Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: In 1867, this house was built for Danish sea captain Charles F. Boysen. It was constructed using materials from wrecked buildings along Palafox Street and featured a cupola so that Boysen could see the bay. The 1870 census listed Boysen as the Norwegian Vice-Consul, and during his tenure, the home served as a Consulate of Sweden and Norway. By the 1880s, Boysen was unable to keep up with the home’s mortgage, and the property was sold. In 1882, it was acquired for $9,000 by Edward Aylesworth Perry, who served as Governor of Florida from 1885-1889. Perry and his family expanded the house and occupied it until 1900. Ownership changed hands multiple times until 1922, when it was purchased by James Simpson Reese on behalf of the Scottish Rite Building Association. The house was converted into a Scottish Rite lodge, and in 1959, a two-story annex was added on the northern side. In 1983, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building in the North Hill Preservation District. In 2008, First United Methodist Church of Pensacola, founded in 1821 and the oldest Methodist congregation in Florida, purchased the property to expand its ministries.