Information about Pensacola, Florida

This article is about the mainland city Pensacola. For the nearby beachside community, see Pensacola Beach, Florida. For other Pensacola-related articles, see: Pensacola (disambiguation).

Pensacola, Florida
Seal
Nickname: The City of Five Flags
Location in Escambia County and the state of Florida
Coordinates:
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Escambia
Government
- Mayor	John Fogg
Area
- City	102.7 km  (39.7 sq mi)
- Land	58.8 km (22.7 sq mi)
- Water	43.9 km (17.0 sq mi)
Elevation	31 m (102 ft)
Population (2005)
- City	54,734
- Density	956.8/km (2,478.7/sq mi)
- Metro	437,125
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	850
FIPS code	12-55925GR2
GNIS feature ID	0294117GR3
Website: pensacolacitygov.com

Pensacola is a city in Escambia County, Florida and the county seat of Escambia County.^GR6 As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2005, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 54,055.^[1] However, the Pensacola metropolitan area, comprising Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, had a population of 439,877.^[2]

Pensacola is a sea port on Pensacola Bay, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Navy airbase, 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 flags that have flown over it during its history: the flags 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."

History

Main article: History of Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida has had a rich and colorful history dating nearly 450 years, being the first settlement in the continental United States (1559),^[3][4][5] 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 as 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 major factor in Pensacola history.



Early exploration of Pensacola Bay (called Polonza or Ochuse) spanned decades, with Ponce de León (1513), Pánfilo de Narváez (1528), and Hernando de Soto (1539) plus others charting the area.^[5]

Due to prior exploration, the first settlement of Pensacola was large, landing on August 15, 1559,^[5] and led by Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano with over 1,400 people on 11 ships from Vera Cruz, Mexico.^[4] However, weeks later, the colony was decimated by a hurricane on September 19, 1559,^[4][5] which killed hundreds, sank five ships, grounded a caravel, and ruined supplies. The 1,000 survivors divided to relocate/resupply the settlement, but due to famine and attacks, the effort was abandoned in 1561.^[4] 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.^[4] The remaining 50 at Pensacola were taken back to Mexico, and the Viceroy's advisers concluded northwest Florida was too dangerous to settle, for 135 years.^[4]

Pensacola was permanently reestablished by the Spanish in 1696 on the mainland, near Fort Barrancas (see map),^[6] and became the largest city in Florida, as the capital of the British colony of West Florida in 1763. Another major hurricane devastated the settlement in 1722, causing the French occupation to evacuate, and the Spanish returned.

The Spanish built three presidios in Pensacola:^[7]

• 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;^[7]
• 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;^[7]
• 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).^[7]

From 1763, the British went back to the mainland area of fort San Carlos de Barrancas, building the Royal Navy Redoubt, and Pensacola became the capital of the 14th British colony, West Florida. After Spain joined the American Revolution late, in 1779, the Spanish captured East Florida and West Florida, regaining Pensacola from (1781-1819).^[3] In an 1819 Transcontinental Treaty (Adams-Onis), Spain renounced its claims to West Florida and ceded East Florida to the U.S. (US$5 million).^[3] In 1821, with Andrew Jackson as provisional governor, Pensacola became part of the United States.^[3]

Geography

Topography

Pensacola is located at (30.436988, -87.209277).^GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 102.7 km² (39.7 mi²). 58.8 km² (22.7 mi²) of it is land and 43.9 km² (17.0 mi²) of it (42.77%) is water.

Climate

The climate of Pensacola is subtropical, with mild winters and hot, humid summers. Summer temperatures are characterized by highs in the low 90s and lows in the mid 70s. The average high in July is 91 °F (32.8 °C), with 59 days per year reaching at least 90 °F (32.2 °C).^[8] The average low in July is 75 °F (23.9 °C).^[9] Evening thunderstorms are common during the summer months. Temperatures above 100 °F (37.7 °C) are rare, and last occurred in July 2000, when seven days over 100 °F were recorded.^[10] The hottest temperature ever recorded in the city was 106 °F (41.1 °C) on July 14, 1980.^[9]

Average highs in January are 61 °F (16.1 °C) and average lows are 43 °F (6.1 °C).^[9] There are, on average, fifteen nights per year of below freezing temperatures.^[11] Temperatures below 20 °F are rare, and last occurred in January 2003, when a low of 18 °F (-7.7 °C) was seen.^[12] The coldest temperature ever recorded in the city was 5 °F (-15 °C) on January 21, 1985.

