Alcaniz Street a north-south street in downtown Pensacola. It currently runs between its northern terminus at Cervantes Street to its southern terminus at Bayfront Parkway.
| |||
| Alcaniz Street | |||
| north end: | Cervantes Street (US 90/US 98) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Major junctions: |
Wright Street Gregory Street Garden Street | ||
| south end: | Bayfront Parkway | ||
Alcaniz runs one-way southbound between Cervantes and Wright Streets, where it becomes two-way and widens until Garden Street, at which point several southbound lanes branch off to form the westbound span of Garden. Alcaniz Street continues southward through the historic district to Bayfront Parkway.
The road from Cervantes northward to East 36th Street was formerly named Alcaniz as well, but was renamed to Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive on January 14, 2000, after an effort led by Movement for Change President LeRoy Boyd. The original proposal was to rename the entire street, but there was opposition from changing the name in the historical district. The City Council concurred with keeping the Alcaniz name, splitting the street so it honors both past and recent history.
Some notable landmarks along Alcaniz Street include the Crowne Plaza Grand Hotel, the Pensacola Civic Center and Seville Square.
Spanish origins
One of their earliest appearances of the name Alcaniz is on the “Plan of Pensacola” (1813), which, as Dr. Bill Coker noted, is the first downtown map prepared by a municipal government for the City of Pensacola. The Spanish Constitution of 1812 first permitted the organization of democratically-elected city governments, and by 1813, Pensacola had a city government of a mayor and councilmen. The 1813 map, found in the Vicente Pintado Papers of the Library of Congress (copies at the University of West Florida Library), shows the town of Pensacola from the water to Romana Street. The three named north-south streets are Palafox, Tarragona, and Alcaniz. Three other street names on the map are significant; these are Intendencia, Zaragoza, Gobierno (Government), and Church Street, although this latter is different than present-day Church Street in Seville Square. Gobierno on the 1813 map is “Gobierno Nueve” or New Government Street.
The name itself seems to come from Spain. One of the principal cities of Teruel (in the region of Aragon) is the town of Alcaniz, which may take its name from the plain, Alcaniz, where it is situated. (This is consistent with other Pensacola street names. Another Spanish province is Tarragona whose capital city, Tarragona, is traditionally where St. Paul founded the Christian church in Spain in A.D. 60. One of the major towns of Tarragona province is Reus.)
Florida State Road 291 carriage
Alcaniz Street carries the southbound half of Florida State Road 291 between Cervantes and Gregory Streets, as well as Florida 291's northbound span for one block, between Gregory and Wright Streets. At Wright, Florida 291 northbound heads east on Wright for one block, then turns north onto Davis Street.
US 98 Business carriage
Alcaniz Street carries US 98 Business southbound for two blocks, between Gregory and Garden Streets, as well as US 98 Business northbound for one block, between Garden and Chase Streets.