Visitors traveling to the Pensacola Bay Area can see firsthand the impact African-Americans had on founding the first European settlement in the United States while celebrating the city’s rich history and culture through music, art, literature and Southern soul food. African-Americans were among the first non-Native Americans to set foot in the United States. Approximately 100 Africans, mostly slaves, were brought by Don Tristan de Luna in 1559, and together they established Pensacola, the first European settlement in the United States. From the beginning, African-Americans have played a vital role in Pensacola’s history.
Follow This Trail
1. African-American Heritage Society 2. Julee Panton Cottage 3. Old Christ Church 4. St. Michael’s Creole Benevolent Association Meeting Hall 5. St. Michael’s Cemetery 6. St. John the Baptist Church 7. Martin Luther King, Jr., Plaza 8. St. Joseph’s Catholic Church 9. Blue Dot Barbecue 10. Gumbo Gallery 11. Five Sisters Blues Café 12. Devilliers Cultural Heritage Museum
13. St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church 14. Zion Talbot Chapel 15. CJ’s Grille and Kitchen 16. Allen Chapel AME Church 17. H&O Restaurant 18. Chappie James Memorial Gardens 19. Johnson Beach 20. Fort San Carlos de Austria 21. Fort Pickens 22. Alger-Sullivan Historical Society (not on map)
Pensacola Historic District and Downtown
Walk along the streets of historic doWntoWn, from seville square to martin luther king, Jr., Plaza and exPerience 450 years of history at various sites.
Belmont Devilliers the
historic neighborhood centered around
310 N. Devilliers St. (850) 432-0644. This no-frills burger joint offers one of the best hamburgers around.
2. Julee Panton Cottage 210 E. Zaragosa St. (850) 595-5985. Named for a free African-American resident who lived in the house in 1803, the house is now part of Historic Pensacola Village. The middle-class home is open for tours, complete with a furnished parlor, bedroom and kitchen.
5. St. Michael’s Cemetery 6 N. Alcaniz St. (850) 436-4643. Said to have been a burial site since the mid-1700s, it’s one of the only cemeteries in the country that has both nobility and slaves buried side by side. Conk shells next to tombstones indicate a minority burial site.
6. St. John the Baptist Church 101 N. 10th Ave. Founded in 1847, it’s the first black church in Pensacola.
7. Martin Luther King, Jr., Plaza Palafox and Garden streets. The plaza commemorates Dr. King’s contributions and is the perfect centerpiece to visit the summer farmers market, to watch various parades or just take a moment to reflect.
8. St. Joseph’s Catholic Church 140 W. Government St. Created in 1891 for the exclusive use of Creoles and blacks in Pensacola.
1606 Martin Luther King Blvd. This is the birthplace of the nation’s first black four-star general, whose mother Lillie ran a private school in the house where many black professionals obtained their education.
Perdido Key knoWn
for its beautiful beaches along the
african-americans
10. Gumbo Gallery
designated for
314 N. Devilliers St. (850) 437-0025. Don’t miss this delightful gallery of eclectic multi-cultural art from owner Sonja Griffin Evans and other colorful local artists.
19. Johnson Beach
11. Five Sisters Blues Café 421 W. Belmont St. (850) 912-4856. Featuring Southern soul food with Creole and Caribbean flair plus live blues music, this restaurant is located in the old Gussies Record Shop.
12. Devilliers Cultural Heritage Museum 500 W. Belmont St. (850) 437-0025. The venue was created as a performing arts museum to showcase local and national blues, gospel and jazz artists.
3. Old Christ Church
416 E. Government St. This house was a late 1800s gathering place for Pensacola Creoles, who were descendents of African, Indian, French and Spanish settlers.
and
9. Blue Dot Barbecue
200 E. Church St. The organization, housed in the Kate Coulson House, promotes, preserves and integrates AfricanAmerican heritage and culture. The house includes an art gallery, gift shop and resource center.
4. St. Michael’s Creole Benevolent Association Meeting Hall
belmont and devilliers streets Was a melting Pot for music, food 20th century. today, the area is undergoing a revitalization.
entertainment during the early
1. African-American Heritage Society
405 S. Adams St. (850) 595-5985. Also part of Historic Pensacola Village, this church was built by slave labor in 1824. It’s the oldest church in Florida still on its original site.
18. Chappie James Memorial Gardens
NAS Pensacola 20. Fort San Carlos de Austria In 1698, Spanish explorer, Adm. Andres de Arriolla, made a permanent settlement on what is now Naval Air Station Pensacola. This group included both slaves and free persons of African descent who helped build a key part of the settlement.
Pensacola Beach 21. Fort Pickens
500 N. Reus St. Founded in 1887, it was formed as a mission church through the sponsorship of Christ Church.
(850) 934-2600. Because Pensacola had relatively little agriculture, slaves did not have traditional Southern plantation experiences. Instead, West Florida slave owners rented out their slaves to work in construction trades or as longshoremen on the waterfront. For example, the U.S. Army rented slaves to build forts such as the 19th century masonry walls and earthworks at Fort Pickens. During the Civil War, AfricanAmerican troops occupied Fort Pickens while Confederate troops held Fort Barrancas on the mainland.
14. Zion Talbot Chapel 525 W. Jackson St. Founded in 1880, the original building was destroyed by fire. The present building, constructed in 1918, houses one of Pensacola’s first pipe organs.
2100 W. Garden St. (850) 435-9543. Enjoy fine Southern cooking at this African-Americanowned restaurant, just west of Belmont Devilliers.
Eastside
this neighborhood became racially integrated in the early 1940s. during this Period, many of Pensacola’s Prominent african-americans, no longer restricted by Jim croW laWs to living in the neighborhoods on Pensacola’s West side, relocated to the east. this neighborhood has been home to many Prominent african-american citizens, including baseball Players With the famed negro league. 16. Allen Chapel AME Church 500 N. Guillemard St. Organized in 1866 by Henry Call who began the AME denomination in Florida. Initially a secret organization until he realized slaves were really free.
17. H&O Restaurant 301 E. Gonzalez St. (850) 432-1991. This restaurant has served traditional Southern dishes since the 1930s and was a focal point for the black community before integration.
Was
(850) 934-2600. A pristine stretch of beach is named for Rosamond Johnson, Jr., a black Pensacolian who died in the Korean War at the young age of 17. After his death, he received the Purple Heart for carrying two wounded soldiers to safety and was returning for the third when he was fatally wounded.
13. St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church
15. CJ’s Grille and Kitchen
gulf islands national seashore, Perdido key 1950.
during segregation in
Century
century, a small toWn in escambia county, Was once knoWn as teasPoon before the american revolution. teasPoon Was a settlement of free african-americans Who traded on the old conecuh river. the community is on highWay 29 near i-65. 22. Alger-Sullivan Historical Society Fourth Street at Houston Jones Historical Park. (850) 256-2029, (850) 256-3980. Learn about the history of Teaspoon and the old sawmill town at the community museum.
Famous Pensacolians • • • • •
Chappie James is the nation’s first black four-star general. Rosamond Johnson was the first African-American to die in the Korean War. He was only 17 and was killed trying to save his fellow soldiers. Matthew Lewy was publisher of the Florida Sentinel, a leading African-American newspaper in the state. James Polkinghorne, Jr., was a Tuskegee airman and a WWII hero. John Sunday was a Civil War soldier and state legislator during reconstruction who became a wealthy entrepreneur in the late 19th century.