The area around Pensacola Bay had long been home to Native Americans prior to the arrival of the first Spanish explorers in the 1500’s. In 1559 the Spanish established one of the first European settlements in the continental United States but it was abandoned after two years when the impact of a hurricane devastated the settlement. The Spanish returned to the area in 1698 and over the next 75 years built a succession of three different settlements, the first two being destroyed by hurricanes and the third being the foundation of the current city of Pensacola. Great Britain assumed control of Pensacola after their victory over the Spanish in 1763 and occupied the area until 1781 when the Spanish attacked the British settlement and recaptured West Florida for Spain. Spain controlled the area until 1821 when it sold West Florida to the newly formed United States, anxious to hold a viable port on the Gulf of Mexico. The Pensacola Navy Yard was established in 1825 and the military continues to be a key part of the local economy. Florida was the third state to secede from the union at the beginning of the Civil War but Fort Pickens, at the entrance to Pensacola Bay, remained in Union hands throughout the war, preventing the Confederacy from using the port of Pensacola for supplying their armies. Pensacola continues to be a key shipping point for the southeast and the barrier islands between the Gulf of Mexico and the mainland have developed into a thriving tourist destination. Let’s explore Pensacola Bay!
Perdido Key is the barrier island that greets us at the bottom of the bridge crossing from Alabama. There must be some kind of zoning in place as the Florida island is not as developed as the Alabama area around Gulf Shores.
Perdido Key is a relatively narrow strip of sand, especially at the western end, and to the north are occasional glimpses of vacation homes lining the shore of the mainland while to the south the white sands of the beach stretch out towards the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
As we come down the north side of the bridge between Perdido Key and the mainland the vast forests of Northwest Florida stretch out to the horizon. The relatively level horizon masks a landscape laced with creeks, small valleys and rolling hills.
Around 54,000 people live in the Pensacola area with downtown centered on the site of the third Spanish fort on the southwest banks of Pensacola Bay. Pensacola Bay actually looks like a “Y” tilted to the right. The main bay connected to the Gulf of Mexico at Pensacola Pass by Fort Pickens splits into two separate bays, Escambia and East Bay to the northeast. I-10 bypasses the city on the north and, as repeatedly seen throughout the United States, the interstate has lured most commercial and retail establishments out of the city center and towards the interstate. Remaining from the Spanish heritage of the central city are the existence of several plazas close to the waterfront. Plaza Ferdinand VII is on the site of Fort Pensacola and the foundations of several buildings are still present. Cannon line the plaza while in the center an obelisk stands as a memorial to William Dudley Chipley.
Bordering the square on three sides are buildings echoing the Spanish influences still seen throughout the area.
The east side of the plaza is dominated by the 1907 Old City Hall, now the T. T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum. T. T. Wentworth was an avid collector of eclectic items who was a long-time Pensacola resident and successful businessman. His collection eventually totaled over 150,000 items. The City of Pensacola donated the building to house his collection, as well as other displays, in 1988.
One block to the west is Palafox Street, the main street through the city center running from the docks of the bay north, lined with government buildings and other historic structures.
Side streets again echo the Spanish influence.
West of the T. T. Wentworth Museum is the historic residential neighborhood around Seville Plaza, another vestige of the Spanish settlement. Between the T. T. Wentworth Museum and Seville Plaza is a couple of blocks known as “Historic Pensacola” a collection of buildings and small museums.
The leading industry in the Florida panhandle during the late 1800’s was harvesting the seemingly unending supply of timber. A 1904 steam engine, flatbed, and caboose pay homage to the legacy of the timber industry.
Historic homes line the street on both sides.
At a corner facing Seville Plaza stands Christ Church, the oldest church building in Florida still on its’ original site. Built in 1832, the church has a colorful history, used as a barracks and hospital by Union forces during the Civil War, serving as the Pensacola Public Library from 1936-1957, and now as part of the Pensacola Historical Museum complex.
Standing in Seville Plaza across from the church, Pensacola Bay shimmers through the majestic oaks that shelter the plaza.
While I’ve been walking around downtown Pensacola the Lunch Box has been resting in a parking lot near the port of Pensacola. A large ocean vessel is in dock to the east.
