Santa Rosa Island, Florida

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Santa Rosa Island is a 40-mile barrier island on Florida’s Gulf Coast, about 30 miles east of the Alabama border. It includes the communities of Pensacola Beach, Navarre Beach, and Okaloosa Island. To the north lie Pensacola Bay on the west and Choctawhatchee Bay on the east, connected by Santa Rosa Sound.

The island has weathered many hurricanes and storms, including a 1559 hurricane, Erin and Opal in 1995, Dennis in 2005, Claudette in 2009, and the remnants of Ida in 2009. Parts of the island are protected as Gulf Islands National Seashore.

History is rich and varied. The Spanish explored the area around 1519. Tristan de Luna led a settlement attempt in 1559, but the settlement failed by 1561 due to storms, shortages, and conflicts with local people. After a 1722 treaty, Pensacola was returned to Spain and a settlement called Presidio Isla de Santa Rosa was established. Hurricanes in 1741 and 1752 forced relocation, and a 1762 hurricane wiped out what remained.

Creeks inhabited the island for a time after the Treaty of Moultrie Creek. In 1835 the painter George Catlin described a Creek family fishing there. During the Civil War, Union troops held Fort Pickens on the island’s west end. The Battle of Santa Rosa Island occurred on October 9, 1861, when Confederate forces tried to capture Fort Pickens but were unsuccessful. A Union post was established on the island in 1863, and the garrison grew by 1864.

In 1929 the U.S. War Department sold the island to Escambia County. In 1939 President Roosevelt created Santa Rosa Island National Monument, but it was abolished in 1946. Since 1971, the fort remnants and other areas have been part of Gulf Islands National Seashore.

In 1950 the federal government gave 875 acres of the island to Okaloosa County, which became Okaloosa Island. A long beach road near the Okaloosa Island area was once open to traffic but is now guarded due to nearby military property.

There are several military missile launch and test facilities on Santa Rosa Island near Hurlburt Field. The island has faced many storms over the years. In 2008–2009, a sunken Spanish ship was found and excavated, confirming the 1559 Tristan de Luna voyage.

One of the final missions in the Florida Ranger School is conducted on Santa Rosa Island.