Sanders Beach Community Association

We DO Have A History!

Jul 15, 2008

Several neighborhood residents have asked how I can greet you each newsletter with the phrase ?“historic Sanders Beach?”, especially considering the EPA Superfund site that?’s here. So, here?’s my explanation. We are a historic neighborhood, have no doubt, even though the City of Pensacola tries to label us ?“slum and blight?”!

Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent was born in Lorraine, France in 1724, the ?“de?” indicating a person of wealth, respect, class, or position. He married Elizabeth la Roche in New Orleans on August 31, 1749; they had nine children. Their fourth child, Maximillion Francois, was born April 22, 1761. He held ranks of Commander (3rd Battalion Fixed Infantry-Louisiana) and Captain (2nd Light Infantry Company-province of Santander, New Spain). Later he became Spanish Governor of West Florida. He was a source of great aggravation to Florida Governor Claiborne when Louisiana became a US territory, and he is our historical link in Maxent Tract, Sanders Beach, Pensacola, Florida. In 1816 Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, granted 264 acres of land in Escambia County, Florida to Francisco Maxmiliano. The US Congress recognized and confirmed the grant in 1823, making de St. Maxent the first owner of record of what was first called the Casa Blanca Tract. The land is Pensacola?’s Maxent Tract, of which Sanders Beach is a large part. de St. Maxent did not occupy the land after Spain ceded territory to the US, and neither did his children. Eventually a lawsuit for title worked its way through the courts all the way to the Supreme Court with regard to whether the property was improperly seized in settle-ment of a Spanish-American war debt. The Supreme Court found in favor of de St. Maxent?’s heirs. In 1867 his heirs executed a deed of trust on the land to J. M. Justiniani, who in turn deeded it, in part, to William Fisher. Through various deed transactions Fisher conveyed part of the property to W. S. Keyser, and a large part became the Maxent Land Company. It was marketed to potential buyers as a ?“beautiful upscale residential neighborhood?” on the Bay. Copyright 2005 Nancy S. Neiger