The dense forests that blanket the Florida Panhandle were the first lure that drew people to settle the area, particularly the stands of cypress, a wood virtually impervious to water. Florida’s first “industrial” complex actually developed about 20 miles northwest of Pensacola deep in the forest on Pond Creek, a tributary the Blackwater River flowing into Escambia Bay and thus Pensacola Bay. The Arcadia Mill complex flourished for a brief time in the early 1800’s before progress and lack of timber passed it by.
Arcadia Mill
The Arcadia Mill site originated as part of a Spanish land grant in 1817. The combination of ironstone outcroppings, a sufficient source of water, and an abundant stand of pine and cypress made it well suited to the timber industry. Between 1817 and 1855 the Arcadia complex developed into a multi-faceted operation that included a railroad, two water-powered sawmills, a bucket factory, shingle mill, textile mill and an experimental silk cocoonery. The diverse workforce included African-American slaves, Anglo-American workers, and a small management class. A visual displays the layout of the site. Note that the timber has been cleared from the surrounding area.
The textile mill burned in 1855 and the dam forming the mill pond was blown up during the Civil War. Most operations moved to nearby Bagdad on the banks of the Blackwater River. The Arcadia site was gradually absorbed back into the forest and essentially disappeared unil 1964 when historian Warren Weekes rediscovered the Arcadia mill site. The University of West Florida now manages the site and continues archaeological excavations. The university has erected a boardwalk that allows exploration of part of the site, passing through the dense forests that have reclaimed the area. At various stops along the way explanations are given for what used to be located there, but really the only easily visible remains are the foundations of the textile mill. However, it also provides an opportunity to get an “up-close” view of a panhandle forest. Let’s explore!
Pond Creek winds through the site.
The 1,200 feet long dam created a 60 acre mill pond that stored water to be released to run the water mills that powered the various operations. The dam was blown up during the Civil War. Remains of the dam can still be seen. In the first picture on the left a gentle slope with little vegetation shows the right side of a breach in the dam, the second picture shows a more dramatic rise on the left side of the breach. Railings from an old boardwalk that climbed up the side of the breach mark the incline.
The surrounding forest once was home to stands of cypress and pine, amongst other species. Old-growth cypress was highly prized because of its’ resistance to water and stands all across Florida were logged extensively. The forests of Arcadia now contain young stands of cypress as well as white cedar, red willow, long-leaf pine and silver bay magnolia, all species that flourish in sandy soil and varying degrees of wet conditions. The forest floor hosts small, dense clumps of Swamp Sphagum, a plant used by southern soldiers to treat wounds, giving it the nickname “Confederate Penicillin.”
Deep in the forest we come upon the foundations of the textile mill (look for the straight lines in the lower right.)
A “plunge pool” was built next to the textile mill designed to help protect the mills from floods and erosion. After powering the water wheel, the water collected in the plunge pool and then funneled through a stone-lined channel back into Pond Creek. Look for the stone blocks remaining along the edges of the water.
Circling back towards the entrance a small covered pavilion displays reconstructions of various items from the complex.
Enough of the damp, cold forest – it’s time to head to the beach!
Normally the trip from Pensacola to the beach on Santa Rosa Island is a quick 10 minute drive over the Pensacola Bay Bridge. However, now one has to take a 45 minute detour due to damage to the bridge caused during Hurricane Sally last fall. The bridge was already under construction to expand and replace sections when ten barges being used on the construction broke loose from their moorings and crashed into the bridge. I look longingly at the bridge (which is completely closed and will be for months) and head east to travel around Pensacola Bay to get to my next destination, Fort Pickens, at the entrance to Pensacola Bay on the eastern tip of Santa Rosa Island.
Fort Pickens
The detour involves taking I-10 east of Pensacola Bay before turning south on Hwy 281 to cross East Bay to get to Santa Rosa Island, a long, narrow barrier island. Hwy 281 is not designed for the heavy traffic created by its’ use as a detour and fortunately for me, I am heading south towards the island. The morning rush hour traffic coming from the island is backed up bumper to bumper for over seven miles.
Crossing East Bay condominium towers of Pensacola Beach that line the beach on Santa Rosa Island in the distance come into view.
