15-04-2025
Florida panhandle: A roadtrip delving into the area's colonial past
Florida calls itself the "Sunshine State" and people often think about the great weather and beaches - plus the entertainment.
After all, it is home to amusement parks like Walt Disney World, Seaworld and Universal Studios in Orlando.
But there's more to Florida, starting with the Panhandle, the northern part of the state, a thin strip of land extending into the Gulf of Mexico.
It is best explored by road so grab a car or motorcycle and plan out a road trip. If you love cycling, it is manageable by bike, too, but you might want to take precautions against mosquitos.
Start at St. Augustine on the Atlantic coast and, some 650 kilometres west, plan to finish in Pensacola. These are cities with a rich and tumultuous history in this erstwhile Spanish colony.
St. Augustine: Oldest city in the US
St. Augustine was founded in 1565 and has been inhabited ever since - an important fact when it comes to the ongoing bragging-rights contest with Pensacola.
It has a European feel due to the architecture of the Spanish conquistadores, including a fortress, the Castillo de San Marcos, now a national monument. If you hop on a small train that takes you through the city, you can see all the sightseeing attractions and learn about their history.
The name comes from Spaniards who planted their flag here and called the colony "La Florida." The name is from the flower festival "Pascua Florida," their name for Easter, as the colonisers arrived on an Easter Sunday. Soon, two territories emerged: East and West Florida.
The eastern part, with St. Augustine as the capital, is the north-south peninsula which most people today think of as Florida. West Florida, meanwhile, originally stretched as far as the Mississippi River, 900 kilometres to the west. Its capital was Pensacola, founded in 1559. It was destroyed by a hurricane then resurrected 130 years later, in 1689.
Flat territory on road to Tallahassee
Heading west from St. Augustine, you see a lot of green, very flat landscape that is full of swamps, alligators, springs, wildlife preserves and state parks. Some 320 kilometres further on, you arrive in Tallahassee, the city chosen as Florida's capital in 1824. "The town was roughly equidistant from the two centres (St. Augustine and Pensacola)," says Rachel Basan Porter, a historian at the Old State Capitol.
Geography was a key factor, with Tallahassee being situated on a hill. "That was important back then, so you could see attackers early and defend the city," says Porter. There's no beach here but the green surroundings are a real boon and home to alligators, manatees, mangroves and turtles. Wakulla Springs, just outside the city, is the largest and deepest freshwater spring in the world and is a perfect spot for a swim, hike or boat tour.
America with a Spanish touch
Another 300 kilometres further west is Pensacola, a city that serves up a different image than St. Augustine. The feeling is pretty American though it has a Spanish touch, through its heritage which has been well-conserved. Visitors can get a glimpse of the early days in the Seville Historic District, home to 28 original buildings that bear witness to the often tough conditions of the 19th Century.
"To this day, Pensacola is dubbed the 'City of Five Flags'," says historian Rob Overton, referring to the five countries that ruled here over the centuries: Spain, France, Britain, the Confederacy and the United States.
Augustine-Pensacola rivalry, and a legendary account
Even more interesting, however, were the Caribbean territories, fought over by the royal families of Spain, Britain, France and the Netherlands. "The sugar there was traded worldwide and made many people wealthy," says Roger Smith, historian at Flagler College in St. Augustine. Florida fell into British hands and then back into Spanish hands. In 1819, it was sold to the United States.
Parallel to the territorial rivalries of the old European powers, there was the spat between St. Augustine and Pensacola with each seeking to be state capital. "Both wanted to be the capital, but there were also reasons against both places," Smith says.
The two cities, each with a wealth of colonial history, also fight over which is the older - and they continue to disagree. True, Pensacola was founded in 1569, six years earlier than St. Augustine. But in the early years, Pensacola for long uninhabited, whereas St. Augustine flourished from the outset and was always inhabited. So the answer depends a bit on your view.
Ultimately, neither became the capital. There's a legend about why this is. It is said that two horsemen - one starting in St. Augustine, the other in Pensacola - rode off at the same time through the panhandle in opposite directions towards each other. Wherever they met, that would henceforth be the capital. And so it was that in 1824 Tallahassee was chosen.
Even if there may be some doubts about this version, it does make for a good story.
