Florida Panhandle
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The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
. It is a salient roughly long, bordered by
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
on the west and north,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
on the north, and the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
to the south. Its eastern boundary is arbitrarily defined. It is defined by its southern culture and
rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...
demographics in contrast to urbanized central and southern Florida, as well as closer cultural links to Alabama and Georgia. Its major communities include
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
,
Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
, Destin, Panama City Beach, and Tallahassee. As is the case with the other eight U.S. states that have panhandles, the geographic meaning of the term is inexact and elastic. References to the Florida panhandle always include the ten
counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
west of the
Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately long, in the state of Florida. The river's large drainage basin, watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately ...
, a natural geographic boundary, which was the historic dividing line between the British colonies of
West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...
and
East Florida East Florida () was a colony of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 to 1821. The British gained control over Spanish Florida in 1763 as part of the Treaty of Paris (1763), Tre ...
. These western counties also lie in the
Central Time Zone The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It ...
(with the exception of Gulf County, which is divided between the Eastern and Central Time zones), while the rest of the state is in the Eastern Time Zone. References to the panhandle ''may'' also include some or all of eleven counties immediately east of the Apalachicola known as the Big Bend region, along the curve of
Apalachee Bay Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin ...
. Like the rest of
North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...
, including North Central Florida, the panhandle is more similar in culture and climate to the
Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...
than the rest of the state, particularly than
Central Florida Central Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, in ...
and
South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...
in the lower peninsula. The Florida panhandle is known for its conservative politics, religious adherence, and "piney woods". The largest city in the panhandle is Tallahassee, the state capital, population 196,169 (
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
). However, the largest city west of the Appalachicola river is
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
, which has a population of 54,312 (2020) and also has the largest
Metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
in the entire panhandle with a population of 511,502 (2020). This metro area includes the second- and third-largest communities in the region,
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
and
Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...
. The total population of the panhandle, as of the 2010 census, was 1,407,925, just under 7.5% of Florida's total population as recorded in the same census. At roughly 70 persons per square mile, its population density is less than 20% of Florida's as a whole.


Coastal regions


Emerald Coast

''Emerald Coast'', a term coined in 1983, refers in general to the beaches and coastal resorts from Pensacola to Port St. Joe, but is sometimes used to refer, by extension, to the panhandle as a whole, especially west of the Apalachicola. Earlier designations include "Playground of the Gulfcoast" and the "Miracle Strip", especially for the area between Fort Walton Beach and
Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
. Coastal regions of the following counties (if not the entirety of the counties themselves) are usually included when referring to the Emerald Coast: * Escambia County * Santa Rosa County * Okaloosa County * Walton County Coastal portions of Bay County are also regularly included when referring to the Emerald Coast, but with somewhat less regularity than the four aforementioned counties listed above.


Forgotten Coast

The ''Forgotten Coast'' is a trademarked term coined in the early 1990s used to refer to the coastal portion of the Florida panhandle extending from Mexico Beach or southeastern Bay County on the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...
to St. Marks on
Apalachee Bay Apalachee Bay is a bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico occupying an indentation of the Florida coast to the west of where the Florida peninsula joins the United States mainland. It is bordered by Taylor, Jefferson, Wakulla, and Franklin ...
. It is usually not considered a part of the Emerald Coast, which lies directly adjacent to the west. Coastal regions of the following counties (if not the entirety of the counties themselves) are usually included when referring to the Forgotten Coast: * Gulf County * Franklin County * Wakulla County * Small portions of Bay County


Physical features

The
Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately long, in the state of Florida. The river's large drainage basin, watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately ...
is the largest river of the panhandle. It is formed by the junction of several rivers, including the Chattahoochee and the
Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...
, where the boundaries of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida meet. From there, it flows southward to the town of Apalachicola. Major
estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...
include, from west to east: Perdido Bay, fed by the Perdido River, which forms the west boundary of Florida; Escambia Bay and
East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...
, fed by the Escambia River and
Blackwater River A blackwater river is a type of River#Classification, river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial ...
, respectively; Choctawhatchee Bay, fed by the Choctawhatchee River; and St. Andrews Bay, fed by Econfina Creek. Pensacola Bay, a deepwater port, is formed by the joining of Escambia and East bays. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, completed in 1949, traverses the lower panhandle by means of bays, lagoons, sounds, and human-made canals. The
barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...
s of Perdido Key and Santa Rosa Island extend from the Panhandle's western extremity through Fort Walton Beach to Destin. Britton Hill is the highest natural point in the state at above mean sea level.


