CARRIAGE FACTORY BUILDING

The Carriage Factory Building at 102 East Washington Street in Quincy is one of the downtown’s most architecturally interesting commercial landmarks, with a history that traces the arc of North Florida’s economic development from the 19th century through the early 20th century. Built in 1906 to house the E and W Vehicle and Grain Company, the building quickly evolved with the times.

By 1920, the building had been repurposed as the May Tobacco Company, placing it squarely within the shade tobacco industry that dominated Quincy’s commercial landscape for the first decades of the 20th century. The transformation from vehicle dealer to tobacco company in just 14 years encapsulates the rapid changes that characterized this remarkable period of growth.

The building was purchased in 1988 by Dutch and Sophia Swart, whose creative vision for the interior space has made it both a functional commercial property and a historically engaging addition to Quincy’s architectural landscape, with offices on the street floor and residential apartments on the second floor.