Totally Tallahassee: Lake Ella Barber Shop

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Since 1983, Gerald Frances McCarthy has had his barber shop opened on Lake Ella.

He was the first tenant of the building, since before it was a motel.

Throughout the decades, he's met governors, movie stars and some of the most unique people in the Tallahassee community.

After almost 40 years, the sounds of razors and scissors still fill the space, but the history extends further.

"In World War two, they used it for an officers building," McCarthy said. "This is where the officers stayed when they were in the air corp here at Mabry Field."

McCarthy even remembers, shortly after he bought the building, it being turned into a church for the 1986 film ‘Something Wild’ with Jeff Daniels and Melanie Griffith.

For McCarthy, cutting hair was always supposed to be a temporary job, after he moved to Florida from Michigan, but now his building has become a stable on Lake Ella that is Totally Tallahassee.

"I hope it stays here forever," McCarthy said. "I’m retired now, but I hope it’s here for another 30 years."