History


19th century

Throughout the 19th century the panhandle was sparsely populated, dotted in places with small farming communities, none of which had as many as a thousand residents. Many panhandle residents had, in fact, migrated to the area from Alabama and had relatives there; it was also easier to trade with and travel to southern Alabama than to reach East Florida by slow, arduous journey across the thick cypress swamps and dense pine forests of the panhandle. It was natural for West Floridians to feel that they had more in common with their nearby neighbors in Alabama than with the residents of the peninsula, hundreds of miles away. In 1821, Pensacola was the only city (in 19th-century terms) in West Florida, with a population estimated to be about 3,000. In the 1850 census, the enumerated population of Pensacola was 2,164 (including 741 slaves and 350 "free Negroes").Herbert J. Doherty, "Ante-bellum Pensacola: 1821–1860, ''Florida Historical Quarterly'', January 1959
/ref>


Alabama annexation proposals

During the course of the century, proposals for ceding the Florida counties west of the
Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately long, in the state of Florida. The river's large drainage basin, watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint (ACF) River Basin, drains an area of approximately ...
to
Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
were often raised: *In 1811, while Florida was still a Spanish possession, American settlers in the territory sent a petition to
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
asking to be incorporated into the
Mississippi Territory The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that was created under an organic act passed by the United States Congress, Congress of the United States. It was approved and signed into law by Presiden ...
, which at that time included present-day Alabama. (See
West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...
article.) *In 1819, the constitutional convention of Alabama asked Congress to include West Florida in their new state. *In 1822, only a year after the U.S. acquired the entire
Florida territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...
from
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
, residents of West Florida sent a petition to the
U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
asking that their section be annexed to Alabama, and Alabama Senator John Williams Walker also promoted the idea. *In 1826, the ''Pensacola Gazette'' published a number of letters advocating annexation to Alabama, though the editor remarked that some Pensacolians opposed the idea. *In 1840, a public meeting in Pensacola produced a demand that West Florida be united with Alabama. In the same year, the territorial Legislature notified Congress that it opposed allowing Alabama to annex West Florida, but in 1844, the year before statehood, the Legislature reversed its stance and asked that West Florida be separated. *In 1856, advocates of annexation were able to get a bill passed by the Legislature authorizing a referendum on the issue, but Governor James E. Broome vetoed the measure. The ''Pensacola Gazette'' reported that "annexation is desired by a large majority of the people" of the area. *In 1858, the Alabama Legislature unsuccessfully tried to open negotiations with Florida on the subject. *The annexation issue was eclipsed by the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
and the war's effects on the region, but in 1868, with Pensacola now connected by the panhandle's sole railroad line to the Alabama cities of Mobile and Montgomery, the issue came to a head again and was finally put to a vote of the people. In that year, the
Alabama Legislature The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both cham ...
approved a joint resolution authorizing their Governor to negotiate with the Governor of Florida about the annexation of West Florida. An offer of one million dollars in Alabama state bonds, paying 8 percent interest for thirty years, was included. Both states appointed commissioners to make detailed recommendations on the matter. *On November 2, 1869, a referendum was held in the West Florida counties (except Jackson, which was in the throes of bloody racial violence), with a result of 1162 to 661 in favor of annexation. However, political objection developed in Alabama to the high price, and the Legislature took no action on the results of the referendum. *In 1873, a similar proposal was made in the Alabama Legislature, which the state senate approved, though it did not pass a separate proposal to finance the measure by selling all of Alabama's territory west of the Tombigbee River, including the city of Mobile, to
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
. However, nothing came of this action. *In 1901, Alabama made yet another offer when the Legislature appointed a commission to negotiate with Florida about annexation, but this attempt, too, was unsuccessful. The building of the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad, completed in 1883, finally linked Pensacola and the panhandle solidly with the rest of the state and ended the region's isolation, although from time to time during the twentieth century there were still occasional calls for annexation that generated some public discussion but no legislative action.


