The Pensacola Museum of History at the University of West Florida, formerly the T. T. Wentworth Jr. Florida State Museum, is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

of history located at 330 Jefferson Street in the

Plaza Ferdinand VII The Plaza Ferdinand VII is an outdoor garden and park in the Historic Pensacola Village area of downtown Pensacola, Florida. It is located on Palafox Street between Government and Zaragoza Streets. It was named after Ferdinand VII of Spain, the Kin ...

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 part of 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, ...

museum complex. The building, reminiscent of the

Alamo The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

style, was built in 1907 as the Pensacola City Hall and served as such until 1985 when the present city hall was built at 180 Governmental Center, also known as 222 West Main Street. In 1989, the building was listed as the Pensacola City Hall in ''A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture'', published by the University of Florida Press.''A Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture'', 1989, Gainesville: University of Florida Press, p. 7,

History

Wentworth opened his first museum as a roadside stand in the suburb of Ensley in 1957, and continued to collect items of interest. His curiosity spanned a wide range of materials. In the 1980s, Wentworth said he would donate his entire collection to the city if it provided a permanent location in Pensacola. A state grant was signed by Governor

Bob Martinez Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American retired politician who served as the 40th governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, Martinez was the first person of Spanish descent to be elected governor o ...

to enable the city to renovate the former city hall for this purpose, as the city had completed a new facility in 1985. The museum was officially opened in 1988. One floor is dedicated to Wentworth's eccentric collections, which include a mummified cat. The other two floors illustrate and interpret life in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

over the centuries; some of the artifacts are from Wentworth's collection. The other floors house a science interactive museum for children. From September 2004 to March 2005, the museum was closed for renovations after

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlan ...

caused considerable damage to the property. When the museum opened again, a new exhibit was added, comparing and contrasting the effects of the 2004 hurricane to the 1926 hurricane that had damaged the building. On July 14, 2020 the University of West Florida Historic Trust announced that it was looking into changing the museum's name in light of newly released documents showing that Wentworth was a leader of the local chapter of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. On March 18, 2021, the University of West Florida Board of Trustees voted to change the name of the museum in a 5–4 decision. The UWF Historic Trust board had previously voted in December 2020 to change the name of the museum to the Pensacola Museum of History at the University of West Florida.

References

External links

Historic Pensacola Village's Official Website
{{Authority control Pensacola metropolitan area Historic Pensacola Village Museums in Pensacola, Florida History museums in Florida Science museums in Florida 1988 establishments in Florida Museums established in 1988 Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in Florida