Pensacola

Pensacola was first settled by the Spanish Empire in 1559, antedating the establishment of St. Augustine by six years, but was abandoned due to a significant hurricane and not resettled until 1698. Pensacola is a seaport on Pensacola Bay, which is protected by the barrier island of Santa Rosa and connects to the Gulf of Mexico. A large United States Naval Air Station, the first and continuously largest in the United States, is located in Pensacola. It is the base of the Blue Angels flight-demonstration team and the National Naval Aviation Museum. The University of West Florida is situated north of the city center, as well as Pensacola Christian College, and Pensacola State College.

The area was originally inhabited by Muskogean-speaking peoples. The Pensacola people lived there at the time of European contact, and Creek people frequently visited and traded from present-day southern Alabama and Mississippi and southeast of Louisiana. Spanish explorer Tristán de Luna founded a short-lived settlement in 1559.