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This article is about the mainland community of Navarre. For the nearby beach community, see Navarre Beach, Florida.

Navarre is an unincorporated community in Santa Rosa County in the Northwest Florida Panhandle. Navarre is about 25 miles east of Pensacola and about 20 miles west of Fort Walton Beach. The community is centered on the junction of U.S. Highway 98 and Florida Highway 87.

Geography

The community of Navarre is located on the Gulf Coastal Plain and is built on mostly sandy soils. It is bounded geographically in the north by the East River and on the south by the Santa Rosa Sound.

Education

Education in Navarre is administrated by the Santa Rosa County District School system headquartered in Milton, Florida. The schools that serve the Navarre community are

• Navarre High School (Grades 9-12)
• Gulf Breeze High School (Grades 9-12)
• Holley Navarre Middle School (Grades 6-8)
• Holley Navarre Elementary School (Grades 3-5)
• Holley Navarre Primary School (Grades K-2)
• Woodlawn Beach Middle School (Grades 6-8)
• West Navarre Elementary School (Grades K-5)

Demographics

According to an ongoing incorporation study commissoned by the Chamber of Commerce; Tallahassee based Government Services Group Inc, released a population figure of 29,997 residents living in the unincorporated area of Navarre (one of the fastest growing areas in Florida). There are 9,000 more residents than the US Census estimate of 20,967 in 2000. Navarre is located in one of the top school districts in Florida. There were 7947 Single Family homes in the Navarre area as of 2005, up from 5,017 in 2000. Single-family owner-occupied homes with a median household income of $41,164. The below racial characteristics of the community are from 2000 estimates:

• White 88.8%
• Black 3.9%
• American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
• Asian 2.3%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1%
• Some Other Race 1.3%
• Mixed Race 2.8%
• Hispanic 4.1%

The mixed racial diversity of Navarre is caused by the community's proximity to the transient and large military communities of Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field which are a large factor in the socio-economic landscape not present elsewhere in the county.

History

The founder of Navarre was Colonel Guy Wyman, colonel in the United States Army. His family used to visit the area, and they had purchased a lot of property. Wyman was in World War I where he met a lovely French nurse named Noel. He wanted to bring her back with him to the United States to marry her, and the only way he could bring her back was to adopt her. So, he did. Noel had actually named Navarre after a province in Spain near France . During the Great Depression, they couldn’t pay the taxes on it. So they had to start selling it off. Part of that property is where the Navarre Park is today. Noel traveled to New York to teach French to earn money to pay the taxes. When she came back, Colonel Wyman had taken a shining to another young lady. When their divorce was final, he told Noel not to set foot on his property. She came on his property allegedly to tend to a pet cemetery that she had, and Colonel Wyman shot her. He didn’t get in trouble because he had warned her. Colonel Wyman’s parents were murdered in Navarre by the Roberts brothers. Apparently, the Roberts brothers thought the Wymans had a lot of money, tried to rob them and ended up murdering them. They were caught and then hanged in Crestview.

• Santa Rosa County, Florida
• Pensacola Metro Area
• Unincorporated communities in Florida