YONGE HOUSE

Built in 1910, this Arts & Crafts style house was the home of Phillip Keyes (P.K.) Yonge, a successful Pensacola lumber magnate who served on several state and local education boards. In 1905, he helped reincorporate the Florida Historical Society, originally founded in 1856, and briefly served as its president. His younger son, architect Chandler Cox Yonge, designed the house, his first in a prolific career of prominent Florida buildings. P.K. Yonge’s elder son, Julien Chandler (J.C.) Yonge, was the editor of the Florida Historical Quarterly from 1925 until 1955. For decades, P.K. and J.C. Yonge collected articles, books, and other materials. Originally stored in a small brick library behind the house, their collection became the largest private Florida history collection in the world. The original library still contains J.C.’s handwritten, graphite labels organizing the collection. J.C. rejected offers to sell the collection, stating he wanted to give it to the people of Florida. In 1944, J.C. donated it all to the University of Florida in his father's name, creating the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History. He became the library’s director and spent his salary buying books to continue to grow the collection.