Snow is rare in Pensacola, but does occasionally fall. The most recent frozen precipitation occurred on December 25 and December 26, 2004, when the city received ice pellets.^[14][15]

The city receives 64.28 inches (1633 mm) of precipitation per year, with a rainy season in the summer. The rainiest month is July, with 8.02 inches (204 mm), while 3.89 inches (99 mm) falls in April, the driest month.^[9]

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Rec High °F	80	82	86	96	98	101	106	104	98	92	86	81
Norm High °F	61.2	64.4	70.2	76.2	83.4	89.0	90.7	90.1	87.0	79.3	70.3	63.4
Norm Low °F	42.7	45.4	51.7	57.6	65.8	72.1	74.5	74.2	70.4	59.6	51.1	44.7
Rec Low °F	5	15	22	33	48	56	61	60	43	32	25	11
Rainfall (inches/mm)	5.3 / 135	4.7 119	6.4 163	3.9 99	4.4 112	6.4 163	8.0 203	6.9 175	5.8 147	4.1 104	4.5 114	4.0 102
Source: USTravelWeather.com [1]

Hurricanes

Pensacola's location on the Florida Panhandle makes it vulnerable to hurricanes. Major hurricanes which have made landfall at or near Pensacola include Eloise (1975), Frederic (1979), Juan (1985), Erin (1995), Opal (1995), Ivan (2004), and Dennis (2005).

Pensacola and several surrounding areas were devastated by Hurricane Ivan. Pensacola found itself on the eastern side of the eyewall, which sent a large storm surge into Escambia Bay that eventually destroyed most of the I-10 Escambia Bay Bridge.^[16] The storm heavily damaged the bridge. It knocked 58 spans off of the eastbound and westbound bridges and misaligned another 66 spans causing the bridge to close to traffic in both directions.^[17] Over six billion dollars in damage occurred in the metro area and more than 10,000 homes were destroyed, with another 27,000 heavily damaged. NASA created a comparison image to illustrate the massive damage. Hurricane Ivan drove up the cost of housing in the area, leading to a severe shortage of affordable housing. In July 2005, Hurricane Dennis made landfall just east of the city, sparing it the blow it had received from Ivan the year before. However, hurricane and near-hurricane force winds were recorded in downtown, causing moderate damage.

Although Pensacola only received a glancing blow from 2005's devastating Hurricane Katrina, light to moderate damage was reported in the area. Katrina also undermined a large percentage of Pensacola's tourist base from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Transportation

Pensacola is served by Interstate 10 and the Interstate 110 spur connecting I-10 with downtown Pensacola. Major air traffic in the Pensacola and greater northwest Florida area is handled by Pensacola Regional Airport. Airlines currently serving Pensacola Regional Airport are Air Tran Airways, American Airlines, ASA, Comair, Continental Airlines, Continental Express, Delta Air Lines, SkyWest, and US Airways. Amtrak train service [2] and Greyhound bus service [3] are also available. However, Amtrak suspended service to Pensacola (and the rest of the Gulf Coast due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The local bus service is the Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT). In 2007 the funding for ECAT system came under attack and the system was almost closed down.

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 56,255 people, 24,524 households, and 14,665 families residing in the city, and 402,000 people in the Pensacola MSA. The population density was 956.8/km² (2,478.7/mi²). There were 26,995 housing units at an average density of 459.2/km² (1,189.4/mi²).

There were 24,524 households out of which 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.7% were married couples living together, 16.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.92.

