Navarre, Florida
| Navarre, Florida | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated Community | |
| Unincorporated Community of Navarre | |
| Nickname(s): Florida's Best Kept Secret, Florida's Playground, Florida's Crossroads | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Santa Rosa |
| First Explored | 1693 |
| Settled | 1850 |
| Founded (as Navarre) | 1925 |
| Founded by | Guy Wyman |
| Named for | Province in Spain, Navarre |
| Government | |
| • Body | Santa Rosa County |
| Area | |
| • Unincorporated Community | 89.43 sq mi (231.6 km2) |
| Elevation | 10 ft (3 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (2014) | |
| • Unincorporated Community | 42,200 |
| • Metro | 461,227 (Pensacola metropolitan area) |
| Time zone | CST (UTC-6:00) |
| ZIP code | 32566 |
| Area code(s) | 850 |
| Website | http://www.floridasplayground.com/navarre-beach/ |
Navarre is an unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County in the northwest Florida Panhandle. It is a bedroom community for mostly U.S. Military personnel, Federal Civil Servants, local population, retirees and defense contractors. Due to its proximity to Navarre Beach and its four miles of beach front on the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Gulf Islands National Seashore, it has a small, but growing community of nature enthusiasts and tourists.
Navarre is about 25 miles east of Pensacola and about 15 miles west of Fort Walton Beach. The community is roughly centered on the junction of U.S. Route 98 and State Road 87. It is part of the Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area and is known for the untarnished natural beauty, swimming in the emerald colored water, having a picnic on the beach or in the county park which is located directly on the Gulf of Mexico. Residents and visitors alike enjoy riding or jogging on the several scenic bike paths.
In 1693, Spanish explorers Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora and Admiral Andrés de Pez y Malzarraga, set sail from Veracruz, Mexico. A skilled cartographer, scientist, mathematician and theologian, Sigüenza was responsible for scouting and mapping possible sites of Spanish colonization in Northwest Florida during the expedition. While traveling in the area of East Bay in April 1693, the Spanish discovered what is today called the East Bay River. In honor of Captain Jordan de Reina, an officer who had taken part in the Barroto-Romero voyage of 1686 as well as Sigüenza's in 1693, the Spanish dubbed the waters on which they traveled, "The River Jordan". On April 11, 1693, while sailing up East Bay River, sailors aboard the Spanish ships noticed a group of Native Americans observing them from a camp near the shore. In order to greet the natives, a landing party was sent out. By the time the Spanish reached the shore however, the Native Americans were gone. At the natives quickly abandoned camp, the Spanish discovered half-cooked pieces of buffalo meat sitting over a fire, along with a fierce dog guarding the site. Due to the great number of oak trees in that place, the campsite was called “El Robledal”, meaning "The Oakgrove" in Spanish. After erecting a wooden cross and leaving gifts for the natives, the Spaniards continued their exploration upriver. Upon later return to El Robledal, the explorers noticed that their gifts had been taken. In return, the natives had also constructed a wooden cross and left a buffalo hide as a peace offering. The earliest-known map of Robledal dates from 1693, the same year as the Pez-Sigüenza Expedition. Three years later, in a 1698 map by Don Andrés de Arriola y Guzmán (the first governor of a settlement in the Pensacola area after the Tristán de Luna y Arellano colony was abandoned), Robledal is again noted.
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Wikipedia