Perdido Key, Florida Informations

Perdido Key is an unincorporated community in Escambia County, Florida, United States, between Pensacola, Florida and Orange Beach, Alabama. "Perdido" means "lost" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The community is located on and named for Perdido Key, a barrier island in northwest Florida and southeast Alabama. The Florida district of the Gulf Islands National Seashore includes the east end of the island, as well as other Florida islands. No more than a few hundred yards wide in most places, Perdido Key stretches some 16 miles (26 km) from near Pensacola to Perdido Pass Bridge near Orange Beach.

From the beginning of the 17th century, Spanish and French explorers, imagining riches in the New World, began colonizing the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. A Spanish expedition from Vera Cruz, Mexico had settled on what became known as Santa Rosa Island on Panzacola Bay, named after the indigenous people, later known as the Pensacola Indians. Panzacola means "the village of hairy people." The French developed a settlement along the coast near Maubila (Mobile). They were competing in this area. Explorers from both countries had heard of a great mysterious body of water to the west of Pensacola, but they were unable to find the entrance.

In 1693 noted cartographer and scientist Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora was sent by the Spanish government to locate the entrance. Even after he located the mouth of the bay, he was unable to find a waterway deep enough to sail through. According to legend, Siquenza's ship had been blown off course as he was again searching for the pass into the deep inland waters. The ship was spotted by an Indian chief camped with his tribe at Bear Point. As the chief was walking next to the water, he spotted Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora attempting to reef his sails. He offered to guide Siquenza and his men to a connecting deep water channel from the Gulf of Mexico into the more tranquil bay. When the search party finally located the elusive bay, they called it Perdido, which in Spanish means "lost" or "hidden".

Early maps indicate that, at the time, the pass was located on or very near to today's official State boundary between Alabama and Florida. Hurricanes and other forces—natural as well as man-made—have moved the pass back and forth several times to where it lies now in Orange Beach, Alabama, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from the Florida boundary.

Pensacola Beach was once 'whites only' and what is now The Gulf Islands National Seashore was one of the few beaches near Pensacola that was African American friendly.

Army Private Rosamond Johnson, Jr. was the first Escambia County resident to die in the Korean War on July 26, 1950. He successfully carried two wounded soldiers to safety and was returning with a third when he was fatally wounded. He joined the military at age 15 and died at 17. He posthumously received the Purple Heart on August 21, 1950 and several veteran groups are still working to see if Johnson deserved additional military honors. During the early days of an integrated military it was not uncommon for recognition to be overlooked for black troops.

Pensacola beaches were racially segregated at the time of Johnson's death; the Gulf beach area was a popular area for blacks. After the Korean War, the county-owned recreational area was renamed to honor its fallen hero at the suggestion of the Sunset Riding Club, Inc. The club leased the land in 1950 from the county for the sole use of bathing, beach and recreational facilities for "colored citizens." Although the lease was canceled in 1956, the name Rosamond Johnson Beach remained. The area became part of Gulf Islands National Seashore on May 8, 1973.

A permanent monument in Johnson's honor was erected at Johnson Beach on June 10, 1996. Guest speaker, retired Army Maj. Gen. Mike Ferguson of Pensacola and the Veterans of Under Aged Military Service officiated the ceremony.

Perdido Bay is said to have once had an estimated 300 natural springs bubbling up from the sandy bottom. There were so many around the site of the Lillian bridge that when construction began, bridge engineers were appalled to see pilings sinking down below the surface, following the soft course of a natural spring. They had to devise a solution, which was building cofferdams to shore up the pilings to prevent them from sinking.

Circa 1933 Perdido Key became an island. Before then, the area was a small peninsula just to the west of Pensacola. It was crossed by a large ditch that was narrow enough to jump across, and sometimes filled with alligators. This ditch was improved and widened to become part of the Intracoastal Waterway in 1933.

The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) connecting Pensacola to Mobile Bay, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, was started during 1931 during the Great Depression. The digging that would connect Pensacola, Big Lagoon (also known as Grande Lagoon), Perdido Bay, and Mobile Bay was completed in 1933. Perdido Key Island is now about 16 miles (26 km) long with almost 60% of it (9.5 miles) protected in federal or state parks.

In 1978 the National Park Service completed purchase of over 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land on Perdido Key from Johnson Beach to Pensacola Pass for about $8 million. For years this area was called Gulf Beach, and it evolved into being called Perdido Key. Many "old timers" still slip and call the area Gulf Beach.

Environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts visit Perdido Key due to the miles of protected beach wilderness; along with the Navarre Beach Marine Park and the many miles of Gulf Islands National Seashore, the protected coastlines are a signature of the Pensacola Bay area and the remainder of Northwest Florida. Miles of preserves are used for hiking, kayaking, and bird watching.Dolphin watch excursions and sailing tours are available, as are moonlight cruises on the bay. Perdido Key's two state parks and an expanse of National Seashore offer chances to spot gray foxes and blue herons in the wild. Local outfitters offer guided tours, and self-guided nature trails at Big Lagoon and Johnson Beach allow solitude.

The azure waters of the Gulf of Mexico frame the white beaches. These beaches and their dune habitat host a variety of visitors and residents throughout the year.

The beach dune habitat of Perdido Key is characterized by several rows of sand dunes. "Frontal" or "primary" dunes are vegetated with grasses including sea oats, bunch grass, and beach grass. Among other plants growing in primary dunes are Florida rosemary, railroad vine and beach morning glories. "Secondary" dunes, further inland, support saw palmetto, slash and sand pines, and scrubby shrubs and oaks. Growing among the dunes are such species as cordgrass, salt-grass, pine trees, purslane and pennywort.

The scrub and grasses growing on the dunes are vital to the health of Perdido Key's beach habitat. The roots of plants are the "fingers" which hold sand in place, preventing it from blowing away in the wind or washing away in the tidal surge of Hurricane or other storms. Without the critical holding power of dunes and their plants, the beaches would blow and erode away.

The dune restoration project on Perdido Key is restoring or planting the following native plants:

Sand plants:

Estuarine plants:

Perdido Key is home to the endangered Perdido Key beach mouse. The small white and gray mouse, weighing 13-16 grams, blends in with the white quartz sand of northern Gulf coast beaches. While the Perdido Key beach mouse feeds primarily on the seeds of sea oats and bluestem, it will occasionally eat insects.

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