Okaloosa County is located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line. As of the 2020 census, the population was 211,668. Its county seat is Crestview. Okaloosa County is included in the Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Santa Rosa County is a county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020, the population was 188,000. The county seat is Milton, which lies in the geographic center of the county. Other major communities within Santa Rosa County are Navarre, Pace, and Gulf Breeze. Navarre is the most populated community with a population of approximately 45,000 residents. Santa Rosa County is included in the Pensacola—Ferry Pass—Brent, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which also includes Escambia County.
Walton County is located on the Emerald Coast in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida, with its southern border on the Gulf of Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 75,305. Its county seat is DeFuniak Springs. The county is home to the highest natural point in Florida: Britton Hill, at 345 feet (105 m). Walton County is included in the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 54,312, up from 51,923 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola—Ferry Pass—Brent, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had 509,905 residents in 2020.
Crestview is the largest city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. The population was 27,134 at the 2020 census, up from 20,978 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Okaloosa County. With an elevation of 235 feet (72 m) above sea level, it is one of the highest points in the state.
Destin is a city located in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It is a principal city of the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,931 at the 2020 census, up from 12,305 at the 2010 census.
Fort Walton Beach, often referred to by the initialism FWB, a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is a principal city of the Crestview−Fort Walton Beach−Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Mary Esther is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 3,982 at the 2020 US census, up from 3,851 at the 2010 census.
Niceville is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States, located near Eglin Air Force Base on Boggy Bayou that opens into Choctawhatchee Bay. It is part of the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,772 at the 2020 census, up from 12,749 at the 2010 census.
Shalimar is a town in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 737 at the 2020 census, up from 717 at the 2010 census.
Pace is an unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County, Florida. It is the second largest community in Santa Rosa County, and is a part of the Pensacola—Ferry Pass—Brent, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Pace has experienced exponential growth, and has evolved from a small, rural community to a thriving bedroom community of Pensacola with growing residential and commercial options. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,684, up from 20,093 at the 2010 census. From 2000 to 2010, the Pace CDP population growth percentage was 171.1%, and from 2010 to 2020, the population growth percentage was 22.8%.
The Florida panhandle is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a salient roughly 200 miles (320 km) long, bordered by Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is arbitrarily defined. It is defined by its southern culture and rural geography relative to the rest of Florida, as well as closer cultural links to French-influenced Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Its major communities include Pensacola, Navarre, Destin, Panama City Beach, and Tallahassee.
Santa Rosa Island is a 40-mile (64 km) barrier island located in the U.S. state of Florida, thirty miles (50 km) east of the Alabama state border. The communities of Pensacola Beach, Navarre Beach, and Okaloosa Island are located on the island. On the northern side of the island, are Pensacola Bay on the west and Choctawhatchee Bay on the east, joined through Santa Rosa Sound.
The Emerald Coast is an unofficial name for the coastal area in the US state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico that stretches about 100 miles (160 km) through five counties, Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, and Bay, which include Pensacola Beach, Navarre Beach, Fort Walton Beach, Destin, and Panama City Beach. Some south Alabama communities on the coast of Baldwin County, such as Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Fort Morgan embrace the term as well.
The Pensacola metropolitan area is the metropolitan area centered on Pensacola, Florida. It is also known as the Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) used for statistical purposes by the United States Census Bureau and other agencies. The Pensacola Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area was first defined in 1958, with Pensacola as the principal city, and included Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. The MSA was renamed Pensacola–Ferry Pass–Brent MSA in 2003, with the unincorporated census-designated places Ferry Pass and Brent added as principal cities. The population of the MSA in the 2020 census was 511,502.
The Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola is a minimum-security United States federal prison for male inmates in unincorporated Escambia County, Florida, near Pensacola. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
Okaloosa County School District is a public school district that covers Okaloosa County, Florida. The district has its headquarters in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The current superintendent of schools is Marcus Daniel Chambers.
The Crestview–Fort Walton Beach–Destin, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is a metropolitan area consisting of Okaloosa and Walton counties in northwest Florida, with the principal cities of Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, and Destin. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 286,993, up from 235,865 at the 2010 census.
Wynnehaven Beach is an unincorporated community in Okaloosa County in the state of Florida, United States. Wynnehaven Beach has a population of 2,789, as of the 2015 American Community Survey. Wynnehaven Beach is a bedroom community for Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base. Wynnehaven Beach is oftentimes considered to be part of the larger neighboring community of Navarre.
Nancy Margaret Shields Kenaston was a British journalist, and a court reporter at the Nuremberg trials after World War II. In her later years in the United States, she spoke to school and community groups about the trials.
