Museum of Industry (Pensacola, Florida) facts for kids
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| Location | Pensacola, Florida |
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The Museum of Industry is a cool place in Pensacola, Florida. It's part of the Historic Pensacola Village, which is like a whole neighborhood of old buildings! This museum teaches you all about the important jobs and businesses that helped Pensacola grow a long time ago. You'll learn about fishing, making bricks, cutting down trees for wood, and how people moved goods around.
The Museum Building: A Look Back
The building where the Museum of Industry is located has a long history. It was built in 1884 for the Pensacola Ice Company. Imagine, it was once a place where ice was made!
What the Building Looked Like
This old building is made of brick and is long and narrow. It has six big arches that face Zaragoza Street. It's sometimes called the "Hispanic Building" because of its style.
Who Lived or Worked Here Before?
Before this brick building was even built, other structures stood on this spot. Long ago, British and Spanish soldiers used to live here in barracks. Later, it was a boarding house, a place where people could rent a room. In the 1830s, it was even the home of the West Florida Academy, a school!
Later Uses of the Building
Over the years, the building had many different owners and uses. It was home to the New Orleans Grocery Company, the Levy-Hallmark Company, and the Pensacola-Lurton Company. This last company even rented it to the county to store extra supplies. The city of Pensacola bought the building in 1968. Now, it's a very important part of the Historic Pensacola Village, helping us learn about the past.
Pensacola's Early Industries: How People Worked
The Museum of Industry shows you how people in early Pensacola made a living. They used the natural resources around them to create important products.
Timber: Pensacola's Wood Business
Pensacola was surrounded by thick forests. These trees were a huge resource! People used the wood to make lumber for building. They also made other products like turpentine, which comes from tree sap. The museum has many tools and machines that show how people processed timber. You can see these on the west side of the building.
Brickmaking: Building Pensacola Strong
Did you know that people in Pensacola made tons of bricks? These bricks were used to build many structures, including the forts in the area. The museum even has a part of a kiln, which is a special oven used to bake clay into hard bricks. You can find this in the southeast part of the museum.
Fishing: A Catch for the City
Fish were very easy to find in the waters around early Pensacola. Fishing was a big industry! The Museum of Industry has an old boat from that time. It helps you imagine what it was like to fish in those days.
Railroad: Moving Goods by Train
Pensacola has a deepwater port, which means big ships can easily dock there. This was perfect for moving goods from ships to land and then onto trains. The railroad helped transport products like lumber and bricks all over the country. There's still a port downtown today, but it's not as busy as it was when trains were the main way to move goods.
