Pensacola Beach, Florida

Also see: History of Pensacola, Florida.

Francisco Maldonado, a lieutenant [2] under Conquistador Hernando de Soto, visited the area during the early Spanish exploration of North America. He anchored in Pensacola Bay for the winter of 1539–1540.[3][4]

In 1559, Don Tristan de Luna y Arellano led the first settlement of the region.[2] His 11 ships, with 1500 settlers,[2] anchored in the bay and established its colony on the site of today's Naval Air Station Pensacola. A hurricane decimated the colony a few weeks later, killing hundreds and sinking five ships.[2] Suffering long-term famine and fighting, this first settlement was finally abandoned in 1561.[2] A presidio was constructed on Santa Rosa Island in 1722 near the location of the more recent Fort Pickens. Hurricanes in 1741 and 1752[3] forced its relocation to the mainland.

Pensacola Beach for many years remained largely undeveloped. The Casino Resort was the first tourist destination constructed on the island (at the present day location of Casino Beach) where a variety of special events including beauty pageants, fishing tournaments, and boxing matches were held from the 1930s through 1950s. With a bar, tennis courts, bath houses, and a restaurant, it was a popular resort until it eventually closed in the 1960s.

The entire island was initially owned by the federal government. In order to promote infrastructure and growth on the island, the federal government leased the lands now encompassing Pensacola Beach to the Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA), which in turn has leased the property to homeowners. As a result, all structures on the island have 99-year renewable leases with the SRIA rather than ownership of the land itself.

Pensacola Beach at sunset

Pensacola Beach is located at 30°20′00″N 87°08′15″W, on the barrier island of Santa Rosa. It is bordered to the south by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Santa Rosa Sound and Pensacola Bay, and to the east and west by the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

Pensacola Beach is home to some of the tallest buildings between Tallahassee and Mobile, Alabama. The list below ranks the buildings in height.

1. Portofino Towers (182 feet, 55 m).
2. Beach Club (175 feet, 53 m).
3. Santa Rosa Towers (170 feet, 52 m).
4. Verandas Tower (154 feet, 47 m).
5. Hilton Pensacola Beach Resort (152 feet, 46 m).

While generally cooler than most of peninsular Florida, Pensacola Beach maintains a more stable temperature year round than inland areas of Pensacola and Escambia County. As such, winter lows are several degrees warmer than Pensacola proper and summer highs are generally cooler as a result of the surrounding waters. As with many islands, Pensacola Beach enjoys sea breezes which begin around noon and end around sunset in the summer. The average temperature ranges from 48 °F (9 °C) in January to 89 °F (32 °C) in July.[5]

The Deepwater Horizon, a BP-operated oil-drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, exploded April 20, 2010, eventually releasing almost 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf before being capped on August 4, 2010. Oil from the explosion did not reach Pensacola beaches until June 4, 2010. Crews posted along Escambia County's coastline quickly cleaned much of the oil that was evident along the beaches. Tourism in the Pensacola Beach area was adversely affected during the summer of 2010.

Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) provides bus transportation seven days per week.[6]

Fire Station#13

Escambia County Fire Rescue operates Fire Station #13 in Pensacola Beach.[7]

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office has Precinct 1 covering Pensacola Beach, operated out of the Pensacola Beach Sheriff's Substation.[8]

Pensacola Beach Sheriff's Substation

Pensacola Beach Elementary School

There is one school on Pensacola Beach. The Pensacola Beach Elementary School, within the Escambia County School District (ECSD), is for children from kindergarten through fifth grade. This school has an enrollment ranging from 120 to 140 students. All elementary-school age children on Pensacola Beach are eligible to attend the school. The first year the school was open, for the school year 1977–1978, classes were held in an empty A-frame house. The Pensacola Beach Volunteer Fire Department building was also used in aiding the teachers and administrators. In November 1977, four portable buildings were moved to the present site. They school has received the 5 Star School award since 1998. In 2001 the Pensacola Beach Elementary lost its direct district operational control and became a charter school.[15] In September 2004 Hurricane Ivan destroyed an office and four classrooms. Jeff Castleberry, the principal, argued that ECSD would have closed the school if it had direct operational control. The costs to fix the damage at Pensacola Beach Elementary was $1.5 million. The campus is adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico and is built on stilt. The school has been described as one of several Escambia County charter schools that "exemplify charter schools at their finest".[16]

Pensacola Beach is zoned for (assigned to) a different ECSD elementary school, Suter Elementary School,[17] as well as Workman Middle School,[18] and Pensacola High School.[19] However, most middle- and high-school students in Pensacola Beach attend Gulf Breeze Middle School and Gulf Breeze High School, operated by Santa Rosa County School District.[15] In addition, some attend Pensacola-area magnet schools.[20]

There are only two traditional churches on the island of Pensacola Beach. It is under the laws and guidelines of the Santa Rosa Island Authority that these be the only churches on the island. However, since around 2011, at least two other area churches have held satellite church meetings and openly worshipped on the water's edge on Sunday mornings.

• Operation Sandshaker

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pensacola Beach, Florida.

• Pensacola Beach travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Tourism website
• Pensacola Beach Preservation & Historical Society
• Pensacola Beach Webcam