Coming to Know the Neighborhood

article by DR. NORM HAINES

While researching my book on the history of East Hill, I asked my friend, Charles Booher, who grew up there among the stately oaks which dominate the neighborhood, to give me a tour. Charlie is in his seventies, balding, always wearing a hat and an inquisitive look along with a knowing grin but whose physique bespeaks his early days as an athlete and his long career as a coach. "I used to play ball here," he recalled pointing to a grassy park where a young woman was being pulled along by her hyperactive pet and several small children were climbing over one of East Hill's ubiquitous jungle gyms. "See that giant oak whose trunk split off near the base?" The look in his eyes told me he had been transported back in time. "We used to place all our sports equipment in the V of that tree while we played."

It was March 2019 when my wife, Susan, and I moved to East Hill. My experience with Charlie was not unique. Many of my native Pensacola friends would lapse into pleasant reminisces upon learning that we had moved into their old neighborhood. And "old" is the operative word when it comes to Pensacola. East Hill, or New City as it was called then, was laid out in 1835, a decade before Florida was even a state.

Stretching for 2.7 miles south to north and 1.4 miles east to west, one can still visually trace this large tract's development as it evolved decade by decade. One hundred and forty year-old ornate Queen Anne Victorian houses are scattered among shotgun and Gulf Coast cottages, as they morph into craftsman bungalows and revival houses of every style. In the northern portion smaller houses of the forties and fifties and ranch homes of the fifties and sixties dominate the landscape, while along Bayou Texar ninety-yearold mansions coexist with the new millennium's expensive architectural wonders.

Charlie stopped the car at the corner of Gadsden and 8th Avenue and stared longingly at a recently remodeled one-story brick building. "That was Carl's Bakery. Everybody who grew up in Pensacola knew about Carl's Bakery," he boasted as if it were his own. Carl Burmeister opened his bakery at that location in 1928 and operated it day and night seven days a week until his death in 1964. "I can still smell that place and taste those doughnuts," Charlie said as we drove away.

There may be other neighborhoods like East Hill somewhere but not in Pensacola. It is neither black nor white but both without boundaries. It is neither rich nor poor but both. Blue-collar workers live next to professionals, and elderly residents who were born there eight decades ago share their street with young millennials, and both proudly place "I Love Living In East Hill" signs in their yards.

There is a distinct artistic bent to the neighborhood, maybe a lingering residual of the early craftsmen and artisans who first moved there to help build Pensacola. Folks who live in East Hill, recognizing the gift Nature has given them, are particularly protective of those aging live oaks and giant southern magnolias that line their streets. They plant gardens to provide habitats for creatures large and small. They avoid pesticides to protect the bees, and one can hear the crow of roosters and the clucking of chickens from the coops scattered about. Feral cats prowl the bushes putting all rodents on their menus.

Charlie turned down a street and slowed the car while pointing out an older somewhat rundown home. "That old place is still standing," he remarked. "We used to think the house was haunted and would never go near it," he chuckled. I instantly flashed to an image of Scout, Jem and Dill walking past Boo Radley's house. I imagined that on a night with a cloud covered moon those giant oaks could look pretty menacing.

Four hours passed quickly, then Charlie dropped me off at my house. I departed feeling a bit sad that I had not grown up in East Hill, but realized that Susan and I had found the place we were meant to be. My book, Pensacola’s East Hill: The Making Of An Eclectic Neighborhood, is my homage to this wonderful old historic place. And Charlie, thanks for the ride.

EAST HILL: THE MAKING OF AN ECLECTIC NEIGHBORHOOD

Dr. Norm Haine’s Book, East Hill: The Making of an Eclectic Neighborhood, is a beautiful showcase of the history and electic nature of our beloved area. From Spanish land grants to a neighborhood on the move - learn how it all came about and the people who were the driving force. It is the perfect book for your coffee table or to gift a friend or family member that loves learning about East Hill. This heavily-illustrated publication is 140 pages of wonder that sells for $40 each.

Pick up your copy by emailing Dr. Haines at normhaines@cox.net or call 850-982-2388.