Bay County (pop. 168,852) is east of Walton County, along the Gulf of Mexico. The only other Bay County is in Michigan, on Saginaw Bay.
The county is centered on St. Andrews Bay.
The county seat of Bay County is Panama City (pop. 36,484). It was incorporated in 1909, at the time of the construction of the Panama Canal.
On a line between Chicago and Panama
The Bay County Courthouse dates from 1915.
Classical Revival style
The separate city of Panama City Beach (pop. 12,018) has been called “The Spring Break Capital of the World.”
The beach can be crowded.
Panama City Beach’s many attractions for tourists include a Goofy Golf miniature golf course, dating from 1959, and a Ripley’s Believe it or Not! museum shaped like a sinking ocean liner.
Including authentic shrunken heads
At Big Willy’s Surf & Swim, customers enter the building through the mouth of a killer whale.
Nearby, Tyndall Air Force Base (established 1941) is home of the 325th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command.
Mexico Beach (pop. 1,072) has one of the world’s largest chairs, available for photos.
An Adirondack chair
The city of Lynn Haven (pop. 18,493) was established in 1913 as a retirement community for retired Union soldiers. In Monument Park is America’s southernmost monument dedicated to Civil War soldiers from the North.
The soldier is facing north.
The unincorporated community of Fountain, in the northern part of the county, has a barbecue smoker in the shape of a pig at Austin’s Smokin’ Butt Hut.
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