Archive for the ‘Downtown Pensacola Florida’ Category
Fisher – Pou Funeral Home …
Fisher – Pou Funeral Home was located down on Wright Street across from First Methodist Church. This was made back in the 1970’s, if I had to guess. My father was good friends with all the people who worked there and he used to take me before church started to visit. I remember him telling me this story about a group of gypsies that had a funeral there for one of the “leaders” of their group. My father went down to take some photos of all of the floral arraignments surrounding the coffin. He said right in front of the coffin were two trash cans … one held cold beer and other was for the money that everyone donated to the family of the deceased. My dad said that after that funeral, alcohol was forbidden inside the funeral … go figure. As usual, all comments are welcome and thanks for looking.
Son Motors …
Son Motors is on the right hand side of this image, next to Muldon Motor Company. I personally do not remember Sons Motors in downtown Pensacola, since they were around in the 1950’s and I was born in 1953. The photo above I have posted before, but it is the only exterior view I have of Son Motors and I just wanted to re-post it so you can see where it was located. The rest are all interior views and are ones that I do not believe I have posted before. Below is a view that I have just recently worked on …
I do not know if this was their showroom or not or if this was their garage converted to a showroom for these cars to be displayed in. From another angle …
The sign above the car reads, “Imperial 1956 “. Below is another view …
This lady is in several of the photos and I do not know who she is … maybe one of the owners or could even be their daughter?
These could be the owners … someone told me that their last name was ” Son “, but I have never heard that name before. And finally, here is one of their work trucks.
Nice looking truck! Notice the phone number on the side: HE 2-7191 … the HE stood for Hemlock, then later changed to ” 43 ” when Southern Bell when to all numbers. I never understood why they used a word for the first two digits on your phone number … maybe they just thought it was easier to remember. I have a few more interior views from this negative envelope that I will work-up and post later. If anyone remembers Son Motors, please let us hear from you. Thanks for looking …
The Harbor View Restaurant …
The Harbor View Restaurant used to be in the old Municipal Auditorium at the foot of Palafox Street that was torn down at the end of the 1990’s to make way for the Plaza DeLuna. This restaurant was before my time … I believe it operated in the 1950’s and 60;s, but I am not exactly sure of the dates. And, I am not really sure who owned or operated the business. One thing that I can tell you just judging from this photo, the place must have been first class! I have found several other photos of the interior that my father made, however I could not put my hans on them now. When I do run across them again, I will set them aside and post them. If anyone has any comments about the place, please share them with us … Thanks for looking
San Carlos Hotel Stairway …
This is the stairway in the San Carlos Hotel that led from the lobby to the mezzanine. I have several views of this stairway and I posted one earlier of a bride throwing her bouquet from the top, which must have been the thing to do since I have several brides throwing their bouquet from there. Thanks for looking …
Mutual Federal ….
This is the Mutual Federal building and I believe it was located on Baylen Street, south of Garden Street. I do not know how long they were in this building before there moved to the northeast corner of Garden and Baylen Streets. But I am not sure of the exact location where this photo was made and I would be happy for anyone to share it with me. Thanks for looking …
Aerial of Downtown Pensacola in the 1950’s …
I am not sure when this aerial was made, but it was most likely in the past 10 or 11 years or so since it has the Pitt Slip Marina. You do have a good view of where the new Maritime Ballpark / Park is being built. Also, the Municipal Auditorium has not been torn down and the DeLuna Park at the end of Palafox Street been built. I would venture to say that I made this sometime around 2001. Thanks for looking ….
Fiesta Parade …
This photo of the Fiesta Parade interests me because it is a good view of Palafox Street looking south. You see Muldon Motor Company and next to it was Son Motors and you have the San Carlos off in the distance. I am not sure of the year, but I would imagine it to be in the 50’s sometime. The float pictured must have been sponsored by ” Coca-Cola ” since you it on the back of the plane on the after-burner. One thing you can say about Pensacola is that everyone always turned out for the parades … then and now! Thanks for looking …
Florida First Bank and Trust …
This is the Florida First Bank and Trust that was located on Palafox and Garden Streets, directly across from the San Carlos Hotel. Normally, I would remove the telephone wires from the top of the photograph, but I did not feel like taking the time to Photoshop them out. You can see the covered bus stop on the right side of the photo that appeared in the bottom right corner of the photo showing the San Carlos Hotel that was in my ” Before and After ” post several back. As usual, all comments are welcomed … thanks for looking.
The Children’s Day Parade …
Here are several photos from the Children’s Day Parade … I am not sure of the year, maybe 1955, 56 or 57. This was before my time, since I was born in 1953. In fact, that is my mother and I ( I have my back to the camera ) on the left side of the photo and I look to be three or four in this photo. I had a Children’s Day Parade post on the old site, however these are the only two images that I have on this hard drive. The photo below is a float with the black king and queen.
Do not know who any of the kids are in either of the photos. I will find the rest of the photos and post them for you. If anyone remembers anything about these Kid’s Day Parades or the events that occurred with them, please let us hear from you. Thanks for looking …
A Before and After …
I thought that I would show a before and after photo, so you can see what I start out with and then what I do in Photoshop. My father made this image from a window across the street from what I call the old Masonic Lodge. It was located above what at the time was White and White Men’s Store, which later became Douglas Allen, which is now Vinyl Music Hall. In the photo below, I removed the telephone lines from above and I cropped the image to focus on the San Carlos Hotel. This photo was made around 1955 … note the covered bus stop in the lower right of the photograph.
And here is one that I cleaned up that shows more of the surrounding area … note that the two-story building in the back left of the image is the old Pensacola Catholic High School on the corner of Garden and Baylen Streets.
On the bottom view, you can see up Palafox up to the Southern Bell Tower, which is about four blocks up. When I first found this negative, I was only interested in the San Carlos Hotel. But after I got to looking at the whole image, I saw how much of downtown Pensacola is included in the image, I thought I would just re-do the image and show the whole frame. If anyone has any stories about the San Carlos or downtown Pensacola during this era, you are welcome to comment. Thanks for looking …
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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