Located on Citizens Parkway on the north side of Selma, Alabama, this marker was placed in 1954 to note the north boundary of the British colony of West Florida. The marker has seen better days and is tilted, but the text is still legible. The marker can be reached by going north from Alabama Highway 14 on North Broad Street and Citizens Parkway (Alabama Highway 22). I was not able to find any more information about the placing of the marker on the web, but I did find the following information about this colony.
"West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783 when it was ceded to Spain as part of the Peace of Paris (1783).
Effective British control had ended in 1781 when Spain had captured Pensacola. The territory subsequently became a colony of Spain, though parts of the territory were gradually annexed by the United States. The area is now part of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
In 1762 during the Seven Years War a British expedition attacked and occupied Havana, the capital of Cuba. In order to secure the return of the valuable city – Spain agreed to cede its territory of La Florida in the terms of the Treaty of Paris (1763). France also ceded a large segment of New France to Britain including everything on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The British divided these new territories into two separate colonies East Florida, with its capital in St Augustine and West Florida which had the former Spanish settlement of Pensacola as its capital. By the same treaty Spain was given the Western side of the Mississippi which formed Spanish Louisiana with its capital at New Orleans at the mouth of the river. Many of the existing Spanish inhabitants were evacuated to Cuba, and new British and American settlers arrived to take over the land.
In 1763 British troops arrived and took over control of Pensacola. George Johnstone was appointed as the first British Governor, and in 1764 a colonial assembly was established. The structure of the colony was modelled after the existing British colonies in America as opposed to Quebec which followed a different structure. In contrast to East Florida where there was little development and population growth, West Florida began to boom in the years following the British takeover and thousands of new arrivals came to advantage of the favourable conditions there.
West Florida was invited to send delegates to the First Continental Congress which was convened to present colonial grievances against the British Parliament to George III, but along with several other colonies including East Florida they declined the invitation. Once the American War of Independence had broken out, the colonists remained overwhelmingly loyal to the Crown. In 1778 the Willing Expedition saw a small force proceed down the Mississippi ransacking estates and plantations, until they were eventually defeated by a local force of militia. In the wake of this the area received a small number of British reinforcements.
Following an agreement signed at Aranjuez, Spain entered the war on the side of France and the Americans in 1779. Spanish troops under Bernardo de Galvez advanced and seized Baton Rouge and Mobile. In 1781 Spain captured Pensacola and its garrison. As part of the 1783 Peace of Paris, West Florida was ceded to Spain along with East Florida." source is Wikipedia: (
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A more detailed account can be found at the Encyclopedia of Alabama at: (
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The text of the marker reads:
British West Florida, 1764-83
Colony’s north boundary
crossed present-day
Alabama - Mississippi
at this point on 32° 28’
by edict of British king.
Colony extended south to Gulf.
France had ceded area in 1763.
Spain invaded, seized area in 1780.
Britain ceded it to Spain in 1783.
Spain ceded part to U.S. in 1795.
Alabama Historical Association
1954