Northwest Florida History and Historical SitesNorthwest Florida history is the history of America. Its genealogy includes ancient Native Americans, Spanish conquistadors, pirates, and Civil War soldiers. For thousands of years the region has been visited by both nomads and settlers and historical sites can be found from Pensacola to Tallahassee.Spanish explorers discovered the region beginning in 1513 with Juan Ponce de Leon, who did Not find the fountain of youth, but who did find some hostile Native Americans. Hernando de Soto came looking for gold and discovered the Apalachee, Florida's most advanced civilization and for whom the Appalachian Mountains were named. He spent the winter of 1539 in their village and evidence of his encampment was found in downtown Tallahassee. Later, Mission San Luis was established here as Spain's western capital. In 1559, Don Tristan de Luna established the first European settlement at Pensacola, but the colony only lasted a short time before being destroyed by a hurricane. Later attempts to settle the area were made and Pensacola was ruled by Spain for some 240 years before bouncing back and forth to Britain, France, back to Spain, and to the newly created United States. It was briefly under the Confederate flag until the end of the Civil War allowed the stars and stripes to fly permanently. Today the “City of Five Flags” is a vibrant anchor for art, attractions, dining, and shopping at the west end of the state of Florida. It is also the location of an important naval base that is home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team.
The largest concentration of antebellum plantations (71) can be found near Tallahassee. Civil War battles are remembered and re-enacted at events and festivals and at historical sites like Fort Pickens and Natural Bridge Battlefield. African American history is immortalized at Fort Gadsden State Historic Site, and at the Constitution Convention Museum you can see where the first Florida constitution was signed in 1838. All of this is interwoven in the rich taspestry of the maritime adventures of pirates, WWII U-boats, and the fishermen who for for over two centuries have found the elements to bring home the gulf's bounty.
You'd think that with so much Florida history there would be many tales and legends about the region and you'd be right. There are many stories of the backwoods, tales of pirates and seamen and ghost stories and tales of haunted places in Northwest Florida. Many towns have a downtown historic district like Pensacola's Seville Square. Other towns like Milton, Apalachicola, Defuniak Springs, Quincy, and Panama City also offer historic districts where antiquing is a popular activity. In all, finding Northwest Florida history is another way to explore the many wonders of this fascinating region. go from Florida History to Northwest Florida Travel Home |
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Northwest Florida Wine Tour
Print Edition
Did you know wine was made in Florida more than 50 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock? Or that Muscadine grapes are native to the Southeast? You can learn about Florida wine and visit all the wineries in Northwest Florida with this unique travel guide.
If you like wine and you like wineries, this is the only guide that tells you where to find all of the Northwest Florida wineries, who are the wine makers and what wines they make. There's also a complete list of wine festivals so you won't miss any Northwest Florida wine events, recipes and cooking with wine, things to do and more.
You can buy the Northwest Florida Wine Tour print edition today and get it in time to take with you on spring break!
This is the only travel guide to the vineyards and wineries of Northwest Florida and it's an easy to use, comprehensive listing of attractions, B&Bs, shopping, state parks and historic sites, places to eat, annual wine festival events and more. You can use the book to make a daytrip, or plan a complete wine tour vacation. Best of all you can get it two ways, either as a downloadable e-book ($5.00) or in the popular print version ($11.95).
Go to the Northwest Florida Wine Tour page for more details or you can order the book now by clicking on the Add to Cart button above and start Exploring right now.
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