The Dixie-Sherman Hotel
(Framed\Matted 15.5" X 18.5" Image 6" X 9")
This Limited Edition Gicleé is printed on 140 lb arches Cold Press.
Numbered and signed. Certificate of Authenticity Included.
The hotel that was first known as the Sherman Hotel, later the Hotel Dixie-Sherman and then the Dixie-Sherman Hotel was built in 1925 by local businessman W. C. Sherman. Rising to an impressive nine stories, the hotel commanded almost the entire block between Fifth and Sixth Streets and between Jenks and Grace Avenues. Along with other buildings that looked with optimism to the future like Bay High, the City Hall of Panama City, the Cove Hotel, all built within the years 1925-1926, the Dixie-Sherman Hotel was looked on by some as too grandiose for the city. But W. C. Sherman was not deterred. The Hotel boasted shops and services on the first floor and a grand ballroom on the second floor. The restaurant was a popular place to dine for both city residents and hotel guests. One hundred and one rooms were furnished in the height of style and outfitted with private baths and telephones in every room. Like the Cove Hotel, the Dixie-Sherman played host to many celebrities of the time. On summer evenings the open rooftop ballroom was the site of many Starlight Dances where the attendees could look out over the Bay and see the moonlight glinting off the water and the stars glittering in the sky. The Dixie-Sherman was built of white stucco with red tile mansard roofs that matched the Spanish Colonial Revival design of the City Hall. Wrought iron details and an arched arcade for shoppers and strollers were other architectural features of the building. A semicircular patio graced the entrance to the hotel and palms and shrubs were part of the landscaped grounds in front of the hotel. As with many buildings of this era, the Dixie-Sherman did not survive the “modernization” trend that ended the life of many other elegant old buildings in Panama City. During the 50’s and 60’s it fell on hard times and failed to conform to what was then considered “up-to-date.” In 1970, the Dixie-Sherman was given its final celebration when it was imploded by dynamite charges, one of the first buildings in the U.S. to be so demolished. Newspapers far and wide carried the moment of its collapse on their front page. The site is now the location of a parking lot.
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