Gulf Breeze, Florida

Gulf Breeze is a city located on the Fairpoint Peninsula in Santa Rosa County, Florida and is a suburb of Pensacola, FL. The population was 5,665 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,333 [1], an 11.79% increase.

1 History
2 Point of Interest
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 Schools
6 External links

[edit] 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. English 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 American 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. The original bridge was converted into two fishing piers. Hurricane Ivan in 2004 substantially destroyed the fishing piers, and demolition of the remaining portion of the structure is ongoing as of 2006. 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.[2]

From 1995 to 2005, Gulf Breeze has received several direct hits and severe blows from numerous hurricanes. In 1995, Hurricane Erin and Opal made landfall just south of the city. While Erin caused moderate damage to the area, Hurricane Opal devastated much of the community. Nine years later, in 2004, Hurricane Ivan made landfall west of the city but caused widespread damage in the city, destroying many homes and businesses. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis passed just east of the city. Damage around the city was more severe than what was received in communities to the west of town.

The City of Gulf Breeze is now referred to as "Gulf Breeze Proper". The vast majority of population growth has taken place east of Gulf Breeze Proper. The City of Gulf Breeze (Proper) is geographically restricted in growth due to being surrounded by major water bodies on three sides. The only new growth can take place outside the City limits to the east along U.S. Highway 98. This growth has been explosive; many new subdivisions, schools, fire stations, police stations, and commercial retail plazas have been built just outside the Gulf Breeze Proper City limits as a result.

[edit] Point of Interest

Gulf Breeze became famous in 1987 as the site of several UFO sightings [3], www.ufocasebook.com/Search:Gulf Breeze UFO Incident.

AAA has designated Gulf Breeze as also one of seven "strict enforcement areas" for traffic laws in the United States. This rating is one level short of speed trap, and is only shared by six other cities and towns nationwide [4].

Gulf Breeze also received media attention for instituting a program to allow volunteers to drive police cars within the city and report traffic violations to police. Volunteers receive training in radio use and first aid but are not empowered to make arrests or traffic stops. The City of Gulf Breeze is known as a "Speed trap" due to a major east-west highway (U.S. HWY. 98) dividing the City in half. [5].

[edit] Geography

Gulf Breeze is located at 30°21′36″N, 87°10′41″W (30.359933, -87.178190)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 61.0 km² (23.5 mi²). 12.3 km² (4.8 mi²) of it is land and 48.7 km² (18.8 mi²) of it (79.79%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 5,665 people, 2,377 households, and 1,678 families residing in the city. The population density was 460.5/km² (1,192.0/mi²). There were 2,553 housing units at an average density of 207.5/km² (537.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.39% White, 0.25% African American, 0.55% Native American, 0.56% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 1.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population.

There were 2,377 households out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.7% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $52,522, and the median income for a family was $61,661. Males had a median income of $44,408 versus $28,159 for females. The per capita income for the city was $34,688. About 3.8% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.5% of those under age 18 and 1.2% of those age 65 or over.