LINCOLN MEMORIAL

LINCOLN MEMORIAL

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated just after the end of the Civil War on April 14, 1865. By March of 1867, Congress incorporated the Lincoln Monument Association to build a memorial to the slain 16th President.

Abraham Lincoln, the ...

Messerer Trapper Cabin

The Swan Valley was homesteaded in the early 1900s. Many homesteaders relied on income from trapping to pay taxes and to purchase food and supplies they weren’t able to produce on their land.

Fred Messerer lived on the Swan Clearwater ...

Smithsonian Institution, Anacostia Community Museum

Founded as the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum and opened in 1967, the Anacostia Community Museum was envisioned by S. Dillon Ripley, then-Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as an outreach effort ...

Archaeology in a Maritime Community

Pensacola Bay has been a valuable resource for populations from prehistoric to modern times. The relationship between these people and their environment is often reflected in archaeological sites submerged beneath local waters. In addition to many shipwrecks, other archaeological sites ...

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 ...

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 ...