History of our office building:
The original structure was built in approximately 1940. At that time the residence was located at the corner of Harrison Avenue and 11th Street. The home was originally built by W.J. Blackshear, a local doctor. At the time it was built, the building was square and consisted of two bedrooms, 1 bath, a living room, dining room and kitchen. It was then passed down to his son and his son's wife, Joe and Louise Blackshear. The building stayed at the location on Harrison until approximately 1952 and then it was moved to it's current location on Jenks Avenue. At that time the neighborhood was zoned residential.

The building sits in the middle of 3 lots. After moving to Jenks Avenue, the Blackshears added 1 bedroom, a bath and a sitting area/ study off of the living room. A few years later, a Florida room was added.

Joe Blackshear passed away in 1992. He and Louise had been married for over 40 years. Mr. Blackshear was retired from Real Estate. Ms. Blackshear was a music teacher at Bay High School and then gave private piano lessons upon retirement. Ms. Blackshear lived in the home until November of 1995 when Ms. Cothran and business associates purchased the home to use as a law office.

In 1995, the area was zoned multi use which means that it can be a residence or permission can be granted to use the property as a low impact business. The office was re-modeled over a a 5 month period. Several walls were moved to add a hallway and enlarge a bathroom for handicap access. New electrical and new heating and air conditioning was added to the office. All the carpet was removed and the wood floors were restored to their original condition. The goal of remodeling was to keep as much of the original character of the building as possible. Most of the original trim work was restored as well as the windows and window sills. Unfortunately, all of the doors in the building were replaced for fire safety reasons. One door frame has the heights and ages of the Joe and Louise's grandchildren still etched to this day.