Eco Relics Photo Gallery – Salvage, Reclaimed, Custom, and More! Jacksonville, Florida

Music fans rejoice! Did you know that there are vinyl records in the Eco Relics architectural salvage warehouse? Even if you don’t have a record player (for shame!), there are plenty of things you can do with our records. If it is unlikely that your old Johnny Mathis platter will ever spin again, consider repurposing it. A little heat will soften up…

On March 6th, Eco Relics hosted  a fundraising event to benefit Waste Not Want Not and their mission to fight hunger and poverty by rescuing food that would otherwise go to waste. We raised enough money to collect and distribute over 9,000 lbs. of food! The nonprofit Berry Good Farms food truck was also in the house. Here’s a song from their set:…

Cast iron is a building material with weight, distinguishing itself from more flimsy alloys and plastics that are common today. Behind that weight is the 8,000 year history of human experiments with smelting and metallurgy to develop crafted metal tools. To behold a cast iron object is to literally feel the weight of history resting in you hands. The earliest…

In 532 CE, chariot racing supporters in Constantinople led a riot that burned half the city to the ground, including the Hagia Sophia’s second basilica, the first having been destroyed by rioting in 404 CE. Identified by their colors, chariot racing supporters in Constantinople were part street gang, part political party, and their riots often incorporated political demands. Emperor Justinian survived this…

This old Philco radio was once the centerpiece of someone’s living room. Its art deco features recall the golden days of radio, when the whole family would gather around to partake in the technological miracle of FM broadcasting. The radio came to us in pieces, its vacuum tubes and speaker no longer functional. Our artists reimagined the radio as a…

Creating an appealing look for an interior space can be a more challenging task that you might expect. Most people feel they have a good sense of taste, but interior design is governed by artistic principles that go beyond simply deciding what one might think looks good and what doesn’t. Interior design is grounded in concepts that have stood the test of time,…

Reclaimed Lumber and Salvage *This page has been updated from it’s original publication on April 29, 2016 Reclaimed lumber and salvage are perfect building materials for projects like cabinetry, flooring, furniture, architectural details, and more. From seed to sawdust, every tree product can be reused, recycled, or repurposed. Old wood welcomes the eye with warmth, draws the mind’s attention with…

How deep are the roots of the ubiquitous Christmas album? Well, that depends on how deep you want to dig. Carols written in the vernacular date back to the 13th century in England but singing them was banned by an Act of Parliament in 1647. The act was rescinded by the royal restoration of the Stuarts in 1660, when King…

Buying furniture can be a daunting task for the ecologically-motivated shopper. A life cycle assessment of the average piece of big box store furniture is a scary sight. Carbon emissions, toxicity of materials, forestry practices, VOCs, and other concerns often lead furniture seekers to greener alternatives. Vintage Furniture Vintage or used furniture is one option. By keeping money out of…

Dr. Jonathan Schneider always finds a way to celebrate life. Making “antiqued” signs began as hobby for him, an introduction to woodworking and a way to to spend his free time feeling purposeful and relaxed. But the imagination, craftsmanship, and folksy charm expressed in his work soon found a larger audience. It started with the signs he made for his…

The folks at Eco Relics architectural salvage company want you to know!  The City of Jacksonville is now reusing and recycling its household hazardous waste! Leftover paint is applied to city buildings and distributed to non-profits, chlorine is used in city pools, and other city departments make use of any usable materials that the city collects. Fertilizer, motor oil, appliances,…

by Eddy Cotton “heirloom noun /ˈeər·lum/ a valuable object that has been given by an older member of a family to a younger member of the same family, esp. one given several times in this way.” The holidays have come and gone, the new year is off and running. Let me tell you about a project I completed (with help…

Preservation and Salvage in Jacksonville, Florida After 6,000 years of human habitation, only a tiny fraction of Jacksonville’s historic buildings survive. The pole and palm-thatch buildings constructed by Mocama Indians are long gone, of course. The mysterious Fort Caroline, Jacksonville’s first European settlement, has never been located. The Kingsley Plantation house, built around 1800, is probably the oldest surviving structure…

The Bostwick building, at the corner of Ocean and Bay, is one of downtown Jacksonville, Florida’s most visible historic buildings. It was constructed in 1902, one of the first permitted structures built after the Great Fire. Sporting typical “big bank” architecture, it hosted a succession of failed banks through the boom and bust cycles of the early 20th century. A…

The Eco Relics crew is a great resource for Jacksonville’s DIY community. We are wood workers, metal workers, engineers, draftsmen, and builders of all kinds with over a century of experience and we are always available for you to consult. And we’ve just deepened our knowledge and experience by adding another unique personality to our crew. Let’s take a minute…