Editing Escambia County, Florida (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Pensacola, Florida}}

The area had been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous peoples of varying cultures. Historic [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]] tribes at the time of European-American settlement were the [[Pensacola people|Pensacola]] and [[Muscogee (Creek)|Muscogee]], known among the English as the Creek.

Escambia County had been part of Spanish colonial settlement before the United States acquired it in 1818. The county was organized by European-Americans on July 21, 1821; it was named for the [[Conecuh River|Escambia River]]. The name "Escambia" may have been derived from the [[Creek language|Creek]] name ''Shambia'', meaning "clear water",<ref>[http://www.co.escambia.al.us/history.html Escambia County Alabama History] - accessed August 18, 2009</ref> or the [[Choctaw language|Choctaw]] word for "cane-brake" or "reed-brake".<ref>[http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/escambia.html Alabama Department of Archives and History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204183123/http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/escambia.html |date=December 4, 2010 }} - accessed August 18, 2009</ref> The Choctaw were another major tribe in the Southeast.

Created on the same date, Escambia and [[St. Johns County, Florida|St. Johns]] Counties were Florida's two original counties, covering the entire territory within modern state boundaries. The [[Suwannee River]] was the border between them,<ref>''Today in Florida History!'', July 21, 2012, www.myfloridahistory.org, Florida Historical Society, Cocoa, Florida</ref> following a winding path from the northern border of the state to the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Essentially, the Escambia county government had jurisdiction over the "[[Florida Panhandle|panhandle]]" and "[[Big Bend (Florida)|big bend]]" areas, and St. Johns over the remainder of the entire state.

As population increased in the frontier territory, 21 counties were later organized from Escambia county directly or indirectly. They include [[Jackson County, Florida|Jackson]] (1821), [[Gadsden County, Florida|Gadsden]] (created from Jackson)(1823), [[Leon County, Florida|Leon]] (1824), [[Walton County, Florida|Walton]] (1824), [[Washington County, Florida|Washington]] (created from Jackson and Walton)(1825), [[Hamilton County, Florida|Hamilton]] (1827), [[Jefferson County, Florida|Jefferson]] (1827), [[Madison County, Florida|Madison]] (created from Jefferson) (1827), [[Franklin County, Florida|Franklin]] (1832), [[Calhoun County, Florida|Calhoun]] (1838), [[Santa Rosa County, Florida|Santa Rosa]] (1842), [[Wakulla County, Florida|Wakulla]] (created from Leon) (1843), [[Holmes County, Florida|Holmes]] (created from Jackson and Walton) (1848), [[Liberty County, Florida|Liberty]] (created from Gadsden) (1855), [[Lafayette County, Florida|Lafayette]] and [[Taylor County, Florida|Taylor]] (created from Madison) (1856), [[Bay County, Florida|Bay]] (created from Washington) (1913), [[Okaloosa County, Florida|Okaloosa]] (created from Santa Rosa and Walton) (1915), [[Dixie County, Florida|Dixie]] (created from Lafayette) (1921), and [[Gulf County, Florida|Gulf]] (created from Calhoun) (1925). The number of counties in Florida since 1925 has been stable at 67.