Pensacola Beach on Santa Rosa Island is home to the protected Gulf Islands National Seashore, which means you can relax on the whitest, most pristine beaches you'll ever find. Pensacola City was incorporated in 1822. Population 56,255 based on 2000 US Census Bureau data, is the seat of Escambia County. Located in extreme NW Fla, on Pensacola Bay.

Diego Malanado, a captain under Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto, anchored his supply ship I Pensacola Bay during the 1539-1540. The Spanish established a short-lived settlement (1559-61) there; in 1698 a new Spanish colony was founded. Between 1719 and 1763 possession of Pensacola shifted between the Spanish and the French, but in 1763 the city passed the British. It again became Spanish, the city served as a British base in the War of 1812 until it was captured (1814) by Andrew Jackson.

The United States took formal possession in 1821after the purchase of Florida. Pensacola remained the capital of West Florida until 1822. During the Civil war the city was abandoned (1862) to the Confederate forces. Of interest are several historical museums and naval-aviation museum at the air-station. The ruins of a number of old forts, some dating from the 1780s, lie on the shores of Pensacola Bay.