The Plaza Ferdinand VII is an outdoor
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
and
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
in the
Historic Pensacola Village
The Pensacola Historic District (also known as the Seville Historic District) is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on September 29, 1970) located in Pensacola, Florida.
The district is roughly bounded by Bayfront Parkway, Tarragona, ...
area of downtown
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
. It is located on Palafox Street between Government and Zaragoza Streets. It was named after
Ferdinand VII of Spain
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Charles IV of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa of Parma
, birth_date = 14 October 1784
, birth_place = El Escorial, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Madrid, Spain
, burial_plac ...
, the
King of Spain
, coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg
, coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain
, image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg
, incumbent = Felipe VI
, incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
between 1813 and 1833. A
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, it is the site of the formal transfer of Florida to United States jurisdiction in 1821.
Background
Plaza Ferdinand VII is bounded on the north by Government Street, the east by Jefferson Street, the south by Zarragossa Street, and the west by Palafox Street. About in size, it is a grassy area, dotted with trees, and criss-crossed by paved walkways. It has three principal features: a fountain near the northern end, an
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
at the center, and a memorial to
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
near the southern end. The central obelisk is a memorial to railroad baron and mayor of Pensacola
William Dudley Chipley
William Dudley Chipley (June 6, 1840 – December 1, 1897) was an American railroad executive and politician who was instrumental in the building of the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad and was a tireless promoter of Pensacola, his adopted city, ...
.
The plaza forms part of a street plan laid out in 1765, when Pensacola was the capital of the British colony of
West Florida
West Florida ( es, Florida Occidental) was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. As its name suggests, it was formed out of the western part of former S ...
. Originally the central park of that plan was somewhat larger, but significant portions were subdivided and sold off in 1802, when West Florida was again a Spanish colony.
Historical significance
Under the
Adams–Onís Treaty
The Adams–Onís Treaty () of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, the Florida Purchase Treaty, or the Florida Treaty,Weeks, p.168. was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to the U.S. and defined t ...
, negotiated in 1819, Spain agreed to cede Florida to the United States. Spain did not formally ratify the treaty until 1821. In March of that year,
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
was appointed its first territorial governor, and was given the task of overseeing the transfer of the territories of
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and West Florida from Spanish authorities. A formal ceremony was held in
St. Augustine on July 10, in which the chief United States representative was Jackson's deputy,
Robert Butler. Jackson attended the ceremony held on this plaza on July 21, in which the Spanish flag was lowered and the American flag raised. He then made a speech to the townspeople, informing them that the land was now the
Florida Territory
The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish te ...
, and that Pensacola would be its capital.
[ The bust of Jackson now stands at the spot where he was formally inaugurated as territorial governor. The bust was donated in 1935 by the Pensacola Historic Preservation Society.
The plaza was declared a ]National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1960.[ and ] As such, it was automatically included in the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
when that program began in 1966.
In 1989, the plaza was listed in ''A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture'', published by the University of Florida Press.
Archaeologists, in 2002, discovered evidence of British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
structures previously not known to have existed in that area.
New Year's celebration
Plaza Ferdinand was the site of the Pelican Drop
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
.
Notable buildings near the plaza
* Saenger Theatre
*Quayside Art Gallery, 17 E. Zarragossa, located in an 1873 firehouse
*Federalist House, 11 E. Zaragoza Street.
Gallery
File:Bustofandrewjackson.jpg , A bust of Andrew Jackson at the Plaza Ferdinand VII, where Jackson was sworn in as governor.
File:Pensacola Plaza Ferdinand03.jpg , A view of the park's corners
File:Pensacola Plaza Ferdinand02.jpg , Another view with the T. T. Wentworth, Jr. Florida State Museum in the background
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Florida
The National Historic Landmarks in Florida are representations of a broad sweep of history from Pre-Columbian times, through the Second Seminole War and Civil War, and the Space Age. There are 47 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Florida,. wh ...
*
References
External links
*
*
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida
National Historic Landmarks in Florida
Buildings and structures in Pensacola, Florida
National Register of Historic Places in Escambia County, Florida
Parks in Escambia County, Florida
Tourist attractions in Pensacola, Florida
Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida