Area Info: Area History

Gulf Breeze shares the rich history of Pensacola Bay. Shell mounds here date back over one thousand years, evidence of the Native Americans desire for seafood. The first European settlement was attempted in 1559 by Tristan de Luna, but was abandoned two years later. The Spanish returned in 1698, but transferred all of Florida to the British in 1763. It was the British who named Town Point. British Navy Cove was the area where ships were careened, a process of hauling ships aground to allow the hulls to be scraped free of barnacles.

Florida became American territory in 1821, and by 1824 a road ran through the peninsula all the way to St. Augustine. Part of this road can be traced in the Naval Live Oaks Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore today. President John Quincy Adams authorized Naval Live Oaks, a federal tree farm dedicated to providing live oak timber for U.S. Navy ships, in 1828. The Pensacola Navy Yard dates to 1825, and the Army began building forts to protect the yard and Pensacola Bay in 1829. Beginning with Fort Pickens, the Army built harbor forts off and on through World War II, all of which are within Gulf Islands National Seashore, a unit of the National Park System. Fort Pickens was one of only four forts in the South to be held by the U.S. Army during the entire Civil War. In November of 1861, Union held Fort Pickens exchanged 6000 rounds of cannon fire for two days with Confederates at Fort Barrancas and Fort McRee. Both Confederate held forts were heavily damaged and the Confederates abandoned the area in May of 1862.

In 1931 the first bridge across Pensacola Bay was opened with great fanfare. This concrete drawbridge connected Gulf Breeze to Pensacola until the current bridge replaced it in 1960. A concrete drawbridge replaced a wooden bridge to Pensacola Beach built in 1931 in 1951. It, too, is now used for fishing and was replaced by the current bridge built in 1973.

Gulf Breeze traces its name to the Gulf Breeze Cottages and Store, which opened a post office branch in 1936 where Beach Road Plaza now stands. The community began to grow following the opening of the improved bay bridge in 1960, and continues to grow today.

Historical Highlights

• 1559 - Spaniard Tristan de Luna arrived in Pensacola Bay with 500 soldiers on August 15th. Spanish attempt at colonization was abandoned in 1561, defeated by natural disasters, diseases and hostile Indians.
• 15th-19th Century - Europeans arrived by sailing ships. Built coastal forts to protect settlements.
• 1763-1781 - British occupied the peninsula and named it Town Point. An earlier name for the area was Deer Point. Ships were careened in British Navy Cove. Careening is a process where ships were hauled aground to allow the hulls to be scraped free of barnacles.
• 1790s - Ships were built from area wood. (USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" and USS Constellation)
• 1821 - Florida became a United States territory.
• 1824 - First road built through the peninsula to carry mail from Pensacola to St. Augustine. Part of this road can be traced in the Naval Live Oaks area of Gulf Islands National Seashore today. (See historical marker at intersection of US 98 and Fairpoint Drive.)
• 1825 - Pensacola Navy Yard designated.
• 1828 - President John Quincy Adams set aside 1378 acres of live oaks as the first federal tree farm (current Naval Live Oaks-Gulf Islands National Seashore) to assure a continuous supply of timber for U.S. Navy shipbuilding.
• 1829 - The Army began building forts to protect Pensacola Bay from foreign invasion. Harbor forts were built off and on through World War II.
• 1861 - During the Civil War Union-held Fort Pickens, one of only four forts in the South to be held by the U.S. Army during the entire Civil War, exchanged cannon fire for two days with Confederate soldiers at Fort Barrancas and Fort McRee. The latter two forts were heavily damaged, leading the Confederates to abandon the area in May of 1862.
• 1861-1865 - During the Civil War a Confederate hospital, camp (Camp Ariolla) and lookout tower were built on Deer Point.
• 1871 - Escambia County Board of Health established a quarantine station on Santa Rosa Island for victims of yellow fever. Ballast was unloaded along with the sick, thus the name Ballast Point.
• 1925 - Colonel Guy Wyman platted Navarre and named it after his wife's favorite province in northern Spain. Wyman's Navarre property changed hands several times until 1971 when E.H. Pullum bought it and moved his family from Miami.
• 1928-1931 - First bridge built from Pensacola by Johnson, Drake and Piper Company of Minneapolis, MN.
• 1932 - U.S. 98 paved through Gulf Breeze.
• 1933 - First bridge (wooden swing bridge) built to Pensacola Beach. Casino beach resort opened where The Dock now stands.
• 1936 - Gulf Breeze Cottages and Store opened a post office branch where Beach Road Plaza now stands.
• 1940 - Benson Complex built, housing a store, gas station and post office.
• 1947 - Federal government deeded Santa Rosa Island to Escambia County with the provision that the county must keep title to the island public.
• 1949 - First church, St. Ann Catholic Church established.
• 1950 - Bonifay family opened first hardware store on Live Oak Street across from Benson's Complex. Allan Davis Seashells opened a shop next door.
• 1951 - Concrete bridge built to Pensacola Beach. (Current fishing pier)
• 1956 - Gulf Breeze Elementary School built and Shoreline Park area was deeded to the city for public use.
• 1957 - Gulf Breeze Volunteer Fire Department took delivery of first fire truck.
• 1960 - Second bridge from Pensacola to Gulf Breeze built.
• 1961 - Gulf Breeze incorporated with City Hall located on Hoffman Drive. (SunTrust bank location)
• 1971 - Gulf Breeze High School built. Gulf Islands National Seashore established.
• 1973 - Third bridge from Gulf Breeze to Pensacola Beach built.
• 1984 - The Zoo and Botanical Gardens opened.
• 1985 - Gulf Breeze Hospital opened.
• 1987 - UFO "sightings" put Gulf Breeze on intergalactic tourist maps.
• 1988 - Chamber of Commerce established.
• 1991 - South Santa Rosa Service Center opened serving Gulf Breeze and Navarre. South Santa Rosa Tourist Development Council established by county ordinance with funding through 2% bed tax passed by electorate.
• 1995 - Hurricanes Opal and Erin hit area.
• 1996 - Santa Rosa County began construction on Tiger Point Park, a county recreational park east of Gulf Breeze.
• 1996 - Pensacola Junior College purchased 80 acres of land (the Rogers family property) on U.S. 98 in Midway for a new campus.
• 1999 - Garcon Point Bridge opened linking South and North Santa Rosa County and providing another evacuation route for peninsula residents.
• 2000 - Gulf Breeze broke ground for a multi-use trail. When completed, the trail will complete a 40-mile loop through Navarre, Navarre Beach and Pensacola Beach.
• 2004 - Hurricane Ivan hits area.