200 Block S Palafox
Marker #20
The United States Government erected a new Customs House and Post Office at 223 S Palafox Street in 1887 after the previous building was lost in the December 1880 fire. This Renaissance Revival style building was designed by the Supervising Architect of the United States Treasury Department, Mifflin E. Bell and features a limestone exterior and marble interior. The building cost $200,000 and was one of the largest buildings on Palafox, until the construction of the Thiesen Building in 1901. This building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As the economy of Pensacola grew in the early 1890s from to the success of the lumber industry and the port, banking became an important part of commerce. Two of the most notable bank buildings are the First National Bank (1906) at 213 S Palafox in the Neo-Classical style and the American National Bank (1909) at 226 S Palafox in the Sullivanesque Style. The American National Bank, now Seville Tower, is eleven-stories and was once the tallest building in Florida. The large mural on Seville Tower is a watercolor painting by Herbert Rudeen commissioned by Mr. & Mrs. Burney M. Henderson. The ships in the painting are named after his wife and two daughters Elizabeth, Katherine, and Jane. The scene is at Pensacola Wharf, circa 1890.
Just off the A1S Trail: Stops along the African American Heritage Trail
Located at 140 W Government Street, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church was built exclusively for the use of Creoles and African-Americans in Pensacola. Prior to 1892, black and white Catholics attended St. Michael’s Church. During the 1880s, a daughter of a freed slave, Mrs. Mercedes Sunday Ruby, organized the St. Joseph’s Society, which helped lobby and raise money for the construction of a new church. In 1894, a brick Gothic Revival church was built that had seating for 600 people. The brick exterior would later be covered in stucco and scored to resemble large stone blocks.
203 S Baylen was built in 1898 by Christian Thiesen and was used as a cigar factory and oyster wholesale business. From 1916 – 1952, the building was the publishing office for “The Colored Citizen,” a prominent and respected newspaper for the African American community.
