The Union Army<1h1>
The bay also supported a small fishing industry and racks of fresh fish being smoked along the shores of the bay were not uncommon sights during the Antebellum era.
The outbreak of the Civil War, of course, brought much of this activity to a crashing halt. The appearance of Union blockade vessels in the bay quickly ended St. Andrews' popularity as a resort and by 1862, the community was all but abandoned.
Instead, the Panama City area became a center for the Confederacy's vital salt industry.
Massive amounts of salt were needed to preserve meat for the Southern armies and massive saltworks sprang up along St. Andrew Bay and connected North, East and West Bays.
Water from the bays was placed in large boilers and boiled until a salty residue could be collected from the bottoms of the vats. Salt, in fact, became one of the most valuable commodities in the South and was so important that men were exempted from military service if they labored in the saltworks.
The Union navy, of course, tried to end these operations and the Panama City area was the focus of numerous raids against saltworks. The raids were only marginally successful, for no sooner was one set of works destroyed than a new set popped up to replace them.
As Union warships shut down larger points, St. Andrew Bay also became a port for Southern blockade runners. These fast ships slipped in from the Gulf, usually at night, to bring in badly needed supplies and take shipments of cotton back out for sale to keep the Southern economy alive.
The Confederate blockade runner Florida (not to be confused with the famed Southern raider of the same name) was the focus of a major operation by the Union Navy after she ran into St. Andrew Bay in 1862. Captured by a boat party, the Florida was converted into the warship Hendrick Hudson by the Union
Navy and eventually took part in the campaign leading to the Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida in March of 1865.
The Union army and navy both used St. Andrew Bay as a base for significant raids into the interior. One of these expeditions, carried out by the army in 1864, penetrated the farms and plantations along the Econfina and resulted in considerable damage. Another, launched by the navy in January of 1865, resulted in the capture of the Confederate troops at Ricco's Bluff on the Apalachicola.
Actual fighting in the Panama City area was limited, but some encounters did take place. The most significant of these was a skirmish fought at St. Andrew on March 20, 1863.