The City of Pensacola in partnership with the University of West Florida Historic Trust are installing the panels needed to open the Pensacola Maritime Heritage Trail.
The Pensacola Maritime Heritage Trail documents Pensacola’s rich maritime history and is the idea of Dr. Amy Mitchell-Cook, chair of the Department of History at the University of West Florida, and Dr. Della Scott-Ireton, associate director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network.
The Pensacola Maritime Heritage Trail is a walking history tour of downtown. The project secured funding in 2015 through a $25,000 National Maritime Heritage Grant from the National Parks Service. The trail consists of 10 panels full of historical information that will be erected along Main Street/Bayfront Parkway. It includes information about the prehistoric uses of Pensacola Bay and waterways and marine resources. The Maritime Heritage Trail stretches from the Hawkshaw Lagoon Memorial Park to the Community Maritime Park.
This trail ties in with the Historic Trust’s interpretative master plan and complements the downtown Colonial Archaeological Trail, which is a project of the Historic Trust, the City of Pensacola and the Division of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Here is the presentation given the CMPA Board of Trustees last April – read more.