ORANGE PARK, Fla. – There’s a modest red brick building on Kingsley Avenue in the middle of bustling Orange Park. It’s a hidden gem and a throwback in time.
Built in 1956, it’s almost 70 years old -- the oldest barber shop in Orange Park and arguably the oldest in the Jacksonville area.
Walk through the doors of the Modern Style and Barber Shop and you’ll feel like you are going through a time tunnel.
You’ll see the original barber chairs. The walls are adorned with military memorabilia. There are pictures of vintage military aircraft, aircraft carriers, including the USS John F. Kennedy, the Blue Angels and a photograph of Mayport that probably dates back to the 1950s.
“It’s a beautiful aerial view of Mayport, and I’m thinking maybe the 50s by the way the cars look,” said Faye Wallace. “It’s a big, beautiful view. I’d love to see it side by side with a view then and now.”
Wallace has been working at the barber shop since 1992. She says she came to work one day that year and never left.
“You just come to work, hang out with your friends and it never feels like work,” Wallace said. “It’s always a pleasure to come in. I’ve never dreaded having to come to work.”
As for the military motif, it’s because many of the original clientele had ties to the military. When the shop opened, Cecil Field was operating and many of its employees, especially members of the military, came in to get their “military haircuts.”
“We had the Blue Angels in town,” Wallace said. “This used to be the military shop. And they would all come in and get their hair cut.”
Many customers have been coming in for years and bringing their families. Take Doug, for instance.
“Well, we moved here in ’73, so I’ve been coming here since,” Doug said. “Bill (the original owner) used to cut my hair. Faye just started here when I first got out of the Navy and moved back here in 1992, so, she’s cut all my kids’ hair, and she’s cutting my grandson’s hair now.”
Ask Faye Wallace if she ever thinks about modernizing the Modern Barber and Style Shop and she’ll tell you in no uncertain terms, “no way.”
The world around us is changing and changing rapidly every day. But the oldest barber shop in Orange Park is stuck in a time warp.
The people who work here and their customers will tell you, they wouldn’t have it any other way.