Barkley House

Located at the corner of Zaragoza and Florida Blanca streets, the Barkley House is on the National Register of Historic Places. The only original example of a masonry high house remaining in Pensacola, it is built on brick pillars nearly seven feet off the ground in order to prevent flooding from the bay and to increase air flow during the hot summer months. The house, which is maintained by West Florida Historic Preservation, Inc. for the University of West Florida, has ten rooms and eight fireplaces, illustrating an affluent household during Florida's territorial period.

The house is named after its builder George Barkley, who immigrated to America from England in the 1820s, first moving to New Orleans and then to Pensacola. Barkley was instrumental in the development of the modern port of Pensacola, running a very successful shipping business that exported, among other things, locally made bricks and lumber. He served as City Treasurer and as warden of Christ Episcopal Church. He was reportedly the richest man in Pensacola when he built the home for his wife, Clara, and their nine children around 1835.

University of West Florida archaeologists have unearthed the remains of early colonial structures and wells, along with foundations of late 19th century Barkley outbuildings, which are well documented in the historical record. The reconstructed outbuildings and restored house encompass the Historic Barkley House Education Center. The Center is an initiative of the University of West Florida Historic Trust, and construction is funded in part with State of Florida's Alec P. Courtelis Matching Trust Fund.

The Barkley House, with its expansive views on Pensacola Bay, is a popular venue for weddings and social gatherings and a historical landmark in the Pensacola community.

This podcast made possible through the generous support of UWF Historic Trust. Script written by Amber Sherouse and Hayley Close. Narrated by Jonathon Heide.