Florida: North-West Florida (The Panhandle)

Overview

The north-western region stretches from the state’s western border with Alabama to the banks of the Suwannee River (immortalised in Florida’s official state song). The main towns are Pensacola (in the central time zone), rich in history and where Florida was ceded to America in 1821, and Tallahassee, the state capital, a provincial Old South city of around 150,000 inhabitants, where the residents still sip mint julips on their verandas. Other major cities in the region are Panama City and Fort Walton Beach. The north-west has the longest stretches of open beaches in the state, including some of America’s finest, and some of the most glorious coastal scenery in Florida (although some areas such as Panama City Beach are a nightmare of commercialism and over-development). Not surprisingly the area is noted for its excellent fishing (e.g. snapper, grouper, sailfish, marlin and tuna) and seafood. The north-west coastline is easily navigable and is the only one in the state that extends east to west, eventually turning slowly southwards in an arc to the old-world tranquillity of outlying Cedar Key. A coastal road (US highway 98) linked by a network of spectacular bridges hugs the coast from Pensacola to just south of Tallahassee, where it heads inland. Inland areas contain a wealth of trail systems (with relaxing walks through pine forests), hidden caverns, bubbly springs, sinkholes and the Apalachicola National Forest, the best preserved wilderness area in Florida.

The north-west contains the counties of Bay (Panama City is the county seat), Calhoun (Blountstown), Dixie (Cross City), Escambia (Pensacola), Franklin (Apalachicola), Gadsden (Quincy), Gilchrist (Trenton), Gulf (Port St. Joe), Holmes (Bonifay), Jackson (Marianna), Jefferson (Monticello), Lafayette (Mayo), Leon (Tallahassee), Levy (Bronson), Liberty (Bristol), Madison (Madison), Okaloosa (Crestview), Santa Rosa (Milton), Taylor (Perry), Wakulla (Crawfordville), Walton (DeFuniak Springs) and Washington (Chipley).

© Survival Books Limited 2004

“Buying a Home in Florida” 2nd Edition, David Hampshire.

Reproduced with the permission of Survival Books Limited.

Further information on this topic can be found in “Buying a Home in Florida” 2nd edition, by David Hampshire.

For extensive information about buying a property in Florida, you can purchase this book at www.survivalbooks.net