The story
History
Before European contact
The original inhabitants of the Pensacola Bay area were Native American peoples. At the time of European contact, a Muskogean-speaking tribe known to the Spanish as the Pensacola, lived in the region. This name was not recorded until 1677, but the tribe appears to be the source of the name "Pensacola" for the bay and thence the city. Creek people, also Muskogean-speaking, came regularly from present-day southern Alabama to trade, so the peoples were part of a broader regional and even continental network of relations.
The best-known Pensacola culture site in terms of archeology is the large Bottle Creek site, located 59 miles (95 km) west of Pensacola north of Mobile, Alabama. This site has at least 18 large earthwork mounds, five of which are arranged around a central plaza. Its main occupation was from 1250 to 1550 CE. It was a ceremonial center for the Pensacola people and a gateway to their society. This site would have had easy access by a dugout canoe, the main mode of transportation used by the Pensacola.
Spanish
The area's written recorded history begins in the 16th century, with documentation by Spanish explorers, who were the first Europeans to reach the area. The expeditions of Pánfilo de Narváez in 1528 and Hernando de Soto in 1539 both visited Pensacola Bay, the latter of which documented the name "Bay of Ochuse".
In the Age of Sail, Pensacola was the busiest port on the Gulf Coast, having the deepest harbor.
On August 15, 1559, Tristán de Luna y Arellano landed with some 1,500 people on 11 ships from Veracruz, Mexico. The expedition was to establish an outpost, ultimately called Santa María de Ochuse by Luna, as a base for Spanish efforts to colonize Santa Elena (present-day Parris Island, South Carolina), but the colony was decimated by a hurricane on September 19, 1559, which killed an unknown number of sailors and colonists, sank six ships, grounded a seventh, and ruined supplies.
The survivors struggled to survive, most moving inland to the region of modern central Alabama for several months in 1560 before returning to the coast, but in 1561 the effort was abandoned. Some of the survivors eventually sailed to Santa Elena, but another storm struck there. Survivors made their way to Cuba and finally returned to Pensacola, where the remaining 50 at Pensacola were taken back to Veracruz. The viceroy's advisors thus concluded the region too dangerous to settle, ignoring it for centuries.
In the late 17th century, the French began exploring the lower Mississippi River, with the intention of colonizing the region as part of New France. Fearful that Spanish territory would be threatened, the Spanish founded a new settlement in western Florida. In 1698, they established a fortified town near what is now Fort Barrancas, laying the foundation for permanent European-dominated settlement of the modern city of Pensacola. 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-day Fort Barrancas) and a village with church.
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Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa (1722–1752): This next presidio was on western Santa Rosa Island near the site of present-day Fort Pickens, but hurricanes battered the island in 1741 and 1752. The garrison was moved to the mainland.
Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola (1754–1763): The final presidio was built about 5 miles (8 km) east of the first presidio; the present-day historic district of downtown Pensacola, named from "Panzacola", developed around the fort.
During the early years of settlement, a triracial creole society developed. As a fortified trading post, the Spanish had mostly men stationed here. Some married or had unions with Pensacola, Creek, or African women, both slave and free, and their descendants created a mixed-race population of mestizos and mulattos. The Spanish encouraged fugitive slaves from the Southern Colonies to come to Florida as a refuge, promising freedom in exchange for conversion to Catholicism. Most went to the area around St. Augustine, but escaped slaves also reached Pensacola.
British
After years of settlement there, the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in 1763 as a result of an exchange following British victory over both France and Spain in the French and Indian War (the North American theater of the Seven Years' War), and French cession of its territories in North America. Nearly all the Spanish population evacuated the city and traveled by ship to Veracruz, Mexico and Cuba. The British designated Pensacola as the capital of their new colony of West Florida. From 1763, the British strengthened defenses around the mainland area of fort San Carlos de Barrancas, building the Royal Navy Redoubt. George Johnstone was appointed as the first British governor, and in 1764, a colonial assembly was established. The structure of the colony was modeled after the existing British colonies in America, as opposed to French Canada, which was based on a different structure. 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 proceeded with a small force down the Mississippi, ransacking estates and plantations, until they were eventually defeated by a local militia. In the wake of this, the area received a small number of British reinforcements.
British military resources were limited and Pensacola ranked fairly low on their list of priorities. So, only small token number of British military forces were ever sent to defend Pensacola. This was in contrast to colonies such as South Carolina, where large numbers of British soldiers were sent. After Spain joined the American Revolution in 1779 on the side of the rebels, Spanish forces captured the city in the 1781 Siege of Pensacola, gaining control of West Florida. After the war, the British officially ceded both West Florida and East Florida to Spain as part of the postwar peace settlement.
In 1785, many Creek from southern Alabama and Georgia came to trade, and Pensacola developed as a major trade center. It was a garrison town, predominantly males in the military or trade. Americans made raids into the area, and settlers pressured the federal government to gain control of this territory.
United States
In the final stages of the War of 1812, American troops launched an offensive on Pensacola against the Spanish and British garrisons protecting the city, which surrendered after two days of fighting. Pensacola was conquered again by the US in 1818. In 1819, Spain and the United States negotiated the Adams–Onís Treaty, by which Spain recognized the American control over Florida in exchange of the American recognition of Spanish control over Texas. A Spanish census of 1820 indicated 181 households in the town, with a third being of mixed blood. The people were predominantly French and Spanish Creole. Indians in the area were noted through records, travelers' accounts, and paintings of the era, including some by George Washington Sully and George Catlin. Creek women were also recorded in marriages to Spanish men, in court records or deeds.
