Pensacola in Escambia County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Original Site of Pensacola Junior College
Photographed By Mark Hilton, March 10, 2014
1. Original Site of Pensacola Junior College Marker
Inscription.
Original Site of Pensacola Junior College. . On this site, Pensacola Junior College (PJC) opened its doors on September 13, 1948. It was the first public junior college created by the Florida Legislature under the Minimum Foundation Program Act of 1947, signed into law by Governor Millard F. Caldwell. The Escambia County School Board received authority to establish the college. District staff Jesse Barfield and Margaret Andrus helped James L. McCord, principal of Pensacola High School, prepare the initial proposal and continued as faculty. McCord became the first director of PJC. The Aiken Boarding House provided classrooms for the first 136 students. James H. Allen, president of Florida Pulp and Paper Company, contributed the first two year’s rent for the facility. In June 1953, the College moved one block south to the old Pensacola High School. On May 13, 1955, Governor LeRoy Collins signed a bill appropriating $1,243,000 to the college, which resulted in the 1956 purchase of property on 9th Avenue, now the college’s main campus. Pensacola’s Booker T. Washington Junior College was established as Florida’s first black junior college in 1949, and at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, merged with PJC in 1965.
On this site, Pensacola Junior College (PJC) opened its doors on September 13, 1948. It was the first public junior college created by the Florida Legislature under the Minimum Foundation Program Act of 1947, signed into law by Governor Millard F. Caldwell. The Escambia County School Board received authority to establish the college. District staff Jesse Barfield and Margaret Andrus helped James L. McCord, principal of Pensacola High School, prepare the initial proposal and continued as faculty. McCord became the first director of PJC. The Aiken Boarding House provided classrooms for the first 136 students. James H. Allen, president of Florida Pulp and Paper Company, contributed the first two year’s rent for the facility. In June 1953, the College moved one block south to the old Pensacola High School. On May 13, 1955, Governor LeRoy Collins signed a bill appropriating $1,243,000 to the college, which resulted in the 1956 purchase of property on 9th Avenue, now the college’s main campus. Pensacola’s Booker T. Washington Junior College was established as Florida’s first black junior college in 1949, and at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, merged with PJC in 1965.
Erected 2012 by the Pensacola State College Board of Trustees & the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-710.)
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Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education. A significant historical month for this entry is May 1846.
Location. 30° 25.221′ N, 87° 13.018′ W. Marker is in Pensacola, Florida, in Escambia County. Marker is at the intersection of North Palafox Street and East Gadsden Street, on the right when traveling north on North Palafox Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 710 North Palafox Street, Pensacola FL 32501, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on March 12, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 785 times since then and 47 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on March 12, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
