811. Pensacola's Stage Line to Mobile 1861

Have your ever wondered how someone in 1861 Pensacola could travel to Mobile, Alabama given the transportation options of the day? Today, would take approximately thirty minutes down Interstate 10 unless you decided to stop at Bucees! But at the beginning of the Civil War, it was far more complicated than that! First of all, you would have to go to downtown Pensacola to Palafox Street and go inside Sebastian Barrios' (1763-) food store and get a ticket from the Alabama & Florida railroad agent Peter Gonzalez (1810-1881).

Once obtained, you would depart Pensacola daily at 8:45 PM for a fifteen-mile train ride to Farnsworth Station arriving at 9:30 PM. You could stay on the train if you wished to travel to Montgomery, Alabama arriving at 6:00 AM the next morning. However, if Mobile was your destination you would transfer to the stage coach line at Farnsworth for a total of 39-miles that traveled down the old Pensacola to Blakely Road that joined the Old Spanish Trail to the Perdido River. There, the stage had to cross by way of the Nunez Ferry before continuing their journey.

The Nunez Ferry had been established by Henry Allen Nunez in 1815 and was granted the land surrounding the ferry in 1849. During the Civil War, his ferry was frequented by both Union and Confederate troops who never paid for his services. However, identical to the ferryman in the 1976 movie "Outlaw Josie Wales" he chose to overlook the issue. He was robbed in 1861, some say by Union troops, and hung from a tree until he told them where his gold was. He refused, but his wife finally acquiesced and gave it to them. However, although he survived the hanging, he died later from complications from the ordeal. Now old and alone, his wife sold the ferry service, which remained in operation until 1919. The ferry was finally replaced by a bridge built at the location on today's US Highway 90 at Old Spanish Trail.

In the meantime, once your stagecoach reached the other side of the Perdido River the stage continued on its way to the town of Blakely, Alabama on the Tensaw River. From there, you would board a steamboat and set sail down the Tensaw and across the bay for a twelve mile trip before docking at Mobile at 11:00 AM the following day from your departure.

Now if you were only interested in shipping packages and freight to Mobile then there was another route to go. You could take your packages to Agent Henry David Cropp (1830-1868) of the Haydon's Express Company located in his office on Pensacola's new wharf. Henry was an old Confederate veteran having served with the 54th Virginia Infantry Regiment before his capture at Marietta, Georgia on July 2, 1864. He was sent to the infamous Camp Douglas, Illinois POW camp and released in April 1865.

As for your packages, they had to be addressed to the care of the Waverly Stables in Mobile for prompt delivery. Agent Cropp would stamp them and charge you a predetermined rate of 1% for all money transfers. Freight over 500 pounds was .03 per pound while under 500 was at .04. Packages were rated at .50 each if they were under ten pounds and .05 per pound if over twenty pounds.

There you have it, a simple system for its day!