Step Back in Time: Explore Pensacola's History Along the America’s First Settlement Trail
Are you ready to take a stroll through history? Literally. When you walk around Downtown Pensacola, not only are you surrounded by some of the best restaurants, shopping and nightlife in Florida, but you are literally standing in the footprint of America’s First Settlement.
This is where people and events came to shape the development of not only Florida history, but the entire country, for the last 460-plus years.
You can experience a self-guided foot trip through that fascinating journey with America’s First Settlement Trail, a three-mile marked path through Downtown Pensacola. Along this trail are 20 stops and more than 70 points of interest – all woven into the fabric of everything Downtown Pensacola has to offer.
For more details about the trail, click here; for a printable map, click here.
This initial section of the America’s First Settlement Trail is in a bustling, active part of Downtown. If you’re there first thing in the morning, you can grab great coffee and breakfast at nearby places like Makers Cafe and Espresso Bar and Bodacious. Also, Quayside Gallery, an expansive offering of original artwork, is right along the route.
Historic Seville Square is the fifth stop on the trail, a destination that includes the 1832 Old Christ Church. This is a great part of town to get a meal, from top-level pub fare at Hub Stacey’s to delicate and delectable sushi at Dharma Blue.
The trail continues up East Intendencia Street, undoubtedly one of the best-preserved early streets in Pensacola. Most of the houses are Gulf Coast Creole Cottages and shotgun frame vernacular houses that were built from 1810 to 1900. The trail wraps around Alcaniz Street, passing historic St. Michael’s Cemetery, a 3,200-plus plot facility with internments dating from the 1700s. The trail comes west down Garden Street – so named because British planners decided in 1764 that homes in downtown should have corresponding garden plots on the northern “edge” of town.
The trail crosses Garden heading south on Palafox, with many of the remaining stops dedicated to the more modern age of Pensacola, including recognition of the Theisen Building, built in 1901, as Pensacola’s first commercial “high-rise.” It offered modern conveniences like steam heating and janitorial service. This final segment also marked the location of lunch counter sit-ins that brought an end to segregation in Downtown Pensacola’s eateries in 1962.
While you’re finishing up the trail, this area of Palafox offers great opportunities for noshing and shopping. Grab a glass of wine and charcuterie board at the Wine Bar and check out the local (and locally themed) art at Blue Morning Gallery.
