Archive for the ‘Downtown Pensacola Florida’ Category
Pensacola Home and Savings Association …
This photo was made back in 1960 sometime. I found a passbook savings account that my parents had started for me back when I was at Episcopal Day School when I was cleaning out my mother’s cedar chest. It is funny how she saved everything … report cards, receipts, etc. That is about it for now … thanks for looking!
San Carlos Hotel …
Another one of the San Carlos Hotel from around 1955 or so. This is probably the best photo of the exterior of the hotel that I have. This is cropped tighter than what is in the original negative and I will post it later when I run across it. Pensacola was sure a active and vibrant city during this time after World War II. Soldiers were coming back and getting out of the service and staying. The housing industry was growing, looks like people were buying cars and spending money … times were good! This is also one of my favorite images from this era that I have run across and cleaned-up. I will do some research on the San Carlos Hotel down at the Pensacola Historical Society and share it with you in the future. Thanks for looking …
Governor Leroy Collins …
This is a photograph my dad made of then Governor Leroy Collins when he was here back in the 1950’s for the Fiesta. I have a photo of him riding in a car in the parade that I will find and post later. I wish I had more to add … as usual, all comments are welcomed. Thanks for looking …
The Grounds Keeper …
This is one of my all-time favorite photos … no special reason, except once you start looking at the photo all sorts of things start appearing. First, look at all of the trash lying on the grounds. Next, you see that there is a chicken wire fence separating the people in the stands from the players on the field, so all of this trash is from the players! I guess that they did not have trash cans back in the 1950’s or the players must have felt that the grounds keepers would pick up after them. Then you look at the grounds keeper himself … he has a smile on his face and he looks to be taking a lot of pride in his job. The guy has really looks to be enjoying himself … he is probably thinking to himself that he has a front row seat to the action, he gets in free and he is getting paid to be around a game that he obviously loves. The team must think a lot of him, because he is even included in a couple of the teams photos … I doubt that the Blue Wahoos are going to include their grounds keepers in their team photo. The Blue Wahoos, for those who do not know, is the name of the AA baseball team that will be playing at the new ballpark being built in downtown Pensacola. Thanks for looking …
Downtown Pensacola during a Hurricane in the 1950’s …
Do not know what hurricane this was or what the year was … maybe 1956 or 57. You can see where the fronts of the businesses are all boarded-up. This panorama photograph was made with a WideLux camera that my father had … I have posted other photos that he had made with this camera previously. All I can say is that downtown Pensacola has certainly changed since this photo was taken! If anyone has any comments … please let us hear them. Thanks, Frank.
San Carlos Hotel in the 1940’s …
This is a photo that my father made sometime in the 1940’s … note that the front of the hotel facing Palafox Street does not have the” San Carlos” sign on the top of the building that you see in the photo from around 1955. Also notice that people are walking / crossing in the middle of the street. It is as if the center median just extended across Garden Street. The traffic at this intersection must not have been busy enough to bother these people walking in what seems all directions, although there seems to be quite a few cars on the road.
Pensacola Aerial 1950’s …
This aerial was made sometime before 1957, because the Municipal Auditorium has not been built yet. The only thing that has been done is that the foundation had been poured and it does not look as if any construction is in the works at this point. You can also see the San Carlos Hotel in the bottom center of the photograph. Nice aerial view of downtown Pensacola from this time. Anyone that can pin down an exact date on this time would be appreciated … thanks for looking.
Gilmore’s Furniture Store …
This business was located down on Garden street. Coastal Bank is located in this spot now. This corner had a special meaning to my dad because when his family left Muscogee, FL, they moved to this corner where his mother ran a rooming house that was located on this corner back in 1925. I will share some stories of his in some later posts of this time in his life and living in downtown Pensacola in the late 1920’s. Thanks for looking …
Pensacola Bay Bridge …
This is one of my favorite photos … mainly because of the clouds. The grass in the fore-ground would be Bayfront Parkway today. This photo was made around 1951 or 1952. Below is a photograph that Billy Tarbuck sent me a while back that shows the bridge from over by the train trestle on 17th Avenue, which actually shows the bridge better than in this photo.
You see the building by the bridge entrance better from this angle than from the first photo and the bridge is closer. One thing that was not built in the above photo was the Wayside Park with all of it’s picnic tables. In fact, it does not look as if there was enough land to have built the park along with the parking lot that was with the park, so that land must have been filled in later to build the Wayside Park. My thanks to Billy for sending me this photo …
Baylen Street …
This is Baylen Street 1955 / 6 or later. You are looking toward Government Street. My father was standing were the Judicial Center would be located today. You see a Markham System business in front of you, which is no longer there. The attorney’s building on the right side is still there, it used to be Mr. Richard Merritt’s law office and now houses several lawyers. Where the Markham business used to be is now a parking lot. My father was taking this photo for Richard Merritt showing the exterior of his office building on the right side of the frame. I have some photos of the interior of the law office that I will post later. Thanks for looking and please check back … Frank
UPDATE … 18 Aug 13 – I mistakenly identified this street as ” Spring Street ” when I posted this image back in June of 2011. It never really dawned on me that this was not Spring Street until the other day … Spring Street in one block over to the west. In the past, Baylen Street traffic was one way heading North and Spring Street was one way headed South. These streets were that way from the 1970’s until the late 2000’s, maybe 2008 or 9. As you can tell from this photo, the traffic flowed both north and south on Baylen Street back in the 1950’s by the way the cars are parked in the street. Thanks … Frank
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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