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The cession of Florida to the United States from Spain occurred at the Plaza on [[July 17]], [[1821]]. General [[Andrew Jackson]] made a public speech to townspeople, informing them that the land was now the Florida Territory, and that Pensacola would be its capital. General Jackson was later sworn in as first Territorial Governor in the plaza. A bust of Jackson now stands at the spot where he was inaugurated.
Situated in the center of [[downtown Pensacola]], it is adjacent to a number of historic buildings including the [[T. T. Wentworth Museum]] (formerly City Hall), the [[Pensacola Cultural Center]] and [[Pensacola Museum of Art|Museum of Art]] (formerly the Court of Record and City Jail buildings), [[Escambia County Courthouse]], [[Seville Tower]]. The [[Pensacola Opera House]], demolished in [[1917]], sat across from the Plaza on [[Jefferson Street]]. The Plaza was also the site where [[Leander Shaw]] was killed by a lynch-mob on [[July 29]], [[1908]]. It was listed for consideration on the National Register of Historic Places in [[1960]], achieving the status of Historic Place in [[1966]]. Archaeologists, in [[2002]], discovered evidence of British structures previously not known to have existed in that area. Portions have been excavated and are on display as part of the [[Colonial Archaeological Trail]].
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