8,078
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
no edit summary
[[Image:NAS Pensacola;vt15.jpg|thumb|right|The first lighthouse built by the U.S. on the Florida coast]]
During the [[Civil War]], the Navy Yard was alternately held by both Union and Confederacy forces. The yard first changed hands on [[January 12]], [[1861]], two days after Florida's secession from the Union, when Union forces under Commodore [[Wikipedia:James Armstrong (Commodore)|James Armstrong]] surrendered the yard to Major [[William H. Chase]] and his Confederate troops. The Confederacy held the yard until [[May 9]], [[1862]], when they set fire to the yard in an attempt to destroy it, as the Union-held [[Fort Pickens]] rendered the yard useless as a base of operations. Union forces secured the area the next day.
After the war, work was begun to rebuild the base. Many of the present structures on the air station were built during this period, including the stately two- and three-story houses on North Avenue. Unfortunately, many of these newly rebuilt structures were destroyed by the great [[hurricane of 1906]] and the resulting [[storm surge]].
