Are you curious about our history? Did you know that curiosity of our past has made historical tourism a rapidly growing part of Florida’s economy? Let’s take a trip to a town that really knows this. Pensacola in the last few years has had amazing changes in the downtown area’s growth, and the surrounding new homes and apartments. Along with this growth is a new generation of monuments and dedication parks, which added to the existing ones, is giving much insight into the long and diverse history here and is beginning to make this a city of monuments.
At the south and north ends of downtown Palafox Street are new statues of Spanish heroes. Between these at Jackson Square is a small bust of our first governor, overshadowed by a large monument to a Confederate veteran who pushed a railroad across the panhandle. Behind the square is the Wentworth Museum, which honors the memory of a county tax collector whose eclectic local history collection prompted this museum. Behind the museum is a new park with areas that identify parts of forts from our early era that lie beneath the park, and adjacent to the park is a marker that recalls the capture of a famous Texas desperado on this street. Along Palafox near Garden Street is a plaque remembering equal rights efforts here during our nation’s integration years, and north of Garden Street in the median is a strangely small bust of one of the most consequential men of the twentieth century, Dr. M.L.King. Just north of downtown along Palafox is a British fort monument park, and overlooking the town from Lee Square, the monument dedicated by wives and widows of Confederate soldiers has not yet been deemed too offensive to remain. To the east of downtown’s museum district, the large military park along 9th Ave steadily grows with more war honorees, and to the west of downtown at the park surrounding the city’s new ball field is a statue of the town’s long term mayor and car dealer, who was better known during his lifetime as ambassador to the world on behalf of his town.
With such diverse honorees here, it is really curious that among this town’s sites are several facilities strangely named in honor of the same person.
During the early years of the Great Depression our country was overwhelmed with the results of widespread unemployment. While many struggled to get by day to day, some people reached out beyond their problems to help others. One of those who reached out was a woman named Corinne Jones. Mrs. Jones began a long history of community service by opening her home as a recreation center in the largely black area of town to as many as fifty children. Just before World War II, with the finance of the federal government’s Works Progress Administration, her property became Pensacola’s first public playground. Within a few years, seeing a need for children to have access to books, Mrs. Jones worked to open the Alice Williams Library on E Street. The facility was later replaced with the opening of the West Florida Regional Library. Mrs. Jones was an early employee of the Pensacola recreation department. In the 1950s she became one of the city’s first black executives as director of the Fricker Center, a large indoor-outdoor complex with service programs largely aimed at helping city youth.
The Fricker Center is the only city site dedicated to the memory of Frank Fricker. His mahogany business in the early twentieth century was one of the largest specialty producers in the world and made him very wealthy. Over the years Mr. Fricker used his influence on many service programs. In 1944, he largely began the town’s Park and Recreation Department and was the first board president. He also headed the Community Chest, Red Cross, Crippled Children’s Convalescent Home, Exchange Club, and was the first chairman of the Escambia Biracial Commission. Due to his life of service to humanity, he was given the title “Knight of the Equestrian Order of St. Gregory” by Pope Paul VI.
In 1962 Mrs. Jones retired from her work at the Fricker Center. In 1963 a large new park complex with recreation building, playground, ball field and basketball court was completed nearby on Government Street. The complex was dedicated to Mrs. Jones who attended the ceremonies. It became the Corinne Jones Center.
The retirement of Mrs. Jones was not the end of her community service. As she was receiving praise for her past service, Mrs. Jones was working to create another place for underprivileged children. In 1968 with the help of the Episcopal Church, Camp Happy Sands was founded near Johnson Beach. In 1975, as the anniversary of our nation approached, Pensacola again recognized the lifetime efforts of Mrs. Jones with a presentation of the American Patriot Award and in 1976 the Bicentennial Commission of Florida and Florida 100 declared her a Florida Patriot. All of these achievements were done as she raised four children who would become community leaders: one a lawyer, one a Pensacola City Council Woman.
Today there are two new facilities in Pensacola that share the name of Corinne Jones. In 2004 one of our many storms largely destroyed the community park of Sanders Beach. After a rebuilding of the park and recreation buildings, the facilities were re-dedicated as the Sanders Beach-Corinne Jones Community Center. And recently, between Government and Intendencia Streets, a new park still under construction which is largely a water retention pond with nearby sidewalks and playground has been dedicated to Mrs. Jones as Jones Park. Although Mrs. Jones certainly deserves recognition in this town, one would think there are plenty of deserving candidates. Ain’t it curious?
