#putnam lodge

Putnam Lodge | Cross City, Florida | 2015

Putnam Lodge | Cross City, Florida | 2015

Putnam Lodge | Cross City, Florida | 2015

Putnam Lodge, built in 1927-28 by the Putnam Lumber Company, is part of a bygone era in Florida’s forestry history. Here, beside the old Dixie Highway, Putnam Lodge, part of the “company town” of Shamrock, accommodated tourists, transients and company executives and clients. The lobby and the dining room of the 36-room lodge were decorated exclusively with the still preserved, artfully stenciled “pecky cypress,” a now virtually extinct lumber product. 

In its day, the Putnam Lumber Company, founded by William O’Brien, a timber magnate of Irish descent, and associates including E. B. Putnam, employed hundreds at its two state-of-the-art sawmills in Shamrock. The mills annually produced and shipped worldwide millions of feet of “deep swamp tidewater cypress” and “dense Florida longleaf yellow pine” lumber, products that are now rare because the old growth trees are gone. Shamrock provided its residents and employees with comfortable homes, a commissary, a store comparable to “any city department store,” two schools, two hotels, the Shamrock Dairy Farm, and an ice plant producing 18 tons of ice daily. The lodge is representative of a time of local timber supremacy and economic prosperity. (pulled from the Putnam Lodge website putnamlodge.com)

I first heard about the Putnam Lodge from a close friend of mine who had celebrated her brother's wedding at this historic gem. She informed me a bit about it's history, renovation and some of the experiences she had while staying the night there (stay tuned for additional post). I took the opportunity to visit this past Sunday and I was not disappointed. 

We arrived around 11am and enjoyed their fantastic Sunday brunch. The building is gorgeous and when I entered the lobby I was blown away by the texture and detail of the cypress walls and ceiling. The choices on the buffet were not only plentiful but absolutely delicious! Prime rib, seafood, lasagna, biscuits and gravy (a southern staple), salads and desserts. My favorite was the eggs benedict... so creamy, delicious and not soggy (which if you know me is the worst!). A big round of applause for their in house chef Jeno Koch. Delish. Oh... and the complimentary mimosas were top notch.