Located in northwestern Florida, ten miles from the Alabama state line to Pensacola, Pensacola is rich in historic, military aviation and natural attractions, all with signatures of the sun, sand, seafood and water resources of Florida.
Pensacola:
Although St. Augustine, on the east or Atlantic coast of Florida, is considered the oldest city in the United States and rooted after Admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles sailed to him and founded the colony Pensacola in the west of the state or the Gulf side, could claim the title if his own settlement continued.
Six years ago, in August 1559, the Spanish explorer Tristan de Luna abandoned his own anchor in the area of local tribes called “Panzacola” for “long-haired people” with the intention to hold Luis de Velasco, Mexican governor of the Gulf. .
Well prepared and prepared, he was equipped with 11 ships and thought of 1,500 potential colonists, among whom were African slaves and Mexican Indians. But the story was forced to take an unfair fork on the road, when on September 19 a violent hurricane destroyed eight ships of the moon.
However, in an attempt to save the expedition, he sent one of them to Veracruz, Mexico, to get help, with the result that immigrants pumped out of existence on the shore and survived, depleting the supplies they bought. However, instead of re-supplying the colonists, ships arriving a year later rescued the survivors by sending them to Havana and leaving a little more than a military outpost by the spring of 1561. By August, the competent soldiers left the new land and returned to Mexico, considering it too dangerous to settle.
Although at the time it was outside of knowledge, it claims to fame as the oldest, uninterrupted city in the United States, which it can never do.
In fact, for almost 150 years, in 1698, foreign forces would again try to gain a foothold - in this case, Spain created a more successful garrison in what would become modern Pensacola, and in this direction the colonial city.
As has often happened in history, the land that was once established was a prize that others considered often by military means, and Pensacola was no exception. The Spaniards first surrendered to the French in May 1719, but this hardly ended in his possession. France, Spain, Great Britain and Spain will again take possession in the next century, until the latter finally gives way to Florida to the United States in 1821. Since the Confederation also "took up residence," Pensacola is considered the "city of five flags."
Much of its nearly 500-year history is preserved and can be experienced in the historic district of Pensacola, which is managed by the UWF Historical Foundation, which is an organization supported by the University of West Florida, and consists of 27 objects on the National Register of Historic Places.
The reception, which can only be purchased for a week, includes guided tours and entrance for visitors, and tickets can be obtained from the High Chamber of Tivoli.
There are many important structures. The square of Seville, for example, is the center of the old settlement and served as one of the ends of the British route, ending at its twin, Plaza Ferdinand VII. It was here that General Andrew Jackson took over the territory of West Florida from Spain in 1821 and for the first time raised the US flag.
The small, preserved part of Fort George, the goal of the Battle of Pensacola in the American Revolution, is a symbol of the British occupation from 1763 to 1781.
The original houses abound, including the cottage Julee Panton, the house of Lavall in 1805, the house of 1871, Dorr, and the house of the 18th year of Lier-Rosh Blave.
The Church of the Old Christ, located on Seville Square and built in 1824 by slave labor, is the oldest of its kind in the state, which still occupies its original place.
There are also several museums: TT Wentworth, Jr., State Museum of Florida, which was built in 1908 and originally served as the city hall, the Pensacola Children's Museum, the Voice of Pensacola multicultural voice center and the Commerce Museum.
Although not part of the historic city of Pensacola, the Pensacola Grand Hotel is located on the site of the Louisville and Nashville passenger depot, which was built in 1912 to replace the original 1882 L & N Union Station, which served Pensacola for 58 years. He is now in the National Register of Historic Places.
Rebuilt in its original splendor and turned into a hotel with a 15-story glass tower, it retains most of its early decoration, including a French clay tiled roof and ceramic tiled tiled floor, and is decorated with period pieces, such as a solid, cast bronze light and antique furniture.
Its luxurious “1912, restaurant”, located on the ground floor, has Biva entrance doors from London, a cast bronze French-style chandelier from Philadelphia, 1885 from plywood from the Victorian hotel in Scranton and a grill with Lloyd from London.
