Pensacola Beach is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located on Santa Rosa Island, a

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

, in Escambia County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is situated south of

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

(and

Gulf Breeze Gulf Breeze is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida. It is located between Downtown Pensacola and Pensacola Beach, and is part of the Pensacola Metropolitan Area. The population was 6,340 at the 2020 census, up from 5,763 at the 2010 census. ...

connected via bridges spanning to the Fairpoint Peninsula and then to the island) in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. As of the 2000 census, the community had a total population of 2,738. It has been described as "famous" for its ultra-

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

es. Pensacola Beach occupies land bound by a 1947 deed from the

United States Department of Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

that it be administered in the public interest by the county or leased, but never "disposed"; its businesses and residents are thus long-term leaseholders and not property owners. Pensacola Beach is part of the

– Ferry Pass– Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

History

: ''Also see: History of Pensacola, Florida.'' Francisco Maldonado, a lieutenant"The Spanish Presence in Northwest Florida – 1513 to 1705" (history),

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida, United States. Established in 1963 as a member institution of the State University System of Florida, the University of West Florida is a comprehe ...

, 2006, webpage
UWF-hist
. under

Conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

Hernando de Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

, visited the area during the early Spanish exploration of North America. He anchored in

Pensacola Bay Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle. The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensac ...

for the winter of 1539–1540. In 1559, Don Tristan de Luna y Arellano led the first settlement of the region. His 11 ships, with 1500 settlers, anchored in the bay and established a colony on the site of today's

Naval Air Station Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...

. Shortly after their arrival, on August 15, 1559, Friar Dominic de la Anunciacion conducted what is believed to be the first Christian religious service in the present-day United States. This event is commemorated by a marker near the possible site of the service, indicating the historical significance of the location as a place of early religious and cultural exchange. A

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

decimated the

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

a few weeks later, killing hundreds and sinking five of the 11 ships. Suffering long-term famine and fighting, this first settlement was finally abandoned in 1561. A

presidio A presidio (''jail, fortification'') was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word ''praesidium'' meaning ''pr ...

was constructed on Santa Rosa Island in 1722 near the location of the more recent

Fort Pickens Fort Pickens is a historic pentagonal United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. It is the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacol ...

. Hurricanes in 1741 and 1752 forced its relocation to the mainland. Pensacola Beach remained largely undeveloped for many years. 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 A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

fishing tournament A fishing tournament, or Angling tournament, is an organised competition among anglers. Fishing tournaments typically take place as a series of competitive events around or on a clearly defined body of water with specific rules applying to each e ...

s, and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

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 A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

. 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.

Geography

Pensacola Beach is located at , 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 Gulf Islands National Seashore is an American National seashore that offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. In 2023, it was the fifth-mos ...

Climate

While generally cooler than most of peninsular Florida, Pensacola Beach maintains a more stable

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that quantitatively expresses the attribute of hotness or coldness. Temperature is measurement, measured with a thermometer. It reflects the average kinetic energy of the vibrating and colliding atoms making ...

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 A sea breeze or onshore breeze is a wind that blows in the afternoon from a large body of water toward or onto a landmass. By contrast, a land breeze or offshore breeze is a wind that blows in the night from a landmass toward or onto a large ...

which begin around noon and end around sunset in the summer, and there are often afternoon

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

s. The average temperature ranges from in January to in July.

Hurricanes

As a community located on a low-lying barrier island, Pensacola Beach is vulnerable to

s. Landfalling storms have been known to drive

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

over the island, damaging or destroying man-made structures and causing

beach erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward r ...

