North Hill

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North Hill is a neighborhood in the City of Pensacola located on Gage Hill (the eponymous "north hill") roughly north of La Rua Street on the west side of Palafox.

By the end of the 18th century, the rise on the northern outskirts of early Pensacola that came to be known as North Hill had secured a prominent place in American history. It was here in 1781 that the Spanish army under General Bernardo de Galvez defeated the English at Fort George, helping to turn the tide of the American Revolution. The battle site, at the crest of a hill rising from the waterfront settlement, is now distinguished as the Fort George Memorial Park. A section of the Fort reconstructed on its original foundation marks the historic spot which lies within the present boundaries of the North Hill Preservation District.

During the next several decades, only a few inhabitants of Pensacola migrated from the downtown area to the environs of Fort George, but by the end of the 19th century, the increasing population of the thriving port city began to view the wooded slope to he north as ideally suited for expansion of the residential neighborhood. As lumbering and related industries ushered in the "lumber boom" era, Northwest Florida's great forests of yellow pine provided homebuilders with choice material for construction of many stately houses now treasured and protected in the North Hill Preservation District. Interiors display a lavish use of quality wood in paneling, ceiling beams, graceful stairways, and ornate trim. A number of the old homes are occupied today by descendants of the original builders. Others which had fallen into disrepair have been restored to their original beauty.

External links

• HistoricNorthHill.com - homepage of the North Hill Preservation Association