Pensacola Naval Station:
There are several important sights at the Pensacola Naval Station that you can ask for the visitor’s help and require identification, such as a license, to enter
Located on the site of a naval yard, which was built in 1825, it began as an aviation training station at the beginning of World War I with nine officers, 23 mechanics, eight aircraft and ten shadows on the beach, and was considered the first of its kind.
Expanding sharply because of the Second World War, he trained 1,100 cadets a month, who together flew about two million hours. After its base navy training headquarters moved its headquarters from Corpus Christi, Texas to Pensacola, jet jets were included in the program. Today, 12,000 active military personnel are assigned to the station, 9,000 of whom receive training in aviation.
The internationally updated National Museum of Naval Aviation, also located here, is the largest and one of the most visited tourist attractions in Florida. It did not begin as a tourist spectacle, but instead as a means of incorporating the history of naval aviation into the curricula of cadets for whom there was either sufficient time or funding of the traditional teaching method.
The object, originally located in a 8,500 square foot wooden frame, originally from World War II, became the locus for selecting, collecting, storing and displaying aircraft and artifacts that represent the development and legacy of the service industry. He opened his doors on June 8, 1963.
Constantly expanding, there are currently 700 aircraft in its collection, which are displayed in its 11 other official Navy museums across the country, but about 150 uniquely restored here are still on display here after a new facility with 37 open acres and 350,000 square meters. feet of indoor space was completed. Free admission.
Divided into the South Wing, the West Wing, the mezzanine of the second floor and a separate hangar bay, it tracks the evolution of naval aviation and airplanes that he exploited from his invasion to the latest Middle Eastern conflicts.
For example, Triad A-1 was named so because if it works in three areas of air (wings), water (floats) and earth (wheels). Nieuport 28 in the “First World War” section contributed to the experience of an aircraft carrier, and the mammoth Navy-Curtiss NC-4, on the threshold of the Golden Age exhibition, first crossed the Atlantic from Trepassi, Newfoundland, to the Azores Islands from Portugal.
Speed from jet fighters during the Cold War is represented by such types as the McDonnell F2H-4 Banshee, the North American FJ-2 Fury and the Russian MiG-15.
The central element of the western wing is the island of USS Cabot and a copy of its carrier deck, which contains an extensive collection of World War II airplanes, including the Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat, Vought-Sikorsky FG-1D Corsair, and General Motors (Grumman ) TBM Avenger.
Of the many exhibits on the mezzanine of the museum, which themselves see both the South and the West wings, and one can even gain access to the ground stairs for airliners, there can be none that will have more contrast with each other than those of aviation and spacecraft. research.
From the first step, formed from a spherical balloon, first successfully carried out by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783, the aircrafts were large controlled balloons that reached the buoyancy principle, but included engines for thrust and rudders and elevators for yaw (steering) ) and longitudinal (stepping) control axis. Suspended gondolas had a crew and passengers. The rigid types were distinguished by internal frames that were not required for non-rigid, such as bigmpy.
There are gondolas or control vehicles from the K-47 naval airships of the Navy and the Second World War. The latter, delivered on May 19, 1943 at the Moffett, California, field, had an internal volume of 425,000 cubic feet.
In the second, or space, case, a copy of the space capsule of the Mercury Freedom 7, the original of which was launched at 116.5 nautical miles and had air / space behavior for 14.8 minutes, the presentation of naval aviation in the Cosmos Program, since naval aviator Alan B. Shepard became the first American to enter this area on May 5, 1961.
Also on display is the original command module Skylab II, which revolved around the Skylab space station for 28 days from May to June 1973. Under the control of the triple crew of all naval forces, he established several records, including the longest manned space flight, the greatest distance, and the largest mass docked in space.
Visible on both the mezzanine floor and the main floor is a 75-foot tall, 10,000 square foot Blue Angels Atrium, which designates the South and West wings and includes four Douglas A-4 Skyhawks in a diving diamond painted in the aerobatic team & # 39; dark blue life.
Hangar Bay One, an area of 55,000 square feet of exhibit space, has such aircraft as the Sikorsky VH-3 Sea King, which carried Presidents Nixon and Ford in the 1970s; Douglas R4D-5L Skytrain, which first landed at the South Pole of Antarctica in 1956; and the Grumman F-14D Tomcat, a supersonic, combat fighter who registered the last combat mission.
