TheFlorida panhandle (also known asWest Florida andNorthwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state ofFlorida. It is asalient roughly 200 miles (320 km) long, bordered byAlabama on the west and north,Georgia on the north, and theGulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is arbitrarily defined. It is defined by itssouthern culture andrural demographics in contrast to urbanized central and southern Florida, as well as closer cultural links to Alabama and Georgia. Its major communities includePensacola,Navarre,Destin,Panama City Beach, andTallahassee.
As is the case with the other eight U.S. states that havepanhandles, the geographic meaning of the term is inexact and elastic. References to the Florida panhandle always include the tencounties west of theApalachicola River, a natural geographic boundary, which was the historic dividing line between the British colonies ofWest Florida andEast Florida. These western counties also lie in theCentral Time Zone (with the exception ofGulf County, which is divided between theEastern and Central Time zones), while the rest of the state is in the Eastern Time Zone. References to the panhandlemay also include some or all of eleven counties immediately east of the Apalachicola known as theBig Bend region, along the curve ofApalachee Bay.
Like the rest ofNorth Florida,[1] includingNorth Central Florida, the panhandle is more similar in culture and climate to theDeep South than the rest of the state, particularly thanCentral Florida andSouth Florida in the lower peninsula. The Florida panhandle is known for its conservative politics, religious adherence, and "piney woods".[2]
The largest city in the panhandle isTallahassee, the state capital, population 196,169 (2020). However, the largest city west of the Appalachicola river isPensacola, which has a population of 54,312 (2020) and also has the largestMetropolitan area 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 andNavarre. The total population of the panhandle, as of the2010 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.[3]
Emerald Coast, a term coined in 1983,[4] refers in general to the beaches and coastal resorts from Pensacola toPort St. Joe,[Emerald_Coast 1] 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 betweenFort Walton Beach andPanama City.[5] Coastal regions of the following counties (if not the entirety of the counties themselves) are usually included when referring to the Emerald Coast:
Coastal portions ofBay County are also regularly included when referring to the Emerald Coast, but with somewhat less regularity than the four aforementioned counties listed above.
TheForgotten Coast is a trademarked term coined in the early 1990s[6] used to refer to the coastal portion of the Florida panhandle extending fromMexico Beach or southeasternBay County on theGulf of Mexico toSt. Marks onApalachee Bay. It is usually not considered a part of the Emerald Coast, which lies directly adjacent to the west.[7] Coastal regions of the following counties (if not the entirety of the counties themselves) are usually included when referring to the Forgotten Coast:
TheApalachicola River is the largest river of the panhandle. It is formed by the junction of several rivers, including theChattahoochee and theFlint, where the boundaries of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida meet. From there, it flows southward to the town ofApalachicola.
Majorestuaries include, from west to east:Perdido Bay, fed by thePerdido River, which forms the west boundary of Florida;Escambia Bay andEast Bay, fed by theEscambia River andBlackwater River, respectively;Choctawhatchee Bay, fed by theChoctawhatchee River; andSt. Andrews Bay, fed byEconfina Creek.Pensacola Bay, a deepwater port, is formed by the joining of Escambia and East bays. TheGulf Intracoastal Waterway, completed in 1949, traverses the lower panhandle by means of bays, lagoons, sounds, and human-made canals. Thebarrier islands ofPerdido Key andSanta Rosa Island extend from the Panhandle's western extremity throughFort Walton Beach toDestin.
Britton Hill is the highest natural point in the stateat 345 feet (105 meters) above mean sea level.
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.[8]
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").[9]
During the course of the century, proposals for ceding the Florida counties west of theApalachicola River toAlabama were often raised:
The building of thePensacola 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.
In the last quarter of the century,hurricanes that directly struck the area and caused significant damage includedHurricane Eloise in 1975,Hurricane Kate in 1985, andHurricane Erin andHurricane Opal, both in 1995.
The area was a prime target of the March1993 Storm of the Century.
The panhandle suffered direct hits fromHurricane Ivan in 2004 andHurricane Dennis in 2005. Ivan was the most disastrous, making landfall nearGulf Shores, Alabama, with 120 mile-per-hour (193 km/h) winds and a 14-foot (4.3 m) storm surge that devastated Perdido Key and Santa Rosa Island, wrecked theInterstate 10 bridge acrossEscambia Bay, and destroyed thousands of homes in the region, some as far away as 20 miles (32 km) inland.
