When did that area start being called by that name? I’d never heard that expression before despite having lived in Florida (not that part) throughout the 90s.
I’ve only heard that term used for Texas, the part in the west where the Rio Grande lurches north for awhile.
I can’t say where, offhand, but I’ve heard Texas’ Big Bend refer to the Gulf coast from Brownsville to Galveston.
Great question. I never heard the term before coverage of Idalia.
Never heard it before, but there are lots of informal names for various stretches of coast.
I’ve always heard of that section referred to as part of the Nature Coast.
This link says the Big Bend Wildlife Management Area was created in 1987. So the name’s been around a while.
To further add to the confusion, I guess the “Big Bend Region” and the “Big Bend Coast” are two different geographical areas.
To further further add to the confusion, I’ve never heard the “Big Bend Coast” extend south to St. Pete, only to Cedar Key, plus, it goes west to Apalachicola.
Florida has a lot of “coasts,” and they overlap depending on who you’re talking to.
Tallahassee native here. The Big Bend has been used for as long as I can remember which puts it into the early 1970s at least. Usually in the “proudly serving the Big Bend since…” in print/tv ads, but also in weather forecasts, sports, etc.
Most of the folks around here would consider Taylor County (where Idalia made landfall) as the southern-most BB county. It basically marks the transition from the Panhandle to the Peninsula and wraps around Apalachee Bay (not Apalachicola which is further west).
There’s also the Nature Coast and, confusingly, the Forgotten Coast much of which overlaps with the Nature Coast, but those are more tourism/marketing terms rather than “regions”.
It’s the Coastal Bend, not Big Bend. That’s in west Texas. To be more precise, the Coastal Bend is the area around Corpus Christi.
ETA. I didn’t mean my reply to sound snarky.
Not at all.
Coastal Bend makes a lot more sense. I’m pretty sure I got my misinformation from Yankee weather people.
So why not a massive number of people living on the coast–like elsewhere in Florida?
A few reasons: one, very few real beaches along that stretch of the coast, it’s mostly tidal swamp, so fewer tourists. Two, there just aren’t as many people in North Florida although the condos are slowly taking over, again, mostly where there are beaches. Finally (and partially the cause of 2), that stretch lacks any deep-water ports. If you look at Florida, the big cities (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach, Tampa, Jacksonville, and, to a lesser extent, Pensacola) all have deep-water ports (or deepish, at least). The only real exception is Orlando which has other reasons for being a major city. Everything else that’s decent size is either tourist or retiree-focused.
I found a reference in newspapers as far back as 1957, so, yeah, it’s been around a long time.
Those who are less enchanted with the area refer to it as “the armpit of America”.
Homer: “Florida? But that’s America’s wang!”
That seems unnecessarily harsh. I’m now sure that wherever you’re from or currently live has it share of assholes too.
The Big Bend area has darn near zero people in it. It’s unrepresentatively under-populated compared to the rest of FL. SO if someone is bent out of shape about Florida Man or maybe a certain couple of politicians, the Big Bend is not where your problem lies.
Thank you. Hence my second point above. There are no US Senators or Florida Governors currently serving from the Big Bend. You’d have to ask the Peninsula about that.
I’m not calling the area the armpit. I am quoting numerous posts I have seen on other forums that used that description.
Nitpick: It’s the part where the Rio Grande lurches south for a while.