. In 1995, two hurricanes made landfall on the island. Hurricane Erin made landfall in August, and Hurricane Opal blasted the island just two months later, leveling some

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

and destroying a number of homes. On September 16, 2004,

Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, and devastating tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane, and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic h ...

devastated the Pensacola Beach area, destroying more than 650 homes and damaging many others. Ivan was the last hurricane to make Florida landfall in 2004, one of the most destructive hurricane seasons in decades. On July 10, 2005,

Hurricane Dennis Hurricane Dennis was a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that briefly held the record for the strongest Atlantic hurricane ever to form before August. Dennis was the fourth named storm of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane sea ...

made landfall between Pensacola Beach and eastern Navarre Beach. However, as with Erin almost a decade earlier, the damage on Pensacola Beach was not nearly as extensive as predicted. In 2020, Pensacola Beach took the brunt of the storm from Hurricane Sally, seeing widespread wind damage, storm surge flooding, and over 20 inches (510 mm) of rainfall. A section of the

Pensacola Bay Bridge The Pensacola Bay Bridge, also known locally as the "Chappie" Bridge, runs between downtown Pensacola, Florida, and Gulf Breeze, Florida. It carries six lanes of U.S. Highway 98 across Pensacola Bay. History The bridge, which is dedicated to ...

(known to locals as the Three Mile Bridge) was destroyed during Hurricane Sally. The island has been subject to mandatory evacuation orders during some of these hurricanes.

Oil spill

The ''

Deepwater Horizon ''Deepwater Horizon'' was an ultra-deepwater, Dynamic positioning, dynamically positioned, Semi-submersible platform, semi-submersible offshore drilling Oil platform, rig owned by Transocean and operated by the BP company. On 20 April 2010, ...

'', a BP-operated oil-drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

coast, exploded April 20, 2010, eventually releasing almost 5 million barrels of

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

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 Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

in the Pensacola Beach area was adversely affected during the summer of 2010. ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'' reported that swimmers at Pensacola Beach "encountered an oil sheen and children picked up tar blobs as big as tennis balls."

Public transportation

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 (United States), county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 ...

(ECAT) provides bus transportation seven days per week.

Government and infrastructure

Escambia County Fire Rescue operates Fire Station #13 in Pensacola Beach. The Escambia County Sheriff's Office has Precinct 1 covering Pensacola Beach, operated out of the Pensacola Beach Sheriff's Substation.

Attractions

Casino Beach

The hub of beach activity, Casino Beach, on Pensacola Beach, is named after the original casino that stood in this location and is a popular beach access. The location is dotted with restaurants and family entertainment areas. It is situated next to the Pensacola Beach Gulf Pier, which at 1,471 feet is described as the longest pier on the Gulf of Mexico. The beach is equipped with lifeguard stands and station, volleyball courts, snack bar and large parking lot. The Gulfside Pavilion hosts a "Bands on the Beach" concert series during the summer tourist season.

Gulf Pier

The Gulf Pier has been called an iconic part of Pensacola Beach by residents. It is maintained by Escambia County Public Works and the Santa Rosa Island Authority. In addition to fishing, the pier offers sightseeing marine wildlife such as

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

s and

stingray Stingrays are a group of sea Batoidea, rays, a type of cartilaginous fish. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae (deepwate ...

s. It has been closed and renovated a number of times due to storm and hurricane damage.

Blue Angels

Pensacola beach is known for flyovers by the

Blue Angels The Blue Angels, formally named the U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, are a Aerobatics, flight demonstration squadron of the United States Navy.. Blue Angels official site. Formed in 1946, the unit is the second oldest formal aerobatics ...

demonstration team from the nearby

Pensacola Naval Air Station Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United Sta ...

base. An annual

air show An air show (or airshow, air fair, air tattoo) is a public event where aircraft are trade fair, exhibited. They often include aerobatics demonstrations, without which they are called "static air shows" with aircraft parked on the ground. The ...

is held each summer.

Quietwater Beach Boardwalk

The boardwalk is on the Santa Rosa Sound side of the island, directly across from Casino Beach. Retail shops, restaurants, nightclubs, street musicians and sidewalk artists line it. The boardwalk has a large sea shell stage where concerts are held several times a year.

Fort Pickens

Located at the western end of Santa Rosa Island,

was completed in 1834 and used until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when modern weapons made traditional coastal defenses obsolete. It is open to the public as part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, with a fee required for entry; campsites are also available for a fee.