In addition to the Christian majority, Pensacola is home to a small but significant Jewish community, whose roots stretch back to the mid to late 1800s. The first Florida chapter of B'nai Brith was founded downtown in 1874, as well as the first temple, Beth-El, in 1876. Paula Ackerman, the first woman who performed rabbinical functions in the United States, was a Pensacola native and led services at Beth-El. Apart from the Reform Beth-El, Pensacola is also served by the Conservative B'nai Israel Synagogue.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,779, and the median income for a family was $42,868. Males had a median income of $32,258 versus $23,582 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,438. About 12.7% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.2% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

The population of Pensacola belies its standing within the state and the region. A longtime opposition to annexation in the areas surrounding the city has held its 2000 Census population figure at 56,255. However, the 2000 Census population of Pensacola Urbanized Area was 321,875, the eighth largest in the state.

Law and government

Council Members
District	Council Member
1	P.C. Wu
2	Sam Hall
3	Mike DeSorbo
4	Marty Donovan
5	John Jerralds
6	Jewel Canada-Wynn
7	Ronald Townsend
8 (at large)	Jack Nobles
9 (at large)	Mike Wiggins

The City of Pensacola is governed by an elected City Council with nine seats, two of which are considered "at large." The city government also has an elected mayor; John Fogg has been the mayor since 1994.

Politics

Like other parts of the South, Pensacola was solidly Democratic for more than a century after the Civil War. Until the 1970s, most local elections were determined by the Democratic primary. However, since the 1960s, the staunchly conservative military and Bible Belt city has become dependably Republican. In August 2005, registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats for the first time in the area's history. As of August 2005, in Escambia County, 44% of the residents are registered Republicans compared to 39.91% of the population having registered as Democrats with another 13.21% having no party affiliation.^[18]

In the 2004 presidential election, 65% of Escambia County residents voted for George W. Bush over John Kerry. The Pensacola area has not supported a Democrat for President since John Kennedy in 1960. In 1968, Pensacola and the rest of North Florida supported American Independent Party candidate George Wallace.

Regional Representatives

Pensacola is currently represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Jeff Miller (R) and in the U.S. Senate by Bill Nelson (D) and Mel Martinez (R), in the state senate by Charlie Clary (R) and Durell Peaden (R), and in the state house by Clay Ford (R), Dave Murzin (R), and Greg Evers (R).^[19]

As of January 2007, Pensacola, and the rest of the State of Florida, are served by Charlie Crist (R) as governor, who replaced term-limited Governor Jeb Bush (R).

Sister cities

According to Sister City International, Pensacola has the following sister cities:^[20]

• Chimbote, Peru
• Escazu, Costa Rica
• Gero, Japan
• Gorlovka, Ukraine
• Miraflores, Peru
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan

City, schools, libraries and hospitals

Public primary and secondary education schools in Pensacola are administered by the Escambia County School District. The University of West Florida, which resides north of the city, is the primary tertiary school in the area. UWF also has the largest library in the region, the John C. Pace Library.

Universities and colleges

• University of West Florida
• Pensacola Junior College
• Pensacola Christian College (not accredited)

High schools in the City of Pensacola

Main article: Escambia County School District

• Tate High School
• East Hill Christian School
• Escambia High School
• Pensacola School Of Liberal Arts
• Pensacola Catholic High School
• Pensacola High School
• Ranked as the 8th best high school in America by Newsweek magazine in 2004.^[21]
• Washington High School
• Pensacola Christian Academy
• West Florida High School

Libraries

• West Florida Regional Library
• Pensacola Public Library - located at 200 West Gregory Street in downtown Pensacola
• Lucia M. Tryon Branch Library - located on the Pensacola Junior College campus, 5740 North Ninth Avenue
• Westside Branch Library - located at 1580 W. Cervantes St. in Brownsville
• Century Branch Library - located at 7991 N. Century Blvd
• Southwest Branch Library - located at 12248 Gulf Beach Highway

The West Florida Regional Library offers fiction and non-fiction books, magazines, books on cassette or CD, DVD and VHS films, music, and more. Each library offers public access computer terminals, children's materials, and a variety of reading materials.

Genealogy and local history resources are available at the Main Branch downtown. Library staff and various volunteers from the West Florida Genealogy Society are available to help start the research process.

The Friends of the Library hold periodic book sales where donated and discarded items are sold to the public. Donations of books or audio-video items in good condition are welcome at the main library.

