I too wish it had never been torn down. That hotel was and is a part of my family's history. The whole Hagler family cried that day. I once interviewed my Great-Grandmother, Bess, about her days there for a school project and she told me some amazing stories. Like how it was the first to have hot water on tap, and how she would always put a dime in the black eyed peas for luck on New Years. Thank you for posting this video. You have brought back memories....good and bad!
I used to see this hotel from the freeway as a kid, when we'd drive into Pensacola. Around 1990, as an adult, I was finally able to get inside. Amazing decayed grandeur...the stained glass dome over the lobby had mostly collapsed and shattered on the floor below. The staircase was so grand! There were little shops along the edges of the lobby, like an arcade. The front desk was just like what you'd see in a film - with all the mail cubbies on the back wall. I went upstairs and had a look - floor after floor of endless hallways of ruined hotel rooms, overturned furniture and linens. At that point I got frightened - I was so sure I was going to suddenly bump into another person, and I did not want to find out who that person might be. I hurried out. I wish I'd been able to get pictures of it all. I was dismayed when I later found it had been demolished.
+mhtfixit I was hoping this was the video of the actual demolition. It was still a wonderful reminder of a favorite memory of mine, and I thank you! I went to a Noel dance there in 1975-1976, I think it was, and I still remember the staircase and walking out on the balcony area. I remember watching the video while they actually imploded the building, and I cried. It was really a shame, that with all of the affluence in Pensacola, someone couldn't save such a wonderful piece of history!
I am new to Pensacola since November of 2013, From Phoenix which Arizona is a young state, Here in Pensacola I do admire it's history, watching this video is breaking my heart the why no one saved the landmark. In Phoenix we have a San Carlos Hotel also built in the 1900;s. It is such a shame that the People and Government of Pensacola couldn't save such a landmark. I am a regular who visits the downtown weekly.
Yes this is heartbreaking to see. I stayed in this hotel in 1982 in room 500 and I still have my receipt. I loved this hotel and the person I was with. Both are long gone now, and I am not even the person I was. I would like to believe I still have what is left of the heart I once had.
Stayed there in `79 for $10 bucks.Huge rooms, full bath with tub,felt "very" old "twilight Zne' atmosphere, loved it ,hardly slep from the excitement.I had this old lady on my bucket list since passing through Pensacola in `59. So sorry it wasn`t upgraded structurally but kept in an original look ...hated to hear she was destroyed.."damn"..
Thanx for the comment. By chance do you still have this school project? Photos, or stories to print? I once worked for a man that claimed to be the manager there for a very short time. He told me of long hallways with nothing but windows. He said this was the next phase that was never finished. These long wide hallways were to be more rooms and suites.
I was there, and when I close my eyes I am still there at the San Carlos, like a ghost in room 500. Someone should have saved this place, but no matter, it is a part of my lifetime.
I only ever went inside around 1980 went there was just the restaurant open in the bottom floor. At the end of this video you can see my high school boyfriend's name and my best friends name in the windows. :) I never went inside when it was closed up because I was too afraid of getting arrested but I'm kicking myself now. You know the court house that sits there has had nothing but problems and it's still closed. I think the San Carlos ghosts are pissed.
Would either one of you be interested in an original luggage rack from the San Carlos with the stamp let me know. We also have some paintings of the hotel. These are sold as a part of an estate sale. My friend's mother was a realtor and knew the family I believe. I was googling to find out more information about the hotel and I found you guys.
Hank used to run away from home when he was 16-17 years old and go down to Pensacola to watch Pappy Neal McCormick and his family perform on WCOV. Thats where Hank learned showmanship and how to carry himself as an entertainer. Pappy Neal was a huge influence in Hank and a very close friend of Hank’s as well.
Sorry, but no, I no longer have the project. I did that project in 1996-97, when I was in 7th grade. The family does still have photos that span many years and with some of the more famous guests, but I don't have access to them as I reside in NC. All the stories I know are the ones told to me by Bess Harbeson Hagler, who was the daughter of William Harbeson and my Great-Grandmother, before she died and other family members who were alive when the hotel was functioning.
In the '60s, I was waiting for a bus in front of the San Carlos wearing my brand new burgundy blazer. A pigeon unloaded from the top right on my shoulder. I thought some pal passed by and threw a rock at me, until I started to rub the pain in my shoulder. LOL. Payback I suppose, for all the mean stuff I did as a kid.
Please feel free to email me at marykate.hagler@gmail.com, and I can give you my contact info. I'd be more than happy to see what other stories I can learn to pass along. The photos, however, are another matter entirely. In the past, we've had issues with others wanting access to them for various reasons that weren't always the most noble so the family tends to keep those under lock and key!
Mary Kate Hagler I'm so happy to hear that someone actually still has some of the old photos and things from the San Carlos! I was there for a dance in the mid-seventies, and can still remember going out on the balcony area. It was beautiful. I cried the day they tore it down also. I couldn't imagine that someone wasn't able to save such a wonderful piece of history!
I too wish it had never been torn down. That hotel was and is a part of my family's history. The whole Hagler family cried that day. I once interviewed my Great-Grandmother, Bess, about her days there for a school project and she told me some amazing stories. Like how it was the first to have hot water on tap, and how she would always put a dime in the black eyed peas for luck on New Years. Thank you for posting this video. You have brought back memories....good and bad!