Visitor services include optional tours, a giant laser-powered on-screen cinema featuring several daily films, two souvenir shops and the Cubi Bar Café.
Practicing flights of the accused Blue Angels demonstration team can be viewed on the Museum's flight line, north of the museum itself.
Another historic landmark on the naval station is Pensacola Lighthouse.
Because of the strategic importance of the port of Pensacola, Congress allocated $ 6,000 in March 1823 for the construction of the lighthouse, selecting a suitable site in June, but temporarily replacing the floating Aurora Borealis alternative until construction was completed. Transferred from the mouth of the Mississippi River, it was located beyond the western tip of the island of Santa Rosa.
The permanent structure, a 40-foot white brick tower with ten whale oil lamps, each of which was reinforced with a 14-inch reflector, was first illuminated on December 20 of the following year and allowed the sailing ships to head towards it and then enter the harbor.
Although he was more useful than the floating boat he replaced, he began to identify his shortcomings by 1850: he was built by trees on the island of Santa Rosa, and his light was too dim to serve as an effective navigation tool, prompting the newly created Beacon Advice to recommend a replacement that would rise at least 150 feet high.
Responding to his request, Congress allocated $ 25,000 in 1854 and another $ 30,000 in two years. The construction of a new facility, located half a mile west of the original, was completed in 1858. Having risen to 159 feet from the base with a diameter of 30 feet and narrowing to a 15-foot top, it was first illuminated on New Year's Day, 1859, by Keeper Palmes. He was distinguished by the most powerful lens currently available, Fresnel of the first order.
Currently, the Pensacola Lighthouse on the National Register of Historic Places offers the visitor a glimpse of the life of the bright custodian of the mid-19th century, visiting the visitor center and the museum shop located in the house of the carriages of the 1890s, in 1869, holds quarters and the lighthouse with 177 steps, from which you can climb to the panorama of Pensacola Bay.
Another historic landmark at Pensacola Naval Station is Fort Barrancas.
“Located on a cliff overlooking Pensacola Bay, Fort Barrancas was built to protect the United States from foreign invaders,” the National Park Service reports. "Once considered vital for national defense, today Fort Barrancas highlights the evolution of American military equipment and values."
Shortly after Spain ceded Florida to the United States, the United States Navy chose Pensacola Bay as the main naval fleet of the Gulf Coast and, at the same time, the decision was sent by officers of the Army Corps of Engineers to explore the coastline. fleet.
Built over the ruins of a Spanish fort in 1798, the fort of San Carlos de Barrancas, Barrancas was the Spanish word bluff - it was the third such fortification on the bay. The existing, 1797 Batteria de San Antonio has been saved and modified.
Taking the form between March 21 and September 21 with the hands of enslaved employers who worked from dawn to dusk, it included significant armament, including ten 24-pound cannons.
Although it was built as a defensive structure, it only participated in battles during the civil war.
Due to new developments for cannons and ships of the naval war, the US government began to evaluate proposals for new coastal defenses in 1885 and after the curtain closed during World War II, it was declared an excess in 1947.
The trail leads from the visitors center to the actual serpent-shaped fort, with prominent features including a scarp and moorings, a ditch, a drawbridge, a sally port, a guard room, an open part and a water battery. The tunnel connected the last two. The cannon-guns, released from the water battery itself, were intended for ricochets from the gulf and ships entering their water conduits.
The four-foot-tall fort, 20 feet high, consisting of six million bricks, has arches and valuable ceilings.
The adjacent extended redoubt, built between 1845 and 1870, protected the northern part of the peninsula, the location of the Pensacola Naval Court.
Pensacola Beach:
The bridge and dam are connected, across Breeze Bay, to the mainland, Pensacola Beach, eight miles from downtown Pensacola and access to Interstate 110 South, is a narrow stretch of sweet sand on the barrier island of Santa Rosa, overlooking the emerald waters of the Bay and the Mexican the gulf and offering ocean related activities such as swimming, sunbathing, fishing, snorkeling, sailing and diving. Fiery red, chartrays and purple sunsets regularly paint the sky.
