The
Florida Panhandle is the region of the state of Florida
which includes the westernmost 16 counties in the state.
It is a narrow strip lying between Alabama and Georgia to
the north and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Culturally
and in terms of history and climate, the region is more
closely tied to the Deep South than to peninsular Florida.
Shortly after the Civil War, residents
of Florida's peninsula considered ceding the state's entire
western arm to Alabama for a million dollars. Alabama's
leaders decided that the land was "a sand bank and
gopher region," and, as a result, the Panhandle remained
a part of Florida. The region is a major source of revenue
for the state today.
The following counties lie in the
Panhandle:
Bay County
Calhoun County
Escambia County
Franklin County
Gadsden County
Gulf County
Holmes County
Jackson County
Jefferson County
Leon County
Liberty County
Okaloosa County
Santa Rosa County
Wakulla County
Walton County
Washington County
Cities in the
Panhandle include Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Panama City.
The beach towns, many of which play host to college students
during spring break, in the Panhandle are sometimes known
by the informal moniker – the Redneck Riviera. The
quartz sand on the beaches of the Panhandle is so white
that some traders reportedly sold it as sugar in World War
II. Florida State Road 20 stretches from Niceville, FL to
Tallahassee, FL, covering the majority of the Panhandle.
The Panhandle can be divided into
three major sections - East, Central and Western.
The Western Florida Panhandle is
dominated by coastal development and military bases, to
include Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, Whiting Field,
Pensacola NAS, and Tyndall Air Force Base. Significant towns
include Pensacola, Destin, and Panama City.
The Central Florida Panhandle, stretching
through Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay Counties,
has been marked by upscale developments in recent decades.
These include Seaside, Sandestin, and countless others.
In fact, development in the coastal area has become so commonplace
that very little beachfront property remains untouched,
unless it is under the stewardship of the Federal or State
Government.
The Eastern Florida Panhandle is
mostly defined by Tallahassee and its surrounding environs,
including Wakulla County.
The Panhandle has a land area of
29,276.055 km² (11,303.548 sq mi), or 20.96 percent
of the state's land area. Its population at the 2000 census
was 1,222,492 residents, or 7.649 percent of the state's
population at that time.
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