From the 1500s with Love: Discover Pensacola, America’s First Settlement, During America’s 250th Anniversary
The History of Palafox Street: How Pensacola’s Most Iconic Street Got Its Name
Palafox Street is easily one of the most recognizable streets in Pensacola and today serves as the main north-south road leading into the heart of downtown. But when was this street created? And who is Palafox?
The current site of Pensacola begins in the mid-eighteenth century. After a hurricane struck the Spanish settlement on Santa Rosa Island, the colonists began moving across the bay, choosing a location surrounded by springs and two freshwater creeks. By 1756 a new settlement was taking shape, anchored by a wooden fort, and small wooden houses with palmetto thatched roofs. But the settlement would soon pass into British hands.
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris ended a global conflict known as the Seven Years’ War, also known as the French and Indian War. France and Spain lost the war, while Great Britain was victorious. A great deal of land swapping took place, which resulted in the British gaining control of the Florida territory, which extended west to the Mississippi River. The territory was divided in two, with Pensacola as the capital of the colony of West Florida.
In August of 1763, the British officially took possession of the town. They were unimpressed by what they found. In fact, Elizabeth Pilot wrote “What words can I find to describe to you the horror we felt on the appearance of Pensacola!...Everything I had seen so disgusted me.” Not a great first impression! But the British quickly set about making improvements to the town. By 1764 the fort was reinforced, and surveyor Elias Durnford created a street grid for the town–the very same streets we use today.
In 1781, Bernardo de Galvez led Spanish and French forces to victory over the British in the two-month long Siege of Pensacola. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the American Revolution, and all of Florida was returned to Spanish control.
By 1800, most of the walls of the old British fort had rotted away. What the Spanish were calling the streets from the 1780s to 1813 is a mystery, as the existing maps from these years lack street names. But in 1813, Vincente Pintado would create a new survey of the town that continues to leave its mark today. With the fort walls and earthworks now gone, streets were laid through the site of the old fort, and the parks of Seville Square and Plaza Ferdinand were created. This is also the first map to show new Spanish names for the streets of Pensacola, and it is these names that we continue to use today. Remember George Street? It has now officially become Palafox Street.
It is important to remember that in the early 1800s Napoleon Bonaparte was conquering much of Europe. Battles were fought across the continent, including in Spain. Significant battles took place between Spanish and French forces at cities such Zaragoza, Alcañiz, and Tarragona, which were honored by the Spanish residents of Pensacola.
Among the officers leading the resisting Spanish forces was José de Palafox. In the summer of 1808 General Palafox led the successful defense of the Spanish city of Zaragoza, a battle marked by bitter street fighting. His success made Palafox a national hero. By the end of the year, a second, longer, and more brutal siege of Zaragoza ensued, resulting in a Spanish defeat. However, Napoleon was eventually defeated, and Ferdinand VII was restored to the Spanish throne. Following the Napoleonic Wars, Palafox continued a successful military and political career, and in 1834 received the title Duke of Zaragoza from Queen Maria Christina.
Meanwhile, back in Pensacola, the United States took possession of Pensacola on July 17, 1821. Andrew Jackson and the U.S. Army 4th Infantry Regiment marched down Palafox Street to Plaza Ferdinand for the transfer ceremony. Over the course of the nineteenth century much of the Palafox Street that we know today developed. As transportation has evolved, so too has the street. Once traversed by horse-drawn wagons, electric street cars, and now automobiles, Palafox Street has continued to evolve, and will has recently reopened as a safer, more accessible street.
So the next time you are walking to your favorite coffee shop, concert, or restaurant, give a nod to Elias Durnford for giving us our most iconic street, and remember its former and current namesakes, King George III and José de Palafox.
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