Posts Tagged ‘Downtown Pensacola Florida’
Palafox Street Through the Years …1940’s to the 1980’s …
Here are several photos that I have of Palafox Street through the years. The first one is from sometime in the 1940’s I believe. It is a photograph that I scanned that I have had laying around for years. It has no real significance other that it is of the intersection of Palafox and Garden Streets …
If anyone has a date on this photo, please let me hear from you. The next one is from the 1950’s … it looks as if the Florida Theater was showing ” Gone With The Wind ” and people were lined-up waiting to get into the matinee.
Can anyone remember the ” Tiny Waffle ” Shop … that’s a new one on me. I know that I spent many a Saturday at the Florida Theater back in the 1960’s . Now we are going to jump forward to the 1980’s …
This is looking south down Palafox Street … the line of people waiting to get into the Florida Theater would have been standing on the left side of the frame. One more thing, I had posted a photo of James Cagney riding in the back of a car in a parade a while back … that photograph was made at this intersection here, Palafox and Gregory Street, and Hannah’s Pharmacy was in the background ( I do not know if you can recognize it in that photo, but that is it ) . I am not sure of the exact year that this was made, but I would guess that it would have been in the mid-1980’s. And finally, a photo right before the San Carlos Hotel was demolished …
And finally, we are back at the corner of Palafox and Garden Street … sometime 1985 or 86 or 87. I do not which one, but all I can say is what a big change! I hope everyone liked that look through the ages … I did not know if any of them were worth putting in a post by themselves, but run together they were sort of interesting. Thanks for looking and let me hear what you think of these … Frank
Helen Cooper’s Dress Shop …
Helen Cooper’s clothing store for women was located in the 200 block of West Garden Street. The building is no longer there and I think that the 200 block of West Garden Street is where the Sun Bank Building is located today. The 200 section would most likely be where the Artisana Gift Shop is located and that is just a guess. I can vaguely remember this little building, but I cannot say for sure. If anyone has any recollection of Helen Cooper’s, please let us hear from you. Thanks again for looking …
First Methodist Church …
This photo of the First Methodist Church in downtown Pensacola Florida must have been made around 1920 or so … and that is just a guess on my part. This image was made from a copy negative that I scanned years ago, in fact, I do not remember it all. So I do not know where it came from and I hesitate to say that my father made this photo … he was born in 1915 and this had to have been made around that time. Notice that there are trees out front and there is no railing on the front steps. I have never seen this photo anywhere before and I have seen a lot of photos showing the different ” stages ” of First Methodist Church on Wright Street in Pensacola Florida. Maybe some First Methodist Historian can give us a clue. Thanks for looking …
Skipper’s …
Before Skipper’s was a dive shop, it was a fishing tackle store. I do not remember it as a fishing tackle store … I just remember it as a dive store. In fact I got my diving certificate from Joe Kingry ( the owner ) back in 1969 … 43 year ago. I have not been scuba diving in years, but I have snorkeled down in Belize in the last 7 or 8 years. One good thing about getting your scuba diving certification is that it is good for life, so you can rent scuba gear wherever you travel. In fact that reminds me to go find my scuba card …
Thanks for looking and as usual, all comments are welcome …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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!
Frank Hardy Made My Photographs Two 
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