St. John's Coalition in Pensacola in Escambia County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Mollie McCoy
| | St. John's Cemetery | |
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 2025
1. Mollie McCoy Marker
Mary Mollie McCoy was Pensacola's most renown madam. Upon her death, visiting her tombstone became associated with a better love life.
Mollie became a prostitute while serving as a washer woman in an Alabama Regiment during the Civil War. She left her position to give birth to first a son (buried to her right) and later a daughter. Her children were sent to be reared by relatives while she reentered the oldest profession in Selma, AL.
Arriving in Pensacola around 1878, Mollie operated illegally until social and economic forces caused a legalized Red Light District to be established. Her good looks, blonde hair, blue eyes, well-endowed, petite figure, and sharp business acumen gained the respect of many. She became the only madam to own real estate (15 W. Zaragoza St., above) and astutely catered to high-end customers, attracting the prettiest women to work for her, in what was indisputably the most upscale brothel in town.
Her death from natural causes made large headlines on page 2 of the local newspaper. Her grave attracted so many callers that good women protested, causing the cemetery to remove her tombstone. In
this page online
Erected 2018 by Pensacola Bay Area Impact 100 and St. John's Cemetery Foundation.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Industry & Commerce • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1878.
Location. 30° 24.966′ N, 87° 14.052′ W. Marker is in Pensacola, Florida, in Escambia County. It is in St. John's Coalition. It can be reached from the intersection of North G Street and West Belmont Street, on the left when traveling north. The marker is on the St. John's Cemetery grounds, in Section 22. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 301 North G Street, Pensacola FL 32501, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on the Florida Panhandle. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and on the Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World,
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 2025
2. Mollie McCoy Tombstone
Mary C. McCoy
Madam
15 W. Liberty St.
Born North Carolina 1853
Died Pensacola, Florida February 4, 1920
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Monument Sculpting (within shouting distance of this marker); Inventor of FSU Tomahawk Chop (within shouting distance of this marker); First Interment (within shouting distance of this marker); Historic Colored Section (within shouting distance of this marker); Zinc Marker (within shouting distance of this marker); Mary W. Willis (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Mary Lewis Willis (about 300 feet away); Historic North Side (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pensacola.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. St. John's Cemetery
Also see . . .
1. Mary C Mollie McCoy (1843-1920) (Find A Grave).
(Saint John's Cemetery, Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida, USA, Section 22, Lot 6, Space 4) Excerpt: According to the U. S. Census of 1920,(Submitted on May 2, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)Mollie was the proprietress of the Liberty Hotel, located at 15 W Liberty St, Pensacola. According to the "Friends of St John's Cemetery Foundation", Mollie was Pensacola's most imfamous madam.Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 19, 20253. Mollie McCoy MarkerLooking west through St. John's Cemetery from Section 22.
2. Mollie McCoys (Pensacola Gifts).
Excerpt: Mary Mollie McCoy operated the most famous bordello in Pensacolas red-light district, located at 15 W. Zaragosa Street. She purchased the property for $6,500 in 1893 after fire destroyed her previous establishment on Baylen Street. McCoy was one of sixteen madams listed in the 1900 city directory. West Zaragosa had the highest concentration of brothels, giving it the nickname The Line. McCoy died in 1920.(Submitted on May 2, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)After several crackdowns of limited success, the U.S. Navy quarantine effort permanently shuttered the district in 1941. Zaragosa was briefly renamed Liberty Street and number 15 turned into the Liberty Hotel. In 1950 it was purchased by the Waterfront Rescue Mission. In 1966, Waterfront demolished the old structure to build a new headquarters.
3. Mollie McCoy (Pensapedia).
Excerpt: Records of her business can be found as early as the 1870s, when she successfully appealed a verdict brought against her for operating a brothel. By the 1910s, McCoy owned one of the higher-quality bordello houses on The Line, a twenty-room brick house opulently decorated in baroque fashion, with Mollie's name in gilt lettering on the door. As described by Danton Walker, who played piano there before becoming a New York Daily News columnist, The ceiling was high and windows floor length, masked by curtains of cherry colored satin; the walls were papered in gold and there were gilt chairs a wood fire burned beneath a white marble mantel causing a lively sparkle among the crystal ornaments. The prostitutes at McCoy's establishments, some of them from as far away as New Orleans and Louisville, were widely considered the prettiest girls you ever saw. Mollie forbade them to walk the streets during evening hours or to drink, smoke or act indecently in the public rooms.(Submitted on May 2, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 2, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 30, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 14 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on May 2, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
