Old City Hall

Spenser Andrade
Posted: 5/12/2020

Sitting on the western border of the Pensacola Historic District is the T. T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum. Sandwiched between two picturesque parks, Plaza Ferdinand VII and Museum Plaza, the Wentworth Museum is the UWF Historic Trust’s flagship museum and a prime example of Pensacola’s adaptive historic preservation efforts. The stunning architecture of the building includes elements from the Mission and Mediterranean Revival movements. These architectural styles enjoyed their greatest popularity during the early 1900s. One of the most frequently asked questions about the Wentworth is about the history of the building. Before becoming the museum it is today, the building originally served as Pensacola City Hall.

A Sanborn map of Pensacola showing the location of city hall in 1903.
The yellow square at the southwest corner of Jefferson and Zarragossa
would later become the site of the 1908 city hall.

Commonly called “old city hall” by some locals, the building was actually Pensacola’s new city hall from 1908 to 1986. According to the 1900 city directory, Pensacola’s former city hall was located at 405 South Jefferson Street. This building housed the city government, police and fire headquarters, and the jail. Nothing of this building survives to this day, and the address is currently the location of the Pensacola Museum of Art’s staff parking lot. Nonetheless, the 1908 city hall provided enough space for the city government to operate during a time of social and economic boom in the region. The building remained largely unchanged for the next fifty years. Minor additions to the building included the addition of elevators, new entry ways, and air conditioning in the 1950s.

The newly constructed city hall as it appeared around 1910. In the top-right,
an inventory of freshly-cut logs waiting to be shipped floating in the port

By the 1960s, the city government and services outgrew the capacity of the building. The city provided additional workspace by acquiring satellite offices around downtown. During the 1980s, as part of Pensacola “Direction 85” public works plan, the city secured funding for a new city hall on Main Street. Groundbreaking for a new Pensacola City Hall began in January 1984 and construction was completed in mid-1986. The 1908 city hall was acquired by the state and thoroughly renovated into a museum after receiving the Wentworth Collection. The namesake of the collection and museum is Theodore Thomas “T. T.” Wentworth, a long-time Pensacola resident. Mr. Wentworth stored and displayed a massive collection at his museum near his house in Ensley, Florida, a small community just north of Pensacola. Throughout his life, Wentworth amassed over 150,000 items. By the 1980s, his collection outgrew the capacity of his museum, and Wentworth donated his collection to the State of Florida. The newly renovated museum opened in 1988. Recent improvements to the building include modernized signage, window projections, new lamppost fixtures, and color-changing architectural lighting.

Port of Pensacola

Alex Ardoin
Posted: 5/8/2020

To those readers who live in and around Pensacola, you’ve most likely driven past the entrance to the Port of Pensacola. While these days it is a mere shell of its former self, it used to be the lifeblood of the city. Pensacola was originally surveyed out by Spanish explorers as the bay was suitable for a deep-water port. The first recorded export of commercial goods occurred in 1743.

The early days of the port consisted mostly of logging exports and berths for the fishing industry. In 1883, Eugene Edwin Saunders together with sea captain Thomas Everett Welles established the E. E. Saunders & Company and grew the company into the region’s largest Red Snapper dealer. William Benjamin Wright ran the W. B. Wright Company who was a major lumber exporter. In 1901 the W. B. Wright Company had the capacity to turn out over 65,000 feet of lumber, 20,000 laths, and 40,000 shingles.

Muscogee Wharf

Around the late 1800’s heading into the 1900’s there were several different wharves that jutted out into the bay. Among them were the Muscogee, Commendencia Street, and Tarragona Street wharves. The L&N Terminal building was constructed in 1902 and was situated on the Commendencia Street wharf. It was the major terminus for lumber and coal exports before becoming the Port Authority office in 1959. After its relocation to the corner of Barracks and Main streets its now serves as a coordinating center for the Florida Public Archaeology Network.

The modern port that resides in Pensacola today was opened in 1963. It sits on land that coincides with the original locations of the Commendencia and Tarragona wharves. The rail tracks that sat along the original route down Tarragona Street terminate in the modern port. In current times, logging and fishing have become slower industries and containerization of shipping has meant that the Port of Pensacola isn’t as bustling as it once was. As any good business does, the port has embraced new business opportunities. Artists and woodworkers and other tradesmen have begun to populate their spaces. Blue Origins, Jeff Bezos’ private space exploration company, has housed a ship in the port for repurposing operations and as home base for its future operations. The University of West Florida has recently established a fabrication facility that is part of the Mechanical Engineering department. General Electric uses the port as a venue to get their wind turbine housings onto freight ships to be routed to locations worldwide. In 2018, New York Yacht Club American Magic sailing team, who competes in the America’s Cup sailing competition, located their winter base at the Port of Pensacola.

Throughout Pensacola’s history the port has been an integral part of the city’s economy. They bay’s suitability to deep-water shipping was part of the reason for Pensacola’s location. Through fishing and logging industries, the port experienced incredible growth through the 1800’s to early 1900’s. Modern times have seen the port become less of a hub for the shipping trade but become a center of alternative business opportunities that show that it still has importance to the city of Pensacola.

Archives: The Three Rectors

Spenser Andrade
Posted: 5/5/2020

Located on the southwest corner of Seville Square, Old Christ Church is a prominent Pensacola landmark and undoubtedly a valuable historic structure. Built in 1832, the historic church served the Pensacola community for the next 71 years. The congregation moved to a new church located on North Palafox at the foot of the North Hill neighborhood in 1903. The church building continued to serve the community after it was converted into a public library and then a museum of local history. Fast forward to now, the building became part of the UWF Historic Trust. Today, the picturesque building serves as a popular venue for meetings, special events, and weddings. During normal museum hours, the church is part of the Trust’s ticketed guided tours. On the tour, visitors will be able to enter the church and learn about the history of the building from their guide. One of the more interesting facts given on the tour is the mention of three graves underneath the church.

The little black door behind Old Christ Church as seen from
Zarragoza Street.

Visitors may or may not notice the little black door located on the exterior of the church just under the stained glass of the western wall. Although off-limits to the public, the door secures the final resting place for three of the church’s former rectors. Inside the church, guests will see a marble plaque dedicated to Joseph Saunders, Frederick Peake, and David Flower. These men are the three rectors buried beneath the church. Reverends Saunders and Flower died in 1839 and 1853 respectively, and both rectors died of yellow fever. Unsurprisingly, these years also correspond with yellow fever epidemics in Pensacola. Reverend Peake died of tuberculosis in 1946. Further investigation explains why these men were buried underneath the church.

Originally, the present-day altar did not cover these graves. Additions to the original church extended the rear of the church by twenty feet covering their graves. Prior to this extension, the back of the church served as a vestry room (i.e., an office or changing room) for the clergy. After learning about a story of Union soldiers potentially vandalizing the graves during the Civil War, members of the Christ Episcopal Church congregation funded a $38,000 archaeological dig in 1988. A team of UWF archaeologists and volunteers conducted the excavation from May to July 1988. The excavation located all three graves and a forensic physical anthropologist from Florida State University helped identify the remains. After the culmination of the dig, the skeletons were placed in cedar caskets and reinterred underneath the church.