20th century

In the last quarter of the century, hurricanes that directly struck the area and caused significant damage included Hurricane Eloise in 1975, Hurricane Kate in 1985, and Hurricane Erin and Hurricane Opal, both in 1995. The area was a prime target of the March 1993 Storm of the Century.


21st century

The panhandle suffered direct hits from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Dennis in 2005. Ivan was the most disastrous, making landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, with 120 mile-per-hour (193 km/h) winds and a storm surge that devastated Perdido Key and Santa Rosa Island, wrecked the
Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...
bridge across Escambia Bay, and destroyed thousands of homes in the region, some as far away as inland. On June 23, 2010, oil from the ''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill landed on Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, damaging the fishing and tourism industries, and prompting a massive clean-up effort. On October 10, 2018, the panhandle suffered a direct hit from Hurricane Michael, with winds as high as 160 mph. Michael was one of only four category 5 hurricanes to ever hit the US mainland. Thousands of homes were destroyed, and apartment rents in Panama City increased, with a $500 apartment renting for $1000 in 2019. Recovery from Hurricane Michael was not complete in June 2019, and disaster relief for the panhandle remained stalled in Congress.


Economy

Historically, the economy of the panhandle depended mainly on
farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
,
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
and lumbering,
paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...
s, import/export
shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...
at Pensacola and to a lesser extent at Panama City,
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...
, and
commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...
. After World War II, the economy was boosted by the numerous military bases established in the region, as well as the growth of
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
and the
hospitality industry The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, food and beverage services, event planning, theme parks, travel agency, tourism, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. Sector ...
. In addition to military bases, state and local governments, hospitals, schools, and colleges, major private employers in the second half of the twentieth century included
Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed ...
and Westinghouse plants at Pensacola, the St. Joe Paper Company in Port St. Joe, and Gulf Power, a major electric utility company. Unlike central and southern Florida, the panhandle has never been a producer of
citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...
crops because the area is subject to regular frosts and freezes during winter, which destroy citrus fruits.


Transportation


Road

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the origina ...
is the only interstate highway in the panhandle, connecting the extreme west with
North Florida North Florida is a Regions of the United States#Florida, region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regi ...
and
Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
. Other older east–west routes include U.S. Highway 90 and U.S. Highway 98. Important north–south routes west of the Apalachicola River include U.S. Highway 29, U.S. Highway 331, and U.S. Highway 231, all linking to Alabama and
Interstate 65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between th ...
. State Road 20 stretches from Niceville to Tallahassee.


Rail

Freight service is provided by the Class III Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad, which acquired most of the
CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...
main line from Pensacola to Jacksonville on June 1, 2019. (For the history of this line, see Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad.) Passenger service ended with the creation of
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
in 1971, but was revived with the extension of the ''
Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 thr ...
'' to Orlando beginning in 1993; however, passenger service was discontinued after
Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
struck the
Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...
in 2005. Other regional short-line railroads serving the panhandle are the Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway (formerly
BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
, ex- Frisco Railway), the Bay Line Railroad, and the AN Railway.


Air

Major airports include: * Pensacola International Airport * Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport * Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport * Tallahassee International Airport * Bob Sikes Airport * Destin Executive Airport * DeFuniak Springs Airport * Apalachicola Regional Airport * Perry-Foley Airport


Education

The following institutions of higher learning are located in the Florida panhandle. State University System: * Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University ( Tallahassee) *
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
( Tallahassee) * University of West Florida (
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
) Florida College System: *
Chipola College Chipola College is a public college in Marianna, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida College System. History The school was founded in 1947 as Chipola Junior College; its name was changed in 2003 after the college developed sever ...
( Marianna) * Gulf Coast State College (
Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
) *
Northwest Florida State College Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC) is a public university, public college with its main campus in Niceville, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, offering a ...
( Niceville) * Pensacola State College (
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
) * Tallahassee Community College ( Tallahassee) Religiously affiliated: * Baptist College of Florida ( Graceville) * Pensacola Christian College (
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
)


