Gulf Breeze is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Santa Rosa County, Florida Santa Rosa County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020, the population is 188,000. The county seat is Milton, which lies in the geographic center of the county. Other major communities within ...

. It is a suburb of

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

, and is in the Pensacola Metropolitan Area. The population estimate was 6,900 in 2020. Gulf Breeze is located just north of

Pensacola Beach Pensacola Beach is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community located on Santa Rosa Island, Florida, Santa Rosa Island, a barrier island, in Escambia County, Florida, Escambia County, Florida, United States. It is situated south of Pensa ...

, and south of Pensacola. Gulf Breeze is on the

Fairpoint Peninsula The Fairpoint Peninsula (also referred to as the Gulf Breeze Peninsula or the Navarre Peninsula) is located in northwest Florida between Santa Rosa Sound (the location of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway's route through the region) and Pensacola ...

, and is bordered by Navarre to the east. Gulf Breeze provides

utility services A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...

to South Santa Rosa County and Pensacola Beach over 33

square mile The square mile (abbreviated as sq mi and sometimes as mi2)Rowlett, Russ (September 1, 2004) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved February 22, 2012. is an imperial and US unit of measure for area. One square mile is an ar ...

s. The surrounding unincorporated area is known as Greater Gulf Breeze.

Geography

The city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Growth of the city itself is geographically restricted, surrounded by major water bodies on three sides; the eastern portion of Gulf Breeze is occupied by the

Naval Live Oaks Reservation The Naval Live Oaks Reservation (also known as Deer Point Live Oaks Reservation or Deer Point Plantation) is part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, and is near Gulf Breeze, Florida. It was purchased by U.S. government in 1828 as the first ...

. As a result, new growth takes place east of the city limits along U.S. Highway 98.

Climate

Demographics

As of the 2010 Census, there were 5,763 people living in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 95.7% white, 0.3% black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska native, 1.4% Asian, 0.5% some other race, 1.3% two or more races, and 2.6% Hispanic or Latino, of any race. As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 5,665 people, 2,377 households, and 1,678 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,553 housing units at an average density of . There were 2,377 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.83. In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.3% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $52,522, and the median income for a family was $61,661. Males had a median income of $44,408 versus $28,159 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $34,688. About 3.8% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 5.5% of those under age 18 and 1.2% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Points of interest

In 1828 the U.S. government purchased the land encompassing the Naval Live Oaks Reservation for experimenting with acorns for the cultivation of live oaks to produce wooden ships. Before the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the wood of the

live oak Live oak or evergreen oak is any of a number of oaks in several different sections of the genus ''Quercus'' that share the characteristic of evergreen foliage. These oaks are not more closely related to each other than they are to other oaks. ...

was the primary material of choice for shipbuilders, thus the protection and cultivation of the trees for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

was considered vital for defense in those turbulent times. Currently, the land comprises over in

Gulf Islands National Seashore Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven i ...

and is supervised by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. To the south of Highway 98 is a visitor's center for the Gulf Islands National Seashore and several public beach areas.

Gulf Breeze Library

The Gulf Breeze Library, opened in 1971, is part of the

Santa Rosa County Library System The Santa Rosa County Library System is the primary provider of library services in Santa Rosa County, Florida. It is publicly funded and operated by Santa Rosa County. In 2020, the Director of Library Services, the official responsible for the ...

Education

* Gulf Breeze High School *Gulf Breeze Middle School *Gulf Breeze Elementary School

Infrastructure

Gulf Breeze is served by route 61 of

Escambia County Area Transit Escambia County Area Transit (ECAT) is the transit agency that serves the greater Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida Escambia County is the westernmost and oldest county in the U.S. state of Florida. It is in the state's northwestern corner ...

Notable people

Bob Armstrong Joseph Melton James (October 3, 1939 – August 27, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong. In the course of his career, which spanned five decades, Armstrong held numerous championships ...

(1939-2020), professional wrestler (longtime resident) *

Doug Baldwin Douglas Dewayne Baldwin Jr. (born September 21, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Stanford and was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2011. Baldwin is the Seahawks third ...

(born 1988),

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player *

Ashley Brown Ashley Brown (born February 3, 1982) is an American singer and actress who is best known for playing the titular character in the United States national tour and Broadway productions of '' Mary Poppins''. Early life Brown was born February 3, 19 ...

(born 1982), singer and actress * Ben Lively (born 1992),

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds * Jason McKie (born 1980), American football player * Frank Spellman (1922–2017), Olympic champion weightlifter * Abigail Spencer (born 1981), actress; born and raised in Gulf Breeze *

Adrian Street Adrian Street (born 5 December 1940) is a retired Welsh professional wrestler and author known for his flamboyant, androgynous wrestling persona, brought to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Street was often accompanied to the ring by his long- ...

(born 1940), professional wrestler (longtime resident)

References

External links

Gulf Breeze Area Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Populated places on the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida Cities in Santa Rosa County, Florida Cities in Pensacola metropolitan area Cities in Florida 1875 establishments in Florida Populated places established in 1875