Bank Building]] in 1910.)

Blount's architectural legacy is also remembered in his summer home, [[Seamarge]], a thirty-room mansion built in [[1905]] on the western shore of [[Pensacola Bay shore]].

[[Category:LawyersBlount family|Blount Sr., William Alexander]] [[Category:Attorneys|Blount Sr., William Alexander]][[Category:People buried in St. Michael's Cemetery|Blount Sr., William Alexander]][[Category:Pensacola City Attorneys|Blount Sr., William Alexander]] [[Category:Episcopalians|Blount Sr., William Alexander]] [[Category:Street namesakes|Blount Sr., William Alexander]]