St. Andrews Bay is a bay

Headlands and bays

Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...

 located in Bay County

Bay County, Florida

Bay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 163,505 . Its county seat is Panama City, Florida. The county is best known for its white sand beaches and crystal blue water, where large pods of dolphins swim year-round...

 in the panhandle

Florida Panhandle

The Florida Panhandle, an informal, unofficial term for the northwestern part of Florida, is a strip of land roughly 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide , lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is...

 of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. The county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of Panama City

Panama City, Florida

-Personal income:The median income for a household in the city was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,830...

 is located on the bay, named for Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...

. The Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railway, which ran from Panama City to Dothan, Alabama

Dothan, Alabama

Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...

 (and still exists as a smaller short line), was also named for the bay.

History

St. Andrews Bay was the location of a large number of saltworks critical for the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Edward Crissey, in command of the steamboat

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 USS Bloomer

USS Bloomer (1856)

USS Bloomer was a stern-wheel steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat with orders to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.- An unofficial acquisition of a...

, which he had been instrumental in stealing from her berth near Geneva, Alabama

Geneva, Alabama

Geneva is a city in and the county seat of Geneva County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Dothan, Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is also the largest city of Geneva County, and has a population of 4,388 according to the 2000 census....

, helped destroy numerous salt works, doing great damage to the Confederate War effort. The shallow draft of the steamboat allowed her to go up inlets where other, deeper draft vessels, had been unable to travel.