An excerpt from the book, “Pensacola’s Finest,” available on Amazon
By Mike Simmons
After sixteen years together, the realization hit the city fathers that one building was insufficient to conduct city hall business as well as to house the police department. Plans were drawn up for a magnificent city hall and an independent police station. The property chosen for city hall was located on Jefferson Street between Church Street and Zarragossa Street, directly east of Plaza Ferdinand. The location for the new police headquarters would be in the same location as the current city building – 407 S. Jefferson Street. An entirely new building would be built especially for the police department. To provide for the destruction of the old and the construction of the new building, in 1906, the police department temporarily relocated next door to the southwest corner of Jefferson and Zarragossa streets.
In 1907, the old city building was vacated, as the new city hall was ready for occupancy. For one year, the police department operated out of a small, nondescript building and the city offices were enjoying the new, large edifice. It was built for $8783.33. The city government remained in that location until it relocated to a new 10-story building at 222 West Main Street in 1985. In 1988, the T. T. Wentworth Florida State Museum opened in the old city hall building.
