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| Above, a couple strolls along a street
in the Seville Historic District in downtown Pensacola. The house was built circa 1820. | History The island was first sighted by Hernando de Soto (1539), who made a crude map and moved on in search of gold. Another would-be conquistador, Don Tristan de Luna, returned with an armada in 1559. He was hoping to permanently settle the area but the fleet and its provisions were destroyed by a hurricane. De Luna and half his men survived by begging and stealing food from nearby Indian tribes. Eventually, he returned to Spain in disgrace. Even his wife left him. Today, however, Tristan De Luna's checkered memory is honored in the names of streets, condos, sandwich specials, mixed drinks, and T-shirt shops throughout the area. Sic transit gloria. For over a century Pensacola remained forgotten and the Indians unmolested. Then another Spanish expedition stumbled on the bay and a new struggle for control began. Spain, England, and France vied for the territory over more than a hundred and eighty years until shortly after the birth of the United States. Permanent settlement of Pensacola Beach did not begin until the early 1950's. Today, the year-round beach population numbers less than 4,000. But the village can easily accommodate up to 50,000 day visitors and 6,000 overnight guests. Additional hotels in nearby Navarre Beach, Gulf Breeze, and Pensacola handle the overflow. |