Beach hotels are numerous, such as Surf and Sand, Margaritaville Beach and Portofino Island Resort, as well as famous names such as Hampton Inn, Hilton, Holiday Inn, SpringHill Suites and Days Inn. Florida seafood restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating overlooking the water include Hemingway Island Grill, Flounder Chefs, Grand Marlin, Shakgi-Pensacola Beach and Peg Point Pete s.
Stretching 1,471 feet into the water, the Pensacola-Persian Gulf provides fishing for blue fish, pompano, perch, Spanish mackerel and spotted sea trout. Flounder should not be pumped out.
Self-guided footprints in the sandy eco-tour, marked with informative signs, provide an opportunity to learn about the local plant and animal life, including dolphins, sharks, turtles, birds, fish and flowers. Each of them explains a different environmental topic.
Pensacola Beach is part of the Gulf Island National Coast, which itself extends 160 miles from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to Kota Island, Mississippi and includes barrier islands, marine forests, floodplains, marine habitats and historic forts . The park’s headquarters, offering orientation films and exhibits about Live Naval Oaks, is located in Breeze Bay, the island between the mainland and Pensacola Beach.
The Gulf National Reserve holds the pockets of American history and culture and encapsulates a visitor to Florida and flora. В пустоте, образованной водой и небом, например, поверхность дельфинов, плавание морскими звездами и пеликаны и чайки позволяют ветерому переносить их через панораму.
Одним из исторических заповедников национального побережья Персидского залива является Форт-Пикенс, расположенный на западной оконечности острова Санта-Роса, прямо через вход в порт Пенсакола-Бей-Харбор из Форт-Барранкас. Названный в честь бригадного генерала Эндрю Пикенса, патриота, который сражался с отличием в Южной Каролине во время войны за независимость, когда-то был самой большой кирпичной структурой в Мексиканском заливе.
Отслеживая свое происхождение до 1821 года, когда Третья система прибрежных портов была расширена, чтобы включить защиту залива Пенсакола и ее прибрежных районов, он принял вторую цель спустя четыре года, когда был принят законодательный орган для создания ВМФ и депо. В рамках трио защиты он должен был охранять западный конец острова Санта-Роса в сотрудничестве с укреплениями блефов к северу от канала и на восточном конце Пердидо-Ки.
Его строительство под надзором Корпуса инженеров армии США завершилось в 1829 году после того, как правительство приобрело 998 акров земли, а пятиугольная структура, построенная из более чем 21,5 миллиона кирпичей и оснащенная более чем 200 пушками, была завершена пятью годы спустя.
«Рабочие» использовали строительные материалы, такие как известняк, вода и песок, для смешивания раствора, пиломатериал для гриля и строительства причалов, строительных лесов и опорных зданий, листы для проводов к водонепроницаемым сводам казематов и для желобов и стоков, гранит для ступеней и траверс камни, медные листы, бары и приспособления для использования в журналах с порошком, (и) кирпич для основной работы и счетчик автомобилей », - сообщает Служба национальных парков.
Требование гарнизона из 500 человек в военное время, но в состоянии разместить вдвое больше, чем число в чрезвычайных ситуациях, пятибастинная структура, состоящая из одного уровня казематов и уровня барабанной решетки, способна развязать огненное кольцо с его стороны в сторону моря стены.
В случае единственного боя, который он когда-либо переживал, произошли во время Гражданской войны.
Сегодня посетители все еще входят в Форт-Пикенс через свой оригинальный салли-пост, главный вход обеспечен тяжелыми дубовыми дверями. Покрытые гипсом кварталы служили как резиденциями, так и больничными палатами. Арочные казематы обеспечивали охраняемые позиции артиллерии и базу для пушек второго уровня. Три основные камеры, каждая из которых содержала 1000 фунтов пороха, были соединены туннельной системой. Журналы с порошком, хранящие черный источник форта, были обтянуты деревом, чтобы они были сухими, и потребовали покрытые тапочой сапоги солдат, которые вошли в них, чтобы предотвратить потенциальное воспламенение от искр. В генераторной комнате находились паровые генераторы, установленные в 1903 году для обеспечения электричества для прожекторов и другого современного оборудования.
Контейнерный карп сформировал сухую гору, чтобы защитить форт от наземных нападений. Дождевая вода собиралась и хранилась в цистернах для питья. И башни-бастион, указывая прямо через канал, обеспечили защиту гавани.