Politics

The politics of the Florida panhandle vary considerably depending on location. The western panhandle, particularly the
Emerald Coast The Emerald Coast is an unofficial name for the coastal area in the US state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico that stretches about through five counties—Escambia County, Florida, Escambia, Santa Rosa County, Florida, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa Co ...
, was one of the earliest areas to shake off its Yellow dog Democrat roots, and since the 1990s has become the most Republican part of Florida. Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Panama City regularly give Republicans close to or over 70% margins in state and national elections. However, Tallahassee and Gadsden County tend to be strongly Democratic. In the 2008 presidential election,
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
received 421,287 votes (60.1%) in the panhandle, while
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
received 279,206 votes (39.9%). Under the 2023–2033 decennial reapportionment, the Florida panhandle is split between
Florida's 1st congressional district Florida's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida, covering the state's western Florida Panhandle, Panhandle. It includes all of Escambia County, Florida, Escambia, Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa, ...
, represented by
Jimmy Patronis Jimmy Theo Patronis Jr. ( ; born April 13, 1972) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Florida's 1st congressional district since April 2025. A member of the United States Republi ...
(R–Fort Walton Beach), and Florida's 2nd congressional district, represented by Neal Dunn (R–Panama City).


Culture and sports

* Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival * Florida A&M Rattlers *
Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...
*
Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League (1964–present), Southern League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are based in Pensacola, Florida, and play their home ga ...
* Pensacola Ice Flyers *
Red Hills Horse Trials The Red Hills Horse Trials is held in Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee, in the U.S. state of Florida and is one of the equestrianism, equestrian world's top events. It is an annual major eventing competition held by the United States Eventing Ass ...
* Springtime Tallahassee * Tallahassee Wine and Food Festival


Counties

The following
counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
west of the Apalachicola River are ''always'' included in references to the panhandle: * Bay County * Calhoun County * Escambia County * Gulf County * Holmes County * Jackson County * Okaloosa County * Santa Rosa County * Walton County * Washington County Some or all of the following counties east of the Apalachicola, in the Big Bend subregion, are ''sometimes'' considered part of the panhandle: * Dixie County * Franklin County * Gadsden County * Hamilton County * Jefferson County * Lafayette County * Leon County * Liberty County * Madison County * Taylor County * Wakulla County


Cities and towns

Places marked with an asterisk (*) lie east of the Apalachicola River, and may not be considered part of the panhandle by some residents or writers. * Apalachicola * Blountstown * Bonifay * Brent * Callaway * Carrabelle* * Cedar Grove *
Century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...
* Chipley * Crestview * Cross City* * DeFuniak Springs * Destin * Fort Walton Beach * Gulf Breeze * Jay * Lynn Haven * Madison* * Marianna * Mexico Beach * Milton * Niceville *
Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
* Panama City Beach * Paxton *
Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...
* Port St Joe * Quincy* * Springfield * Tallahassee* * Valparaiso Population of the major metropolitan areas in the panhandle: * Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area – 455,102 (2009) * Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area – 180,822 (2010) * Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area – 202,236 (2020) * Tallahassee Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area – 367,413 (2010)


Beaches

The panhandle is renowned for the white sand beaches and blue-green waters of its
barrier islands Barrier islands are a coastal landform, a type of dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few is ...
fronting the Gulf of Mexico. According to the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
:
The stunning sugar-white beaches of Gulf Islands National Seashore are composed of fine quartz eroded from granite in the Appalachian Mountains. The sand is carried seaward by rivers and creeks and deposited by currents along the shore.
The beach towns in the panhandle, many of which play host to college students during
spring break Spring break is a vacation period at universities and schools that includes the Easter holiday, and takes place in early Northern Hemisphere spring. Introduced in the U.S. during the 1930s, spring break has been observed in Europe since t ...
, are sometimes derisively called ''the Redneck Riviera''. The term was used as the title of a song by country music artist Tom T. Hall on his 1996 album ''Songs from Sopchoppy''. The album takes its name from a town in rural Wakulla County, near Tallahassee. Tourists have been drawn to the panhandle since the building of the Pensacola and Atlantic Railroad in the 1880s. Pensacola Beach has been a major tourist attraction since the building of bridges between the mainland and Santa Rosa Island in 1931. After World War II, an increase in both tourism and population of the area led to a proliferation of motels, restaurants, bars, tourist attractions, and amusement parks along the coast, concentrated in Pensacola Beach, Fort Walton Beach, and Panama City Beach. Examples include the Gulfarium marine park and aquarium in Fort Walton Beach, and the former Miracle Strip Amusement Park (1963–2004) in Panama City Beach. In 1971, the federal government acquired many acres of the coastal islands in Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties, preserving them from commercial development by establishing the
Gulf Islands National Seashore Gulf Islands National Seashore is an American National seashore that offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. In 2023, it was the fifth-mos ...
, which also covers some islands off the
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
coast. Other beach areas protected by the state of Florida include * Perdido Key State Park * Big Lagoon State Park * Henderson Beach State Park * Grayton Beach State Park * St. Andrews State Park * St. Joseph Peninsula State Park * St. George Island State Park Both state and federal parks offer facilities for camping, picnicking, and other recreational pursuits. In addition, some parts of the coastline are federal property belonging to
Pensacola Naval Air Station Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...
,
Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...
, and
Tyndall Air Force Base Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (3 ...
, and so are likewise protected from commercial development. In addition, seven state aquatic preserves, covering thousands of acres of submerged lands in coastal areas, are located in the panhandle. A number of other state parks, preserves, and forests are located inland. The 1970s also saw the beginnings of a number of upscale beach
resorts A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...
,
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...
towers, vacation homes, and
planned communities A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
, such as Seaside and Sandestin, so that most of the privately owned areas of the coastline are now heavily developed.


