Piers, Ports, and Wharves

During the mid-1880s, 16 wharves reached into Pensacola Bay along a three-mile stretch of waterfront from Bayou Texar to Bayou Chico. A few years later, around 1900, railroad companies invested in Pensacola’s port facilities, improving wharves and piers in an ...

A History Shaped by Hurricanes

Pensacola’s residents have endured more than 450 years of destructive hurricanes. The first historically recorded hurricane overwhelmed Don Tristán de Luna’s 1559 colonization attempt, destroying most of the ships in his fleet. In 1752, another hurricane drove a subsequent Spanish ...

Industry at Sea

Although the American Civil War (1861-1865) hindered much of Pensacola’s early industrial growth, the city rebounded quickly once the war ended. Entrepreneurs from the northern United States saw great value in the area’s deep port and natural resources. By the ...

Defending a Coastal Colony

If you flew over Pensacola Bay, you would see that it has many natural forms of protection. Sandy barrier islands defend the narrow entrance into the bay and rolling hills provide excellent vantage points to watch ships arrive. The many ...

Supremacy, Siege, and the Sea

Military and naval conflict dominated the 18th century. France, Spain, and Great Britain were aggressors in nearly constant warfare that often extended into North America. Spain established a fledgling colony near what is now the Pensacola Naval Air Station in ...

Developing the Port of Pensacola

When the Spanish arrived in Pensacola Bay in 1559 and again in 1698, they praised the area’s natural resources: the deep-water bay provided a safe harbor for large ships, rivers supplied fresh water, large forests offered a reliable source of ...

Spanish Exploration and Discovery

Early Spanish explorers quickly recognized the importance of Pensacola and its waterways. Remnants of conquistador Pánfilo de Narváez’s expedition sighted Pensacola Bay as early as 1528. In 1539 and Discovery and 1540, Francisco de Maldonado waited in the Bay to ...

The Medical Shop

The Medical Shop

This is a NPS reconstruction of a medical Shop owned by Dr. Corbin Griffin who was a physician in Yorktown. During the 1781 Yorktown Siege, Dr. Griffin was imprisoned by the British and held on a ship ...

The Ballard House

The Ballard House

This wooden home was built in the early part of the 18th century and it is quite remarkable that it still stands today.   It was built sometime between 1706 and 1709 and it was acquired ...