Old Escambia County Courthouse
The Old Escambia County Courthouse was a building on the northwest corner of Palafox and Chase Streets that served as the headquarters of county government from 1885 until 1937. It was razed in 1938 to make way for the United States Post Office and Courthouse.
Background
Escambia County had held court in a building on Plaza Ferdinand VII between 1840 and 1866, when it was destroyed in a fire. After leasing a space from the Pfeiffer family, county operations moved once again to the Old Market House at Main and Palafox.
The Commissioners petitioned the Florida legislature in 1870 for permission to levy a short-term supplementary property tax of three mills to fund a new courthouse. The tax was approved, but funds were collected slowly, drawing criticism.
| The public records of the county for want of a suitable court house have been twice exposed to imminent danger from which they were barely rescued by the self denying efforts and energy of the county clerk, who allowed his own property to burn while rescuing the public archives. … The county is now paying for rent of courtroom and offices more money than is necessary to pay the interest on the bonds… | ||
—J. Dennis Wolfe, editor, The Commercial | ||
On July 6, 1880, County Attorney Stephen R. Mallory was authorized to negotiate the purchase of the lot at Palafox and Chase Streets. It was sold by George Brosnaham for $3,250. Plans by the architectual firm Pettiscen and Pettiscen were approved in April 1883.
