Garden Street
Garden Street looking west, ca. 1908, UWF Historic Trust
Under the British city plan drawn by Elias Durnford in 1764, each individual building lot was issued a corresponding garden lot. The lots were located on the north edge of town between Spring Street, location of Washerwoman’s Creek, and Seventh Avenue, location of Cadet Creek. Garden Street is named after the early road that ran along these lots.
Pictured | Garden Street looking west, ca. 1908, UWF Historic Trust
The mural on the rear of 2 N Palafox, is a birds eye view of Pensacola in 1896. Thomas C. Watson captured the maritime activities responsible for the growth and development of the city. In the 1890s, more ships entered the port than ever before. Sail gave way to steam, and rail was constructed to accommodate the industrial rise. The Muscogee Wharf Mill produced 260,000 feet of lumber each day. This chapter of Pensacola's history led to the permanent expansion of the downtown waterfront.
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Hook and Ladder #1 and Hose Reel #2
Mr. A. V. Clubbs constructed 107 E Garden Street around 1900. The building is in the Masonry Vernacular style, typical of the turn of the century architecture. A fire company, Hook and Ladder #1 and Hose Reel #2, originally occupied the building.
The Pensacola Fire Department traces its beginnings to 1810. In that year, the city imported two fire engines, fifty leather buckets, hoses, and nozzles from a firm in England. Despite the new equipment, firefighting was a haphazard proposition until the first volunteer firefighting company was formed in 1821, at last providing regular staffing for the city's firefighting equipment.
For the remainder of the century, the story of firefighting in Pensacola was mainly one of volunteer companies organizing, combining, and disbanding. On January 1, 1898, the city established a full-time paid fire department consisting of eighteen officers and firefighters.
Pictured | Hook and Ladder #1 and Hose Reel #2, ca. 1912, UWF Historic Trust
Swift and Company built the building on the corner of Garden and Tarragona Street in 1912 as a meat packing house. At the time of opening, the building was advertised as being a “modern fireproof building planned to facilitate the sanitary handling of perishable food products.” Swift and Company owned the building until 1970. This is a fine example of early 20th century commercial architecture.