Architecture

Commercial buildings

Pensacola Beach is home to some of the tallest buildings between

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

and

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

. The list below ranks the buildings in height. # Portofino Towers (). # Verandas Tower (). # Beach Club (). #Hilton Pensacola Beach Resort (). # Santa Rosa Towers (). #Emerald Isle Condominium (). #Santa Rosa Towers (). #Tristan Towers ().

Landmarks

Pensacola Beach welcome sign

Another historical landmark is the vintage Pensacola Beach sign just outside Pensacola Beach in

. It was a 60s-era

neon sign In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...

that directs drivers towards Pensacola Beach's "scenic" views of the coast of the

, as well as towards its white sand beaches, motels, and restaurants. The sign was renovated in 2019 to look exactly like the old sign but feature

LED lights An LED lamp or LED light is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps. The most efficient commercial ...

instead of

neon Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of ...

Beach ball water tower

The

beach ball A beach ball is an inflatable ball for beach and water games. Their large size and light weight require little effort to propel them. Beach balls became popular in the beach-themed films of the 1960s starring Annette Funicello and Frankie Ava ...

painted

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

is an iconic symbol of Pensacola Beach. Today the water tower is no longer in use, but has been preserved by the city as a historical landmark.

Novelty houses

Pensacola Beach is home to several

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

houses, which are homes built with unusual shapes for purposes such as

publicity In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service, person or organization. It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The sub ...

or to copy other famous buildings in parody. One of the novelty houses in Pensacola is the house "Dome of a Home", built in 2002 using a

monolithic dome A monolithic dome (from Greek mono- and -lithic, meaning "one stone") is a thin-shell structure cast in a one-piece form. The form may be permanent or temporary and may or may not remain part of the finished structure. Monolithic domes are a for ...

in the form of a large concrete dome, designed to structurally withstand storm surge and hurricane-force winds of . It withstood hurricanes

Ivan Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the B ...

and

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is some ...

. It is also known as the " Flintstone Home" due to the fact it resembles a rock home. Another novelty house is the house with a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

-shaped Futuro attached as a second story. This Futuro house is sometimes known as the "Spaceship House". It was designed in the 1960s by Finnish architect

Matti Suuronen Matti Suuronen (14 June 1933 – 16 April 2013) was a Finns, Finnish architect and designer who is best known for designing the Futuro and Venturo homes in the Casa Finlandia series. The marvelous design of the Futuro went into production in ...

. About a hundred of them were constructed.

Education

There is one school on Pensacola Beach. The Pensacola Beach Elementary School, within the

Escambia County School District Escambia County Public Schools (ECPS), officially the Escambia County School District (ECSD), is the organization responsible for the administration of public schools in all of Escambia County, Florida, in the United States. The district current ...

(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 A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

.Home
. Pensacola Beach Elementary School. Retrieved on January 31, 2017. "After completing Fifth Grade at the Beach School, most children attend Middle and High School in nearby Gulf Breeze which is part of the Santa Rosa County School District." In September 2004

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

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". Pensacola Beach is zoned for (assigned to) a different ECSD elementary school, Suter Elementary School, as well as Workman Middle School, and

Pensacola High School Pensacola High School is a secondary school located near downtown Pensacola, Florida, United States. The school celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2001 and graduated its 100th class of seniors in 2005; however, the school has not always been ...

. 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. In addition, some attend Pensacola-area

magnet schools In education in the United States, the U.S. education system, magnet schools are State school, public schools with Specialized school, specialized Course (education), courses or Curriculum, curricula. Normally, a student will attend an elementary ...

Religion

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.

References

External links

*
Monolithic Dome Homes

Tourism website

Pensacola Beach Preservation & Historical Society

Pensacola Beach Webcam
{{Authority control Pensacola metropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Escambia County, Florida Beaches of Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico Beaches of Escambia County, Florida Santa Rosa Island (Florida)