Military bases

Major military bases include the
Pensacola Naval Air Station Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...
(the home of
Naval Aviation Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of Military aviation, military air power by Navy, navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves ''navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seab ...
in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
),
Eglin Air Force Base Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base in the western Florida panhandle, located about southwest of Valparaiso, Florida, Valparaiso in Okaloosa County, Florida, Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test ...
and
Hurlburt Field Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force S ...
near Ft. Walton Beach, Naval Support Activity Panama City in Panama City Beach, and
Tyndall Air Force Base Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (3 ...
near
Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...
. Smaller military bases in the Florida panhandle include the Center for Information Warfare Training in Pensacola, Naval Air Station Whiting Field near Milton and Duke Field near Crestview. The 1983-84 television show '' Emerald Point N.A.S.'' was set in a naval air station somewhere in the American South, similar to Pensacola NAS. The 1997-2000 action/adventure series '' Pensacola: Wings of Gold'' was explicitly set there.


See also

* Battle of Santa Rosa Island * Bellamy Road *
Emerald Coast The Emerald Coast is an unofficial name for the coastal area in the US state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico that stretches about through five counties—Escambia County, Florida, Escambia, Santa Rosa County, Florida, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa Co ...
* Florida Caverns State Park * Florida in the American Civil War * Floridan aquifer * Forgotten Coast * Fort Barrancas * Fort McRee * Fort Pickens * '' Gulf Wind'' * National Naval Aviation Museum * ''
Sunset Limited The ''Sunset Limited'' is a long-distance passenger train run by Amtrak, operating on a route between New Orleans and Los Angeles. Major stops include Houston, San Antonio and El Paso in Texas, as well as Tucson, Arizona. Opening in 1894 thr ...
'' *
West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...


Notes


References


External links


Outdoor Gulf Coast – Online recreation for Northwest Florida

Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau – Official online travel planning resource for Panama City Beach

Historic Pensacola Village and T. T. Wentworth, Jr., State Museum


Bibliography

* DeBolt, Dean. "The Florida Panhandle", pp. 404–445 in ''The Book Lover's Guide to Florida'', ed. Kevin M. McCarthy. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, 1992. (Contains an extensive bibliography of fiction and nonfiction works about people and places in the Panhandle.) * Hollis, Tim. ''Florida’s Miracle Strip: From Redneck Riviera to Emerald Coast''. University Press of Mississippi, 2004. * Jahoda, Gloria. ''The Other Florida''. Scribner, 1967. * King, Heidi Tyline. ''The Pelican Guide to the Florida Panhandle''. Pelican Publishing, 1999. * O'Donovan, Michael, and Robin Rowan. ''Florida's Northwest: First Places, Wild Places, Favorite Places''. Terra Nova Publishing, 2005. * Ziewitz, Kathryn, and June Wiaz. ''Green Empire: The St. Joe Company and the Remaking of Florida's Panhandle''. University Press of Florida, 2006. {{coord, 30.43, -85.19, type:landmark_region:US-FL, display=title Regions of Florida North Florida