Along THE Beach, Roberta travels from Pensacola to Carrabelle, stopping at points in between to find those hidden gems most folks pass by and never see. Here is a sampling.
Mariana Pingrow Bonifay Monument (located in the center of Garden Street, about one block west of St, Michael’s Cemetery, Pensacola, Escambia County) honors the 18th Century French-born pioneer and entrepreneur.
T. T. Wentworth, Jr., Monument (located in front of the T. T. Wentworth, Jr., Florida State Museum, 103 S. Jefferson Street, Pensacola, Escambia County) pays tribute to a man whose passion for collecting things led to preserving the historical treasures of Pensacola.
William Allen “Uncle Bill” Lundy Monument (located at the corner of Highway 85 and First Avenue in Crestview, Okaloosa County) remembers Florida’s last Confederate veteran who died September 1, 1957.
Florida’s First Confederate Monument (located in front of the Walton County Courthouse, 571 Highway 90 East, Defuniak Springs, Walton County) is a typical Victorian obelisk erected in 1871 to the memory of the Confederate dead of Walton County.
The Union Soldier Monument (located at the corner of Eighth Street and Georgia Avenue, Lynn Haven, Bay County) is, according to the city of Lynn Haven, the only monument to Union soldiers located south of the Mason-Dixon line and was erected in 1920 by former Union veterans who moved to Lynn Haven after the war.
The 1838 Constitution Convention State Memorial and Museum (located off U. S. Highway 98 at 200 Allen Memorial Way, Port St. Joe, Gulf County) is a sweeping marble columned structure that marks the spot where in 1838, fifty-six territorial delegates drafted Florida’s first constitution.
John Gorrie Memorial and State Museum (located on Sixth Street, one block off U. S. Highways 319-98, Apalachicola, Franklin County) honors the man who invented air conditioning.
Richard W. Ervin Monument (located between Third and Fourth Streets and NW Avenue A on U. S. 98, Carrabelle, Franklin County) honors one of Florida’s most prominent jurists, Florida State Attorney General and Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
A monument that is so new, it didn’t make Roberta’s book is the Three Servicemen South Statue in Veterans Memorial Plaza, Apalachicola, part of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C. It is located across from Chapman Gardens at Market Street and Avenue J.
When you’re out and about on THE Beach, take a moment to visit a monument and reflect on the many people and events that have shaped our state.