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Florida Counties
There are sixty-seven counties in the state of Florida. In 1821, there were only two Counties in Florida: Escambia to the west and St. Johns to the east. From these two Counties were formed 67 today. Its last county was created in 1925 with the formation of Gilchrist County from a segment of Alachua County.Bay County, Florida
Bay County Education, Geography, and History
Bay County is a county in the state of Florida. Based on the 2010 census, the
population was 168,852. Bay County was created
on April 24, 1913 from Calhoun County and Washington County. The county
seat is Panama City,
Florida. This county is named for St. Andrew's
Bay, the central geographic feature of the county.
Bay County is included in the Panama City, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is best known for its white sand beaches and crystal
blue water, where large pods of dolphins swim year-round. These beaches attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world each
year.
Etymology - Origin of Bay County Name
Bay county is named for the nearby Saint Andrews Bay and the abundance of Bays / Bayous within the county line.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts
Bay County History
On February 12, 1913, representatives from five towns on the St. Andrew's Bay, met in Panama City to select a name for a proposed new county. The name Bay was selected because it was satisfactory to the majority of the citizens and was descriptive of the territory that would be included. On July 1, 1913, Bay County was created by the Legislature from portions of Washington, Calhoun and Walton counties.
Geography: Land and Water
As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,033 square miles (2,676 km2), of which, 764 square miles (1,978 km2) of it is land and 270 square miles (698 km2) of it (26.09%) is water.
Bay county is located in northwest Florida. The county is best known
for its white sand beaches and blue water.
Neighboring Counties
Bordering counties are as follows:
- North: Washington County
- Northeast: Jackson County; Calhoun County
- Southeast: Gulf County
- Southwest: Gulf of Mexico
- Northwest: Walton County
Education
Bay District Schools operates public schools serving all portions of the county except for Mexico Beach, which is served by Gulf County Schools.
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