On June 23, 2010, oil from theDeepwater Horizon oil spill landed on Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, damaging the fishing and tourism industries, and prompting a massive clean-up effort.[14]
On October 10, 2018, the panhandle suffered a direct hit fromHurricane Michael, with winds as high as 160 mph. Michael was one of only fourcategory 5 hurricanes to ever hit the US mainland.[15] 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.[16]
Historically, the economy of the panhandle depended mainly onfarming,forestry andlumbering,paper mills, import/exportshipping at Pensacola and to a lesser extent at Panama City,shipbuilding, andcommercial fishing. After World War II, the economy was boosted by the numerous military bases established in the region, as well as the growth oftourism and thehospitality industry.
In addition to military bases, state and local governments, hospitals, schools, and colleges, major private employers in the second half of the twentieth century includedMonsanto andWestinghouse plants at Pensacola, theSt. Joe Paper Company inPort St. Joe, andGulf Power, a major electric utility company.
Unlike central and southern Florida, the panhandle has never been a producer ofcitrus crops because the area is subject to regular frosts and freezes during winter, which destroy citrus fruits.
Interstate 10 is the only interstate highway in the panhandle, connecting the extreme west withNorth Florida andJacksonville. Other older east–west routes includeU.S. Highway 90 andU.S. Highway 98. Important north–south routes west of the Apalachicola River includeU.S. Highway 29,U.S. Highway 331, andU.S. Highway 231, all linking to Alabama andInterstate 65.State Road 20 stretches fromNiceville to Tallahassee.
Freight service is provided by theClass IIIFlorida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad, which acquired most of theCSX main line from Pensacola to Jacksonville on June 1, 2019. (For the history of this line, seePensacola and Atlantic Railroad.)
Passenger service ended with the creation ofAmtrak in 1971, but was revived with the extension of theSunset Limited to Orlando beginning in 1993; however, passenger service was discontinued afterHurricane Katrina struck theGulf Coast in 2005. Other regional short-line railroads serving the panhandle are theAlabama and Gulf Coast Railway (formerlyBNSF Railway, ex-Frisco Railway), theBay Line Railroad, and theAN Railway.
Major airports include:
The following institutions of higher learning are located in the Florida panhandle.
State University System:
Florida College System:
Religiously affiliated:
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2024) |
The politics of the Florida panhandle vary considerably depending on location. The western panhandle, particularly theEmerald Coast, was one of the earliest areas to shake off itsYellow Dog Democrat roots,[disputed –discuss] 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 andGadsden County tend to be strongly Democratic. In the2008 presidential election,John McCain received 421,287 votes (60.1%) in the panhandle, whileBarack Obama received 279,206 votes (39.9%).
Under the 2023-2033 decennial reapportionment, the Florida panhandle is split betweenFlorida's 1st congressional district, represented byJimmy Patronis (R-Fort Walton Beach), andFlorida's 2nd congressional district, represented byNeal Dunn (R–Panama City).
The followingcounties west of the Apalachicola River arealways included in references to the panhandle:
Some or all of the following counties east of the Apalachicola, in theBig Bend subregion, aresometimes considered part of the panhandle:
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.
Population of the major metropolitan areas in the panhandle:
The panhandle is renowned for the white sand beaches and blue-green waters of itsbarrier islands fronting the Gulf of Mexico. According to theNational Park Service:[17]
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 duringspring break, are sometimes derisively calledtheRedneck Riviera.[18] The term was used as the title of a song by country music artistTom T. Hall on his 1996 albumSongs from Sopchoppy. The album takes its name from a town in ruralWakulla County, near Tallahassee.
Tourists have been drawn to the panhandle since the building of thePensacola and Atlantic Railroad in the 1880s.Pensacola Beach has been a major tourist attraction since the building of bridges between the mainland andSanta Rosa Island in 1931.[citation needed] 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,[19] and the formerMiracle 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 theGulf Islands National Seashore, which also covers some islands off theMississippi coast. Other beach areas protected by the state of Florida include
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 toPensacola Naval Air Station,Eglin Air Force Base, andTyndall Air Force Base, 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.[20] A number of other state parks, preserves, and forests are located inland.
The 1970s also saw the beginnings of a number ofupscale beachresorts,condominium towers,vacation homes, andplanned communities, such asSeaside andSandestin, so that most of the privately owned areas of the coastline are now heavily developed.
Major military bases include thePensacola Naval Air Station (the home ofNaval Aviation in theUnited States),Eglin Air Force Base andHurlburt Field nearFt. Walton Beach,Naval Support Activity Panama City inPanama City Beach, andTyndall Air Force Base nearPanama City. Smaller military bases in the Florida panhandle include theCenter for Information Warfare Training in Pensacola,Naval Air Station Whiting Field nearMilton andDuke Field nearCrestview.
The 1983-84 television showEmerald 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 seriesPensacola: Wings of Gold was explicitly set there.
Grayton Beach State Park is among the priceless natural treasures of Florida's Emerald Coast.
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