At the base of the bridge we turn west towards the end of the island. Development quickly ends as most of the western tip of the island is protected in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. To my right homes line the mainland shore while to my left is the glorious white sand and emerald blue of the gulf coast.
The road was damaged by Hurricane Sally last fall and a couple times metal plates cover the eroded pavement.
Pensacola Pass, where Pensacola Bay flows into the Gulf of Mexico, is relatively narrow and as I approach Fort Pickens the views to the north are of the Pensacola Naval Air Station across the pass on the mainland.
To the south the Gulf of Mexico go on and on…
Vegetation starts to appear closer to the tip of the island and the first sign of Fort Pickens appears. The guns of Battery Langdon was used during World Wars I and II to protect against possible incursions.
A short while later the road winds through a scrub forest and enters the gates of Fort Pickens, built in 1834.
The importance of defending Pensacola Bay was recognized as soon as the territory became part of the United States. A trio of forts were built, Fort Pickens, Fort McRee west across the pass on Perdido Key, and Fort Barrancas north across the pass.
Construction of Fort Pickens began in 1829 and was completed in 1834. A huge undertaking, Fort Pickens is the largest of the three forts and was built primarily of brick. Capt. William H. Chase was the army engineer who directed the construction and he brought in slaves skilled in masonry and carpentry from New Orleans as well as unskilled slaves from Pensacola who were used as day laborers. Wages earned by the slaves went to their owners. The fort was built in the shape of a pentagon with five bastions at each point. As a diagram of the fort as it looks today shows, Bastion D is missing and a huge hole exists in the northwest corner of the fort. In 1899 a fire broke out in Bastion D and it reached the batteries magazine, where nearly 8,000 pounds of gun power was stored. The resulting explosion obliterated Bastion D with such force that bricks from Fort Pickens landed across Pensacola Pass at Fort Barrancas, nearly 1.5 miles away.
After entering the fort area at the south east corner the road circles around the fort to a back parking lot. Note the openings in the wall where cannon were located. The beveled openings allowed for the cannon to rotate in order to cover more territory.
The view from the parking lot looks south through the opening where the missing Bastion D would have been to the arches which housed cannon as well as the arch on the left which is the entrance through which we will enter the fort.
The massive walls of brick are held up by arches, the strongest design available at the time for holding up immense weight. Stopping inside the entry a ring of arched openings that is repeated all around interior of the entire fort housing the cannon that protected Pensacola Pass come into view. The arched curbs on the floor helped keep cannon in place when recoiling as well as provided a guide for swiveling cannon.
The fort remained in Union hands during the Civil War despite Florida being an integral member of the Confederacy, withstanding a number of Confederate attempts to capture it. The Union possession of Fort Pickens blocked Pensacola Pass, thus preventing the Confederacy from using the port of Pensacola to supply their armies even though the surrounding land was in Confederate hands. The fort artillery became obsolete towards the end of the 1800’s though the need for a fort was still there. This lead to the construction of Battery Pensacola in 1898. This “fort within a fort” had two 12-inch rifles on carriages that could disappear behind the walls after firing 1,070-pound shells at ships eight miles away!
Entering through the front arch the black steel-enforced wall of Battery Pensacola stretches across the interior of the 1834 fort.
Climbing to the top of the south wall gives extensive views of the entire complex. Stretching to the southeast is the arched wall under which massive cannon were housed.
West the defenses point out over the entrance to Pensacola Pass. In the distance are shore batteries built in 1898 as part of a modernization effort that lead to cannon being spread out in smaller, less prominent batteries rather than concentrated in one area.
To the northwest the view is across base housing and the pass to the mainland beyond. The dark spire of the Pensacola Lighthouse rises in the distance.
In areas within the walls where there were not cannon the magazines, storing the cannon balls and other supplies, stretch out in long corridors.
A fascinating look at an important piece of American history.
Leaving the bastion of war behind us, the bucolic seashore beckons on the right.
On the left the city of Pensacola rises across Pensacola Bay.
Ahead the towers of Pensacola Beach rise in stark contrast to the white sand and emerald sea.
Next up: The “Redneck Riviera”
Post a Comment