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 bot ...

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 area of downtown

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only incorporated city, city in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. It is located on Palafox Street between Government and Zaragoza Streets. It was named after

Ferdinand VII of Spain Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (t ...

, the

King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

between 1813 and 1833. A

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

, 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 (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

at the center, and a memorial to

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

near the southern end. The central obelisk is a memorial to railroad baron and mayor of Pensacola William Dudley Chipley. 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 () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and 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 Spanish Cession, 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 ...

, 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,

was appointed its first territorial governor, and was given the task of overseeing the transfer of the territories of

East East 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 fact that ea ...

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 ...

, 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

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 Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

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. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

structures previously not known to have existed in that area.

New Year's celebration

Plaza Ferdinand was the site of the Pelican Drop.

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

Pensacola Museum of History The Pensacola Museum of History at the University of West Florida, formerly the T. T. Wentworth Jr. Florida State Museum, is a museum of history located at 330 Jefferson Street in the Plaza Ferdinand VII in Pensacola, Florida. It is part of the ...

in the background

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