Escambia County | US Courthouses

Escambia County is named for the Escambia River which name comes from a Spanish word for “barter” or “exchange”, or from the Creek Native American word “Shambia” meaning “clear water”.

Surrounding County Courthouses:

N – Escambia County, Alabama

E – Santa Rosa County

S – Gulf of Mexico

W – Baldwin County, Alabama

Created: July 21, 1821

County Seat:

Pensacola 1821 – present

County Judicial Building – Pensacola

Location: 190 West Government Street / South Baylen Street

Built: 1977 – 1978

Style: Modern

Architect: Hugh J Leitch, Ellis W Bullock, Look & Morrison, Marshall & McNeal and Henningson, Durham & Richardson, Inc.

Contractor: Dyson & Company

Description: The building faces east and is a five story buff colored concrete and glass structure. The building is located on spacious landscaped grounds in the center of Pensacola. The east front has a projecting section with large open square arch and glass walls along the south side. The building rises in a series of projecting square modules. In the interior, the County Circuit Court courtrooms are located on the second story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 1st Judicial Circuit and County Court. The building is named as the M C Blanchard Judicial Building and was remodeled and expanded in 1999. The architect was CarlanKillan Consulting Group, Inc. and Henningson, Durham & Richardson, Inc. and the contractor was Brown & Root Services, Inc. and Del Gailo-Morette.

County Courthouse – Pensacola

Location: 221 Palafox Street / West Government Street

Built: 1887 – 1888

Style: Renaissance Revival

Architect: Mifflin Emien Bell

Contractor: Mifflin Emien Bell and S S Leonard. ( stone mason )

Description: The building faces east and is a three story gray colored limestone and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of Pensacola. The east front has a wide portico supported by four sets of double columns rising to a balcony on the second story. There are three recessed doorways. The center section of the building is recessed. Along the edge of the hipped room are dormers. In the interior, the former courtroom is located in the center of the second story. The building served as the United States Customs and Post Office until 1938 when the County took possession. The architect for the remodeling in 1938 to 1939 was Fulghum & McMurrian. The building was renovated in 2006 and connected to the new Administration Building on the northeast corner.

Note: The previous courthouse built in 1885 was designed by Palliser & Palliser of New York City, New York, who also designed the old courthouse in Knox County, Tennessee

See: The 1st Judicial Circuit includes Okaloosa County, Santa Rosa County and Walton County.

See: The county is located in the First Judicial District of the Court of Appeal – First Judicial District located in Tallahassee.

History: The county was created in 1821 and Pensacola was selected as the county seat. The first courthouse was a building on Plaza Ferdinand VII from 1840 to 1866 when it was destroyed by fire. The second courthouse was the Old Market House at Main Street and Palafox Street. The third courthouse was a two story brick structure on the northeast corner of Palafox Street and Chase Street designed by Palliser & Palliser of New York City, New York and was constructed by S S Harvey in 1883 to 1885 at a cost of $41,950. The building was razed in 1938. The fourth courthouse was the old Post Office constructed in 1885 to 1887. During the remodeling, the court was housed in the Blount Building at 3 West Garden Street, a seven story building constructed in 1906 to 1907 by Charles Hill Turner. The fifth and present courthouse was constructed in 1977 to 1978.

Note: Escambia County and St Johns County were the two counties created in 1821 when Florida became a territory.

County Administration Building – Pensacola

Location: 221 Palafox Street / West Government Street

Built: 2004 – 2006

Style: Modern

Architect: Hatch Mott MacDonald Caldwell Associates and Spencer Maxwell Bullock, Architects

Contractor: Turner Construction Company and Benchmark Construction Corporation

Description: The building faces south and is a four story buff colored brick and concrete structure. The building is located in the center of Pensacola. The main entrance is recessed with the courthouse on the east side and a west wing on the west side. The entrance has a recessed glass doorway with grill work on the second story and large glass windows on the third and fourth stories. The east entrance is along the north side of the courthouse. The roof line is flat.

Old National Bank Annex – Pensacola

Location: 213 South Palafox Street / West Government Street

Built: 2006 – 2008

Style: Neo-Grecian

Architect: Mowbray and Uffinger of New York City

Contractor: Charlie Hunt

Description: The building faces east and is a two story marble, brick and concrete style structure. The building faces east and was completed in 2008. The building is located in the center of Pensacola on the north side of the courthouse. The exterior is of pure white colored marble and rests upon a base of dark granite. Along the sides of the building and on either side of the entrance are a number of Ionic columns which support the pediment and the portico. The interior has a high two story banking chamber with walls which are frescoed in a delicate shade of cream and old ivory. The safe deposit vault is closed by a door seven feet in diameter, weighing fifteen tons, and twelve inches in thickness, fitted with time locks of the latest pattern. The building is part of the Government Center Complex.