Zaragoza Street

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Zaragoza Street
Liberty Street
Former names: Mansfield Street
Albemarle Street
west end: M Street
east end: Cevallos Street

Zaragoza Street (alternately Zarragossa Street; see below) is an east-west street in downtown Pensacola. It is named for the Spanish city of the same name.

Zaragoza's western terminus is at M Street; from there Zaragoza travels easterly three blocks to Barrancas Avenue/J Street, at which point it is interrupted for two blocks. Zaragoza resumes at H Street and travels uninterrupted eight blocks to Clubbs Street, at which point it is interrupted for three blocks. Zaragoza resumes at de Villiers Street and travels one block to Reus Street, where it is interrupted for two blocks. Zaragoza resumes at Baylen Street and travels uninterrupted to its eastern terminus at Cevallos Street.

From Tarragona Street east to its terminus at Cevallos, Zaragoza is one-way eastbound.

Zaragoza Street from Palafox east is a prominent part of the Pensacola Historic Village, featuring a number of historic homes as well as the Museum of Commerce.

For a time during the 20th century, many referred to Zaragoza Street as Liberty Street, though this was never an official designation.

Spelling[edit]

In various sources, Zaragoza has appeared spelled as Zarragossa or several other variants. However, Zaragoza appears to be the spelling currently favoured by the City of Pensacola[1].

Some archaic sources, such as an 1889 code of ordinances of the Provisional Municipality of Pensacola, used the spelling Sarragossa.

The Pensacola News Journal commonly uses the Zarragossa spelling. The Escambia County Property Appraiser also uses Zarragossa.

Additionally, in older literature, it is not uncommon to see various alternate spellings, such as Zaragosa or Zarragosa.

British Pensacola[edit]

In British Pensacola, what is now Zaragoza Street was called Mansfield Street west of George Street (Palafox) and Albemarle Street to the west.[2]

Red-light district[edit]

In the early twentieth century, the first block west of Zaragoza Street, between Palafox and Baylen, became the hub of a thriving red-light district and was known as "the Line," due to the row of adjacent bordello houses. Among them was the Hazel brothel owned by Mollie McCoy.

References[edit]