My daughter has been living and attending college in Pensacola for over three years and had never heard of the Historic Pensacola Village. Always in search of the less traveled path, whether home or on vacation, I thought it would be worth a look. That and my daughter being an Anthropology major, it seemed a good fit for the money I spend on her education.
The Historic village has two museums, Commerce and Industry, and a collection of old homes. One thing I found interesting was that the homes were all in their original location except one that was moved from across the street. Some of the homes now house businesses and a few are available for touring. I opted for the $6.00 tour to get the most out of the day.
We learned that Pensacola was the first of the Spanish colonies in America and was established in 1559, before St Augustine who currently holds title as the “Nations Oldest City”. The reason, of the original 11 ships, 5 went down in a hurricane soon after arriving with all the colony supplies on board. Not a great start. The colony only lasted about a year and was not re-established for another 135 years.
Pensacola was also under more flags than any other city in America. Spanish, French, English, Confederate, and finally the United States. There is a lot of history in Pensacola. My daughter will soon be sifting through the sands of time (dirt) to re-discover it. I prefer getting my history lessons in air conditioned comfort and on walking tours. Looking forward to seeing her work on display one day.
Whoa, for someone paying the tuition, you sure drive a hard bargain (dirt vs air-con)!! I wonder if re-naming the museums something other than the dull-sounding 'commerce' and 'industry' would mean more visitors???
ReplyDelete@Red - I had that very thought. They were actually very interesting inside. Hard to believe so many things I knew as a kid are now in a museum. Try explaining a hot metal typesetter to a kid with a Mac.
ReplyDeleteWow, it is insane to think how old some of the towns in Florida are!
ReplyDelete@Tex - Yes - a whole 20 years some of them. It fascinates to track down Florida's real history.
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