Pensacola Lighthouse

For more than four and a half centuries the ships of various nations have sought shelter in the protected waters of Pensacola Bay.   For the past century and a half, the captains of vessels have had the good fortune to find a lighthouse at Pensacola Bay to guide them. Prior to that time, vessel captains were forced to rely on the bay's natural features to help guide them safely through the winding channel. The most prominent natural feature at the mouth of Pensacola Bay is the Barrancas. This Spanish word refers to a gully or ravine. Early settlers used the term to describe the reddish colored bluff on the mainland opposite the channel leading into Pensacola Bay. The earliest reference to the Barrancas as a navigational aid can be found in the letters associated with the earliest known expedition to Pensacola Bay, that of Don Tristan de Luna, who attempted to settle Pensacola in 1559. In that year Don Luis de Velasco, the Viceroy of New Spain, wrote of Pensacola Bay that "the entrance over the bar is half a league wide, and has very good marks at the entrance, there being a reddish ravine (barranca vermeja) at the eastern side."