Yesterday’s mystery photo placed me at the corner of Coyle and Garden Streets, in the heart of old Pensacola.
At first glance, it may look like just another downtown corner—traffic passing, old streets crossing, history hiding in plain sight. But less than a block away was Chipley Alley, the scene of one of the most gruesome murders in Pensacola history. Chipley Alley, later called Hilary Street, ran for two blocks from Reus to Coyle Street between Garden and Romana Streets. Parts of the roadway still exist in the small alleyway behind Everman’s. The next block west was the 300 block of Chipley Alley. A horrible crime occurred at 316 Chipley Alley.
In 1926, Preston Pickern was found brutally murdered there in what became known as the Axe Murder of Pensacola. It was the kind of crime that shocked the city, filled the newspapers, and left people whispering long after the blood had dried.
That is what fascinates me about Pensacola.
You can stand on a street corner, sip sweet tea, and never realize that just a few steps away, something terrible once happened—something that frightened a neighborhood, challenged investigators, and became part of the city’s darker history.
So yes, the rocking chair was at Coyle and Garden.
But, less than a block away, the story was waiting just down the alley.
Sweet Tea Murders is about finding those forgotten places, telling those forgotten stories, and remembering that history is often closer than we think.
You can read the whole story in my book, “The 1926 Axe Murderer in Pensacola,” found at Bodacious Bookstore in downtown Pensacola, and on Amazon.
Stay tuned. There are more “Where Am I?” mysteries coming.
