Archive for April 2015
The West Florida History Center and University Archives …
The above image of ” Maxey’s Liquors ” is by the photographer Cottrell taken back in the 1920’s. You can find it in the West Florida History Center and University Archives out at the John C. Pace Library on the UWF campus. You can find these images on line here and other images from the UWF archives. These images have been scanned and are online for your browsing convenience. The files are high-resolution and not just low-resolution scans for the internet. I was really impressed with all that is out at UWF and the archives are located in the basement of the library. Anyone is welcome to use the facility and I talked to Stephanie Johnson when I was there. There are other people in this department if she is busy. The above photo of Maxey’s Liquors was just one that caught my attention because this business was located on Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola about where the Tin Cow Restaurant is now located. The L&L Pawn Shop next door was where my father used to have his wedding albums gold-stamped with the bride and groom’s name. I can remember the inside of this store like it was yesterday. Even though my father did not make theses images, I thought there would be readers of this blog would be interested in knowing that these archives are online and available to everyone. The photo below is of Gilmore’s Furniture and Jewelery Store located on Palafox Street about where the Rex Theater was located before it was converted into a church / spiritual center …
At some point, maybe the 1950’s, this business relocated to the 400 block of Garden Street. I have an image somewhere on this blog that my father had made of the new Glimore’s building at night. Just type ” Gilmore ” into the search area on this blog and the post should come up. There are literally thousands of images on this UWF site from lots of various photographers and places. I have a phone number ( 850-474-2794 ) for Stephanie Johnson out at the archive department if anyone has any questions or comments. I knew that this archive was out there, but I had no idea how large it is and how easy it is to access. There are a lot of people that are interested in local history and this is just one more place for them to go and research or just to view all of the images. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Port of Pensacola …
Here are some more images of the Port of Pensacola from back in the 1950’s. I had posted some others a year or so back of men working in this warehouse that I thought looked fairly interesting.. There are some more but they are mostly of people at what looks to be a cocktail party or something and I do not know who any of the people are in them. Here we go …
A primary product at the Port of Pensacola during this time was fertilizer I have been told. Not really sure if it was imported or exported, but I am sure that someone out there will know and can enlighten us. One thing that I do not want to hear is how the Port has been awash in red – ink for the last fifty years … I am fairly sure that the Port was in the black for a few years back in the 1960’s. I also do not want to hear from any nay-sayers that the Port should be closed down and made into condos like that did at the foot of Palafox Street. That project has turned out great or at least it looks great. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
Thom McAnn …
Here are some photos of the Thom McAnn Shoe Store that was located out at Town and Country Plaza. This store looks as it was one of the first stores when the shopping center was being built. I ran across some negatives of it being built and I will try to find them. I do not know what year it was built, but it was sometime in the early 1960’s I would guess. Notice next door is “Amy’s “, a dress store and the name sounds familiar. Here are a few of the interior …
Notice how at the end of the chairs on this end is a couple of ash-trays. Now I would say that was pretty considerate!! I can vaguely remember seeing the store and going in with my mother back then. I do not know if Thom McAnn is still in business today. And I am not sure if we even have one in this area today, but I am not much of a shopper and have not been out to Cordova Mall much since it was remodeled, except to eat. Thanks for looking and please share your shoe buying experiences at Thom McAnn’s if you have any … Frank
Downtown Pensacola Through The Years …
This first image of the Palafox Wharf in downtown Pensacola was made back in the 1930’s and this is strictly a guess. I found the negative in an old Kodak printing paper box that my father used to put negatives in once he was finished with it. My guess is that someone else had taken the photograph and had brought it to my father to make prints. That is only a guess and I doubt if we will ever know the story, but it shows Palafox Street in a different era … back when wind powered the ships. The strip of land on the far side is where the Port Royal development is now located. On the roof on one of the buildings in the top right of the image is a sign advertising ” Elebash Jewelery Co. ” so that might date the photo if someone knows when the sign was painted. The next photo was made in the 1950’s …
If someone can identify the year of the car parked out front, we might have a date for this photo. I am going to make a guess and say that the car is a Chrysler, but that is just a guess. This is Palafox Street in downtown Pensacola and like I mentioned earlier, I think that it sometime in the 1950’s. I personally do not remember ” Day’s Credit Clothing ” or the ” Quality Shoes ” shop next door. The last is a photo standing in the middle of Palafox at the Romana Street intersection.
This is looking north up Palafox and I am going to say sometime in the early 1970’s, maybe 1973. I am sure that someone out there can most likely tell us. It has really changed over the years. If anyone has any comments about the time-frame of any of these images, please comment. If anyone can remember any of these stores or anything else we would love to hear from you. Thanks again for all of the nice comments from everyone over on Facebook … it is nice to know that some local people enjoy remembering Pensacola and vicinity through the years. Thanks again for looking … Frank
Entre Nous Part Two …
Here are a few more photographs of the Entre Nous Sorority taken in the 1950’s. I had a comment from someone on the first Entre Nous post that I put up and I believe that he mentioned the year that these photos were taken. I will have to check out the post and post an update later on if the year was mentioned. I know, I should have done that before I started, but it did not dawn on me until I got started. Anyway … he are the photographs:
I do not think that I repeated any of the images from the first Entre Nous post. I am going to say that these photographs were taken at Pensacola Country Club. The club suffered a lot of damage in the hurricanes back in 2004 and 2005 and so obviously everything has changed. If anyone knows any history of the local chapter of Entre Nous in Pensacola and wants to share it with us that would be nice. I do not even know if the sorority is still around locally or nationally, so any comment that anyone wants make is appreciated. I hope everyone has a safe ” April’s Fool Day ” and if you are made to look like a fool, you know that it was all done in fun. At least was when I was growing up … Now with all of the stupid and mean things that people are doing to one another in this day and time you have to wonder. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
UPDATE: These girls were from Pensacola High School and graduated in 1957. Thanks … Frank
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
You must be logged in to post a comment.