Placement of a church in Northwest Florida has followed a pattern often seen across the South, for many times new congregations — and new facilities — followed step by step as time and population growth were encouraged.
St. Joseph Catholic Church — and the people it has served — began with its life and dedication in 1892, from that year followed the timing and economic development of the region. Pensacola as a community began true growth following the Civil War, with the onset of a world market for quality lumber, thus it was in 1870 that the city's mills were taking form and skilled ownership was present to make economic development for a rising population play upon one another.
With the people came desired services. The community's first formal church structure was completed in 1831, and it was from there that Protestant denominations expanded. Much earlier, dating back decades, Catholic mission churches had been established by priests, yet all these were short lived, usually falling victim to fires. Following the War Between the States, a new wave of church construction formed, and it was Father Bergath, present in Pensacola in 1863, who was credited with arranging construction of a fine structure on Government Street, a building which set a fashion for others.
However, this church too was destroyed by fire. The succeeding pastor, Father John Baasen, arrived in the early 1880s and arranged acquisition of property on Palafox Street, at Chase, and so began construction of what was to be St. Michael's Catholic Church. This facility was dedicated in 1886, and at once its popularity was obvious, for many worshipers with a variety of background (French, Spanish, Italian, German, Greek) made this their church of choice. Within a decade overcrowding was reported, even though many attendees were making the long walk to church from the city's Southern fringe.
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In reviewing Pensacola's past, the happening of the year 1870 provide guidelines. In that year, the door to lumber markets was opening in Western Europe, and from that date, the city's shipping was multiplying, with vessels arriving, some of which tended to deposit young seamen who found the prospect of life in Pensacola pleasing. These men had been natives of many European countries, thus as they arrived they practiced customs which were new to the area, bringing differences in speech and in culture.
Some credit happenings in 1879 with the beginnings on the waterfront of the initial work involving Creoles. These men of mixed origins arrived, enjoyed what they found and in substantial numbers they chose to settle and to become part of the workforce and the culture.
Meanwhile, post-1865, black men joined the settlers, and by the end of the 1870s some who were termed Creoles had become settled. Thus from 1866 forward Pensacola's population was being transformed. In some cases the arriving minorities did not blend well with one another, thus bringing a double difficulty. And it may well be remembered that the public school system in Escambia County was being formed at the very same time. Bringing students of the varying origins was not easy for the superintendent and his staff.
But as the '70s ended, the system gained unique aid. It was 1879 that the Sisters of Mercy began the Catholic Church's efforts to provide schooling for black children. In that year, the Sisters established the St. Joseph Colored Creole School, on the city's southern edge. Twelve years later, church fathers built St. Joseph Catholic Church, the first church in the South open to teaching for students of African-American background, Germans, Italians and Irish immigrants, virtually all of whom were by now here residents of the community's southern tier.
John Appleyard is a Pensacola historian and writes a weekly historical column in the Pensacola News Journal. His 15-minute films about Pensacola are viewable, without charge, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday in The Cottage, 213 E. Zaragoza St.
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How many of Pensacola's churches got their start | John Appleyard - Pensacola News Journal
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