Hospitals

• Baptist Hospital – Baptist Health Care, (850) 434-4011
• Gulf Breeze Hospital – Baptist Health Care, (850) 934-2000
• Naval Hospital – United States Navy, (850) 505-6601
• Sacred Heart Hospital – Sacred Heart Health System, (850) 416-1600
• Santa Rosa Medical Center – FastHealth Corporation, (850) 626-5050
• West Florida Hospital – West Florida Healthcare, (850) 494-4000
• Nemours Children's Clinic - Nemours Children's Clinic, (850) 505-4700

Culture

Festivals and holidays

Major holidays in Pensacola include Memorial Day (GLBT),^[22] Mardi Gras, and the Fiesta of Five Flags. Celebrations of note in Pensacola are the Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival, the Seafood Festival, Gay Pride (Memorial Day Weekend), The King Mackerel and Cobia Tournament, Florida Springfest (although canceled in 2006 and 2007), Gracefest (a Christian music festival), Lobsterfest, University of West Florida Festival On The Green, the Bushwhacker Festival and the Bill Fishing Tournament.

Historic Seville Square and it adjacents parks, Fountain Park and Bartram Park are the sites of most of Pensacola's festivals. In the summer on Thursdays and on the Thursday in the beginning of the Christmas season, the Pensacola Heritage Foundation presents local bands in it's famous gazebo for free and very popular concerts. In December the Pensacola Christmas Market is a popular event in Seville Square as is the Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival and Seafood Festival are in the fall and the Cajun Crawfish Festival is in the spring. Festivals in Seville Square is a successful tradition begun by local preservations in the early 60's led by Mary Turner Rule Reed and the Pensacola Heritage Foundaion who started the movement to save and restore this square and Pensacola's old settlement around it.

City media

Main article: Escambia County, Florida media

The largest daily newspaper in the area is the Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola is also home to WEAR-TV, the ABC affiliate for Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, and Mobile, Alabama, and WSRE-TV, the local PBS member station, which is operated by Pensacola Junior College.Other television stations in the market include WALA-TV the Fox Affiliate, and, WKRG the CBS affiliate, also WPMI, the NBC affiliate, which all are located in Mobile. Pensacola Magazine, the city's monthly glossy magazine, and Northwest Florida's Business Climate, the only business magazine devoted to the region, are published locally.

Sports teams

Pensacola is home to several semiprofessional sports teams, including the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL, the Pensacola Pelicans of the American Association (of Independent Baseball) (AA), the Pensacola Aviators of the American Basketball Association, and the Pensacola Power of the National Women's Football Association (NWFA).

Music scene and subculture

Pensacola's music scene continually shifts with one genre being dominant for a period of time. Recently over the years the Post Hardcore scene has been the predominant subculture in the Pensacola Underground, with bands such as Glory of This frequently headlining at local venues. The city also boasts an active Folk and Indie scene with bands such as This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. There is also a moderately sized gothic and Industrial scene in the greater Pensacola Area with events such as Freaky Fridaze held monthly at Bedlam, a popular nightclub in the downtown area.

Popular Venues include Sluggos, the End of the Line Cafe, the Handlebar, and the Gutter Lounge; which has hosted shows by MC Chris and The Horror Pops. Because Pensacola is part of the greater Northwest Florida region, many people from Pensacola frequently attend shows and events in nearby Fort Walton Beach.

See also

• List of people from Pensacola, Florida
• Escambia High School riots
• Escambia Bay Bridge

References

External links

• City of Pensacola
• Pensapedia, the Pensacola encyclopedia
• Pensacola Bay Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
• * Maps and aerial photos for Coordinates:
• Maps from , Google Maps, Live Search Maps, Yahoo! Maps, or MapQuest
• Topographic maps from TopoZone or TerraServer-USA

	•  • [ e] Municipalities and communities of Escambia County, Florida County seat: Pensacola
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CDPs	Bellview | Brent | Ensley | Ferry Pass | Gonzalez | Goulding | Molino | Myrtle Grove | Warrington | West Pensacola
Communities	Innerarity Point | Perdido Key

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