Historic Pensacola Maritime Walking Tour

From the time before Florida entered the United States, people have continuously occupied the Hawkshaw area of Pensacola. Even in the year 1000 BCE, was home to a settlement of people of the Deptford Culture. In the Early Woodland period, Deptford Indians moved seasonally between the coastal area and the pine forest valley in order to fulfill their subsistence needs. They hunted in the forests, and fished and gathered mollusks in the bay.

For 1,500 years between the Deptford settlement and the arrival of Europeans, the area was uninhabited. During the first Spanish colonization period, Hawkshaw housed a church, a hospital, government offices, and two barracks. By the time Florida became a state, Pensacola's lumber industry had expanded greatly. A lumber mill was built, and industrial workers took up residence in the surrounding area.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the area east of Alcaniz Street and south of Gregory Street was a bustling blue-collar community. Workers labored in the nearby sawmill, on the newly arrived rail line, or in the bay fishing. During Prohibition, the neighborhood hosted rum smuggling, dice games, and violent crimes. Even after repeal, the area retained its reputation as a home for white trash and black toughs.

In 1940, the City Planning Board opened Aragon Court, federal housing for poor whites, and Attucks Court, for poor black families. The projects employed 340 construction workers during the Great Depression. However, by the late twentieth century, with the encroachment of corporate offices and large entertainment facilities, like the Gulf Power Building and the Pensacola Civic Center, Hawkshaw had shrunk until the working class neighborhood it once was has all but disappeared. Even the origination of the name "Hawkshaw" has been lost with, some folk traditions claiming it was named for street vendors who "hawked" their wares, and others saying it was once called "Hogshaw" for the area's large pig population.

For more information about the walking tour

www.wix.com/PensacolaMaritime/HistoricTour

Written by Malina Suity.