East Hill Then & Now

Reminiscing on all that’s changed (and all that hasn’t) in our beloved neighborhood of East Hill.

article by LIZ BIGGS

An old friend came back to town for a visit, and we planned to meet for lunch at Cactus Flower. She asked, “Now where is that again?” I responded, “You know, in the old TG&Y building—where we used to ride our bikes and buy penny candy.” She immediately knew exactly where it was, no need to program it into Google Maps.

My family moved to East Hill in 1968. I attended kindergarten at Merry Day on Lakeview Avenue, then Sacred Heart School on 12th Avenue. My school bus stop was on Bobe (rhymes with Scooby) Street. Everyone always chuckled when saying that… and they still do!

My summers were spent at the Bayview Community Center 5-15 program. All the cool kids ages 5-15 attended day camp there. Swimming lessons, canoing, gymnastics, dance and pottery were some of the activities offered. I have fond memories of proudly turning my first cartwheel there, learning the can-can, and my favorite—buying Red Hots and Chick O Sticks at the concession stand.

I learned to ride my bike on Escambia Avenue when it was a rocky road—I have the scars to prove it. All the neighborhood kids biked to Bayview Park after school. My first kiss was in a magnolia tree near the tennis courts. My first cigarette was in the storm drains (which are now cemented over and part of the bike trail.) Fast forward 50 years and now I’m attending the fantastic Bands on the Bayou concert series at Bayview Park. What a long, strange trip it’s been...

J’s Bakery and Just Plain Putter are two places that remain exactly the same; it’s like walking into a time machine. You know everything is right in the world when there are pink petit fours and smiley face cookies in the pastry shop, as well as countless frames on every wall in John Bell’s frame shop.

J's Bakery has been serving its delicious morsels since 1946

Revolver Records used to be a convenience store called B&H. Back in the 70’s, when our parents were hosting Bridge Club and they ran out of cigarettes, they’d send us kids on our bikes to buy more. The man behind the counter knew what brand our parents smoked!

Seville Power Equipment is located in our old gas station, only we never called it a gas station. It was a “service station”. Nobody pumped their own gas. The attendant (my mother always knew his name) checked our oil and gave me a lollipop if I behaved and stayed in the car.

Gulf Coast Kid’s House is in the old A&P Grocery store building. I remember getting in bad trouble there because I snuck some candy into the shopping cart. I also got lost there once (my mother had seven children to keep up with so she didn’t always notice when I wandered off) and was in a panic until I heard the manager summon me over the loudspeaker.

I get my hair done at My Salon Suite on 12th Avenue. It used to be the Post Office. Surprisingly, we went there quite often. That’s how people stayed connected in the 70’s before computers and the internet. We’d see everybody there and I would get so bored while my mother chatted with the whole neighborhood and caught up on all the gossip.

I went to college in Alabama and after having a career in Atlanta for over a decade, my husband and I decided to move back to Pensacola in 1996 to raise our family. Cordova Park, Lavallet, and Inverness were the happening neighborhoods that year. East Hill was kind of run-down. But I fell in love with a roach-infested, mid-century modern fixerupper that we bought for 100K. I kid you not, my mother said she’d never come visit us if we bought it. It was so bad that we couldn’t live in it for six months. When we had our fourth child, we couldn’t fit into it so we added on. I’ve loved every minute of living in East Hill. I know my children’s memories won’t be as old-fogey as mine, but I hope they have fond memories and stories to tell.