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. 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

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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.)

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. It 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.

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,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

Original Site of Pensacola Junior College image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Hilton, March 10, 2014

2. Original Site of Pensacola Junior College

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Fort George (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); a different marker also named Fort George (about 600 feet away); Battle of Pensacola (about 700 feet away); General Francisco De Miranda (approx. ¼ mile away); First Methodist Church (approx. ¼ mile away); Boysen-Perry House (approx. ¼ mile away); Christ Episcopal Church (approx. ¼ mile away); General Bernardo de Gálvez and the "Siege of Pensacola" (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Pensacola.

Other markers no longer nearby. Our Confederate Dead (was within shouting distance of this marker but has been permanently removed); First Public School Building (was approx. ¼ mile away but has been confirmed missing).

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 1,264 times since then and 65 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.