Escambia River

The Escambia River is approximately 240 miles long and flows out of south Alabama, traveling around 54 miles from the Florida state line to Escambia Bay. It ranks as the fourth largest river in Florida.  The river has a drainage basin covering 4,200 square miles, only 10 percent of which is in Florida.  The river harbors the richest assemblage of native North American freshwater fish of any Florida stream with 85 native freshwater species recorded from the river system. The Escambia River Water Management Area contains a high diversity of plants and animals. Land coverage types include large acreages of hardwood forests, pine flatwoods, and estuary marshlands. The round circular object in the picture is a bridge piling that used to be an iron truss pivot bridge that was constructed during 1917-1929 at a cost of $15,000. It connected Escambia County & Santa Rosa County. Escambia County was organized by European-Americans on July 21, 1821, after the United States bought East Florida and West Florida from Spain. It was named for the Escambia River. The name "Escambia" may have been derived from the Creek name Shambia, meaning "clearwater", or the Choctaw word for "cane-brake" or "reed-brake". Santa Rosa County: Santa Rosa County was created in 1842. It was named for the Roman Catholic saint, Rosa de Viterbo.