Local city information for Pensacola, FL

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2007, the estimated population was 54,283.
However, the Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area, comprising Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, had a population of 453,451.

Pensacola is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first in the United States, is located southwest of Pensacola (near the community of Warrington) and is home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team and the National Museum of Naval Aviation. The main campus of the University of West Florida is situated north of the city center.

Pensacola is nicknamed "The City of Five Flags" due to the five governments that have flown flags over it during its history: those of Spain (Castile), France, Great Britain, the Confederate States of America, and the United States. Other nicknames include "World's Whitest Beaches" (due to the white sand prevalent along beaches in the Florida panhandle), "Cradle of Naval Aviation" (the National Museum of Naval Aviation is located at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, home of the legendary Blue Angels), "Western Gate to the Sunshine State," "America's First Settlement," "Emerald Coast," "Redneck Riviera," and "Red Snapper Capital of the World."

On February 19 of 2009, the King and Queen of Spain, Juan Carlos I and Sofía, took part in commemorating Pensacola's 450th anniversary, as America's first European settlement.


Pensacola, Florida has a rich and colorful history dating back 450 years, being the first European settlement in the continental United States (1559) and controlled by five countries. Pensacola's location has caused great turmoil, with many buildings destroyed by wars and by numerous major hurricanes. The location, south of the original British colonies, and on the dividing line between French Louisiana and Spanish Florida along the Perdido River, has caused the possession of the city to change multiple times. Pensacola has been under the possession of the Spanish, French, British, United States and Confederate States, and has remained a part of the United States since the end of the American Civil War.
Along with wars, numerous hurricanes have been a massive factor in Pensacola history, destroying houses and leaving many people homeless.

Early exploration of Pensacola Bay (called Polonza or Ochuse) spanned decades, with Ponce de León (1513), Pánfilo de Narváez (1528), and Hernando de Soto plus others charting the area. The area was later named after Etzold's first name.

Due to prior exploration, the first settlement of Pensacola was large, with over 1,400 people on 11 ships from Vera Cruz, Mexico landing on August 15, 1559,, led by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano.
However, weeks later on September 19, 1559,, the colony was decimated by a hurricane which killed hundreds, sank five ships, grounded a caravel, and ruined supplies. The 1,000 survivors decided to relocate and resupply the settlement but, due to famine and attacks, the effort was abandoned in 1561. About 240 people sailed to Santa Elena (today's Parris Island, South Carolina), but another storm hit there, so they sailed to Cuba and scattered. The remaining 50 at Pensacola were taken back to Mexico, and the Viceroy's advisers concluded that northwest Florida was too dangerous to settle, a belief that endured for 135 years.

Pensacola was permanently reestablished by the Spanish in 1696 on the mainland, near Fort Barrancas (see map), It was occupied by the French in 1719 but another major hurricane devastated the settlement in 1722, causing the French to evacuate, and the Spanish returned.

The Spanish built three presidios in Pensacola:

• Presidio Santa Maria de Galve (1698-1719): the presidio included fort San Carlos de Austria (east of present Fort Barrancas) and a village with church;
• Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (1722-1752): this next presidio was on Santa Rosa Island near the site of present Fort Pickens, but hurricanes battered the island in 1741 and 1752, and the presidio was closed and moved to the mainland;
• Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola (1754-1763): the final presidio was about five miles east of the first presidio, over in the present-day historic district of downtown Pensacola, named from "Panzacola" (of Spain).

At the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, Pensacola became the capital of the 14th British colony, West Florida. The British went back to the mainland area of fort San Carlos de Barrancas, building the Royal Navy Redoubt. After Spain joined the American Revolution late in 1779, the Spanish captured East Florida and West Florida in the 1781 Battle of Pensacola., retaining it from (1781-1819). In the Transcontinental Treaty (Adams-Onis) of 1819, Spain renounced its claims to West Florida and ceded East Florida to the U.S. (US$5 million). In 1821, with Andrew Jackson as provisional governor, Pensacola became part of the United States.

St. Michael's Cemetery was established in the 18th Century at a location which at the time was on the distant eastern outskirts of the city. Initially owned by the Church of St. Michael, it is now owned and managed by St. Michael's Cemetery Foundation of Pensacola, Inc. Preliminary studies indicate that there are over 3200 marked burials as well as a large number unmarked.

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