I used to see this hotel from the freeway as a kid, when we'd drive into Pensacola. Around 1990, as an adult, I was finally able to get inside. Amazing decayed grandeur...the stained glass dome over the lobby had mostly collapsed and shattered on the floor below. The staircase was so grand! There were little shops along the edges of the lobby, like an arcade. The front desk was just like what you'd see in a film - with all the mail cubbies on the back wall. I went upstairs and had a look - floor after floor of endless hallways of ruined hotel rooms, overturned furniture and linens. At that point I got frightened - I was so sure I was going to suddenly bump into another person, and I did not want to find out who that person might be. I hurried out. I wish I'd been able to get pictures of it all. I was dismayed when I later found it had been demolished.
+mhtfixit I was hoping this was the video of the actual demolition. It was still a wonderful reminder of a favorite memory of mine, and I thank you! I went to a Noel dance there in 1975-1976, I think it was, and I still remember the staircase and walking out on the balcony area. I remember watching the video while they actually imploded the building, and I cried. It was really a shame, that with all of the affluence in Pensacola, someone couldn't save such a wonderful piece of history!
I am new to Pensacola since November of 2013, From Phoenix which Arizona is a young state, Here in Pensacola I do admire it's history, watching this video is breaking my heart the why no one saved the landmark. In Phoenix we have a San Carlos Hotel also built in the 1900;s. It is such a shame that the People and Government of Pensacola couldn't save such a landmark. I am a regular who visits the downtown weekly.
Yes this is heartbreaking to see. I stayed in this hotel in 1982 in room 500 and I still have my receipt. I loved this hotel and the person I was with. Both are long gone now, and I am not even the person I was. I would like to believe I still have what is left of the heart I once had.
Stayed there in `79 for $10 bucks.Huge rooms, full bath with tub,felt "very" old "twilight Zne' atmosphere, loved it ,hardly slep from the excitement.I had this old lady on my bucket list since passing through Pensacola in `59. So sorry it wasn`t upgraded structurally but kept in an original look ...hated to hear she was destroyed.."damn"..
Edvard Wilhelm that’s so sad.
Thanx for the comment. By chance do you still have this school project? Photos, or stories to print? I once worked for a man that claimed to be the manager there for a very short time. He told me of long hallways with nothing but windows. He said this was the next phase that was never finished. These long wide hallways were to be more rooms and suites.
I was there, and when I close my eyes I am still there at the San Carlos, like a ghost in room 500. Someone should have saved this place, but no matter, it is a part of my lifetime.
I only ever went inside around 1980 went there was just the restaurant open in the bottom floor. At the end of this video you can see my high school boyfriend's name and my best friends name in the windows. :) I never went inside when it was closed up because I was too afraid of getting arrested but I'm kicking myself now. You know the court house that sits there has had nothing but problems and it's still closed. I think the San Carlos ghosts are pissed.
MsMercury good we need less court houses. Evil system.
Wished it was still up! I'm moving to Pensacola for college and would have loved to see this!
Would either one of you be interested in an original luggage rack from the San Carlos with the stamp let me know. We also have some paintings of the hotel. These are sold as a part of an estate sale. My friend's mother was a realtor and knew the family I believe. I was googling to find out more information about the hotel and I found you guys.
Heather Wofford Do you still have any items from the San Carlos?
And to think that this Historic Wonder was replaced by a mold ridden, ugly Courthouse.
I have seen this place mentioned several times while reading the Hank Williams Sr biography.
Hank used to run away from home when he was 16-17 years old and go down to Pensacola to watch Pappy Neal McCormick and his family perform on WCOV. Thats where Hank learned showmanship and how to carry himself as an entertainer. Pappy Neal was a huge influence in Hank and a very close friend of Hank’s as well.
Sorry, but no, I no longer have the project. I did that project in 1996-97, when I was in 7th grade. The family does still have photos that span many years and with some of the more famous guests, but I don't have access to them as I reside in NC. All the stories I know are the ones told to me by Bess Harbeson Hagler, who was the daughter of William Harbeson and my Great-Grandmother, before she died and other family members who were alive when the hotel was functioning.
In the '60s, I was waiting for a bus in front of the San Carlos wearing my brand new burgundy blazer. A pigeon unloaded from the top right on my shoulder. I thought some pal passed by and threw a rock at me, until I started to rub the pain in my shoulder. LOL. Payback I suppose, for all the mean stuff I did as a kid.
A link to some old photos. archive.pnj.com/article/20140221/HISTORY/140220006/San%20Carlos%20Hotel%20in%20Pensacola
Aw-sum photos. You took me to a place Ive always wanted to go. Thank you sooooooo much!!!!!!!
Remember this day like it was yesterday
Please feel free to email me at marykate.hagler@gmail.com, and I can give you my contact info. I'd be more than happy to see what other stories I can learn to pass along. The photos, however, are another matter entirely. In the past, we've had issues with others wanting access to them for various reasons that weren't always the most noble so the family tends to keep those under lock and key!
Mary Kate Hagler I'm so happy to hear that someone actually still has some of the old photos and things from the San Carlos! I was there for a dance in the mid-seventies, and can still remember going out on the balcony area. It was beautiful. I cried the day they tore it down also. I couldn't imagine that someone wasn't able to save such a wonderful piece of history!