In 1821, with Andrew Jackson as provisional governor, Pensacola became part of the United States. The city was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1822. The Creek continued to interact with European Americans and African Americans, but the dominant Whites increasingly imposed their binary racial classifications: white and black ("colored", within which were included free people of color, including Indians). However, American Indians and mestizos were identified separately in court and Catholic church records, and as Indians in censuses up until 1840, attesting to their presence in the society. After that, the Creek were not separately identified as Indian, but the people did not disappear. Even after removal of many Seminole to Indian Territory, Indians, often of mixed race, but culturally identifying as Muskogean, lived throughout Florida.
St. Michael's Cemetery was established in the 18th century at a location in a south-central part of the city, which developed as the downtown area. 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 it has over 3,200 marked burials, as well as a large number unmarked.
Tensions between the White community and Indians tended to increase during the removal era. In addition, an increasing proportion of Anglo Americans, who constituted the majority of Whites by 1840, led to a hardening of racial discrimination in the area. Disapproval arose of White men living with women of color, which had previously been accepted. In 1853, the legislature passed a bill prohibiting Indians from living in the state, and provided for capture and removal to Indian Territory.
While the bill excluded mixed-race Indians and those already living in White communities, they went "underground" to escape persecution. No Indians were listed in late 19th- and early 20th-century censuses for Escambia County. People of Indian descent were forced into the White or Black communities by appearance, and officially, in terms of records, "disappeared". This pattern was repeated in many Southern settlements. Children of White fathers and Indian mothers were not designated as Indian in the late 19th century, whereas children of Blacks or Mulattos were classified within the Black community, related to laws during the slavery years.
Pensacola experienced the Civil War when in 1861, Confederate forces lost the nearby Battle of Santa Rosa Island and federal forces of the United States subsequently failed to win the Battle of Pensacola. After the fall of New Orleans in 1862, the Confederacy abandoned the city and it was occupied by the North. In June 1861, the Pensacola Guards were mustered in as a company in the 1st Florida Infantry Regiment.
In 1907–1908, 116 Creeks in Pensacola applied for the Eastern Cherokee enrollment, thinking that all Indians were eligible to enroll. Based on Alabama census records, most of these individuals have been found to be descendants of Creeks who had migrated to the Pensacola area from southern Alabama after Indian removal of the 1830s.
In 1908, a citywide streetcar strike occurred in the city, which led to state militia being stationed in the city and martial law being declared.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Pensacola had a population of 54,312. The median age was 43.6 years. 17.9% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 87.6 males age 18 and over.
There were 24,748 households and 13,470 families in Pensacola; 21.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 35.9% were married-couple households, 21.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 36.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 27,892 housing units, of which 11.3% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.6%.
100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 51,923 people, 23,592 households, and _ families residing in the city. The population density was 2,303.5 inhabitants per square mile (889.4/km2). There were 26,848 housing units at an average density of 1,191.1 per square mile (459.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 66.34% White, 27.98% African American, 0.56% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 0.70% from some other races and 2.30% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.30% of the population.
2000 census
As of the 2000 census, there are 56,255 people, 24,524 households, and 14,665 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,478.7 inhabitants per square mile (957.0/km2). There are 26,995 housing units at an average density of 1,189.4 per square mile (459.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 64.91% White, 30.58% African American, 0.52% Native American, 1.77% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.54% from some other races and 1.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.07% of the population.
There were 24,524 households out of which 24.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.7% are married couples living together, 16.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% are non-families. 32.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.27 and the average family size is 2.92.
In the city the age distribution was 22.9% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 88.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.
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. 16.1% of the population and 12.7% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 26.2% were under the age of 18 and 9.2% were 65 or older.
1860 census
Pensacola was Florida's largest city in 1860, with a population of 2,876.
1850 census
After Florida joined the Union in 1845, Pensacola first appeared in the 1850 United States census, with a total population of 2,164.
History
The First Pelican Drop New Year's Celebration took place in 2008. The Pensacola News Journal released an article stating that the Pensacola Community Redevelopment Agency was planning a new kind of New Year's Eve celebration, to be held at the Plaza Ferdinand VII and broadcast live on WEAR-TV; beginning with the 2017 celebration, events were carried in simulcast on WEAR's website. Almost 45,000 people showed up for the event, including residents of Mobile, Alabama (which hosts its own competing drop, a Moon Pie), Milton, Florida, Navarre, Florida, and Destin, Florida.
In December 2019, organizers announced that the Pelican Drop had been canceled due to financial issues and the burden the event had caused on local police and public services. A smaller fireworks display, which does not require the same amount of traffic disruption, would be held, instead.
The pelican was made and designed by Emmett Andrews LLC. Made of polished aluminum and decorated with over 2,000 lights, the bird had a 17-foot (5.2 m) wingspan and is 12 feet (3.7 m) high.
Parks and recreation
Gulf Islands National Seashore
Big Lagoon State Park - approximately 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Pensacola on Gulf Beach Highway
Perdido Key State Park - located on a barrier island 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Pensacola, off S.R. 292
Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park - 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Pensacola,
Pensacola Bayfront Stadium - a multi-use park in Pensacola
Plaza Ferdinand VII
Bayview Park
Miraflores Park
From Wikipedia’s article on Pensacola, Florida, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4