Meyer-Davis House and Hasty Cottage/Post Office
From Demolition Pending to Historic Landmark in Eight Months
Ponce Inlet is a town of approximately 3,000 people on the central east coast of Florida. The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse (1887), a National Historic Landmark, draws over 100,000 tourists a year. However, aside from the lighthouse, there is little in Ponce Inlet to remind visitors of the days when it was a fishing village. Two buildings on Beach Street harken back to an earlier era: The Hasty Cottage (c. 1880) was built as a fishing shack and later became the Ponce Inlet Post Office; its neighbor, the Meyer-Davis House (c. 1920) was the home of light keeper Edward Lockwood Meyer, his wife, Postmistress Ellen Mary Meyer, and their family from 1941 to the early twenty-first century. A few years ago the Meyers' daughter, Gladys Meyer Davis, sold the house to the town. She was assured that it would be preserved, as would the Hasty Cottage.
In August 2006, with no legally binding agreement to preserve the structures, the Town consulted with an engineering firm, who inspected the properties and concluded that "the land seems to be the most impressive asset of this property." In March 2007 the Town Council asked the Town Engineer to look at possible uses for the property. All but one of the five alternatives presented recommended preserving the Hasty Cottage, but demolishing the Meyer-Davis House. The house would be replaced by either green space and parking or by green space and an access drive for a proposed new development. The staff recommended selling the land to the developer, who would pay to preserve the Post Office and build a public park as the best use for the property.
Many local citizens were not convinced that the highest and best use of one of the few remaining historic properties was as a road to a development, but in April the Town Council voted 4-1 to demolish the home. In May, local school teacher Tara Lamb contacted the Southern Office, seeking advice on how to save the Meyer-Davis House. Program Officer Joseph McGill suggested seeking allies and forming a non-profit group to speak up for historic preservation in Ponce Inlet. Concerned citizens formed Davis House Historic Preservation, Inc. With further advice and technical assistance from McGill and Florida Field Representative Karen Nickless, Davis House, Inc. contacted the Florida SHPO and other interested organizations, marshaled volunteers to attend Council meetings, contacted the press, presented letters in support of preservation (including one from the Southern Office) and convinced the Volusia County Historic Preservation Board to list the Meyer-Davis House, Hasty Cottage and the Hasty Cemetery (located across the street from the two properties) as Endangered Historic Properties.
Even while Davis House Historic Preservation, Inc. organized to put pressure on Town Council to save the buildings, they continued to work with the Town of Ponce Inlet towards a feasible preservation solution. Davis House, Inc. offered to plan the restoration and use of the buildings and to raise money for that purpose. In the end, they convinced the Council that the highest and best use of the property was as a reminder of the town's past, not as a driveway. In September, just five months after demolition was approved, the Town Council voted unanimously to rescind the demolition order and authorized Davis House, Inc. to raise money to restore the buildings, pledging matching funds for all grants from the city coffers.
To insure the continued preservation of the Meyer-Davis House and the Hasty Cottage, Davis House, Inc. submitted an application to designate the structures and the property they stand on as local historic landmarks. In December 2007 the Town's Historic Preservation and Archaeological Preservation Board voted unanimously to recommend the designation. In January 2008, Town Council approved the designation by a 5-0 vote.
By spring, Davis House Historic Preservation had been granted $223,000 through ECHO of Volusia County for the full restoration of the Meyer-Davis House and the Hasty Cottage. The Meyer-Davis House will serve as a Visitors' Center and Museum and it is hoped that the Hasty Cottage will once again become the Ponce Inlet Post Office.
