East Hill, Pensacola

A gateway to the Bayou Texar, Bayview Park, located between the east ends of North 20th Avenue and East Mallory Street has been an essential part of East Hill and Pensacola for over a century.  

The park itself includes a community center, senior center, tennis courts, playgrounds, dog parks, jogging paths, and a pier for fishing and boating.  The land itself has long been property of the City of Pensacola but it was not until 1905 when the area was developed as a city center for East Hill.

The park was quickly a popular location and in April 1910 the Pensacola Playground Committee began soliciting businesses, organizations, and citizens for donations to build a bathhouse and personnel facilities.  These buildings were finished by June.  The same year, the park began hosting concerts, free to the public.  The following year the director of playgrounds requested the hiring of a woman “playground” worker in March of 1911 because more women were using the bathhouse than men.  A zoo, stables, and seal pens were installed over the course of Bayview’s first decade near where the present-day tennis courts are located.  A city ordinance was put forth to provide the community with amusement and entertainment.  According to the ordinance a casino was to be built at the northeast end of the park.  The Red Cross taught swimming lessons with volunteer lifeguards.  The park became the hosting ground for troop detachments during World War II under the command of Colonel Boyer.

The fishing pier at Bayview was destroyed during Hurricane Ivan on September 16, 2004.  The pier was rebuilt and reopened in 2006.

Since it's development, Bayview Park has been a gathering place for Pensacolians and with the community center, sporting events, and playgrounds it will continue to connect the East Hill community.