Mary Esther, Florida
18 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1938 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Fort Walton Beach census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32569. It stands on Kohler Bayou. The Survey maps it on the Mary Esther quadrangle. 3,982 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 23 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1938 to 1994The same ground, surveyed 56 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresMary Esther grew from 3,851 to 3,982 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3,851 | |
| 2020 | 3,982 | +131 (+3%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 18 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1938 USGS Mary Esther quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Fort Walton Beach quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Pensacola quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Pensacola quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Pensacola quadrangle1:250000
- 1970 USGS Mary Esther quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1978 USGS Fort Walton Beach quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1994 USGS Mary Esther quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
7 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 7 fires within 5 miles of Mary Esther between 2000 and 2013, burning about 3,743 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 July 2007 | Debris and open burning | 1.5 acres | Florida Forest Service | 46-ST PETE FIRE-1185 |
| 28 May 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2,765 acres | Eglin Air Force Base | RUNWAY |
| 10 March 2013 | Arson/incendiarism | 1.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | LOVEJOY (46) |
| 21 November 2006 | Recreation and ceremony | 10 acres | Florida Forest Service | 430 |
| 14 November 2001 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 3.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 25 October 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 962 acres | Eglin Air Force Base | A-78 |
| 16 October 2000 | Railroad operations and maintenance | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
1 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Mary Esther: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beal Mine | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
23 since 1995Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mary Esther in 23 storm reports between 1995 and 2020: 12 thunderstorm wind, 3 lightning, 3 waterspout, 2 tornado. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2003 | Lightning | Mary Esther | 1 hurt | A 14 year old male was standing next to a swimming pool when lightning struck nearby and injured him. He was taken to a local hospital and kept for observation and released after a couple of hours. |
| May 1997 | Lightning | Mary Esther | 1 hurt | Lightning struck near a garden center, injuring a customer at a department store in Mary Esther. The male was taken to a local hospital and kept overnight for observation. He was released the next day. |
| November 2016 | Tornado (EF0) | Mary Esther | $50,000 | The tornado started as a waterspout over Santa Rosa Sound,|briefly lifted and then touched down as a tornado just south of Hurlburt|Field along U.S. Highway 98. The tornado tracked northeast and produced|sporadic damage along its path before lifting near Ready Avenue NW. The|damage was concentrated along Kohler Drive and Mary Esther Road. The|most significant damage occurred at two residences. One residence lost|part of its overhanging roof and the other home experienced significant|damage to a southward facing sunroom. Power lines were downed in the area|along with sporadic tree damage. |
| March 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | $30,000 | Winds estimated at 70 mph caused the top part of a Wendys sign to falll down. Trees were downed on Mary Esther Library. A portable building was leaning on a car at harborwalk village and top of harborwalk ampitheater fell down. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | $8,000 | High winds from a thunderstorm blew down trees and power lines near Mary Esther. |
| November 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | $5,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed a large tree and damaged road signs. |
| March 2005 | Lightning | Mary Esther | $5,000 | Lightning struck a lift station in Mary Esther. The station was off line for a couple of hours until the unit was repaired. |
| March 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | $5,000 | Trees and power lines were blown down just west of Mary Esther. |
| August 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | $3,000 | Trees were blown down just west of Mary Esther. |
| August 1995 | Tornado (F0) | Mary Esther | $3,000 | A tornado briefly touched down in the city of Mary Esther. Several trees were blown down. The tornado was spawned ahead of Hurricane Erin. |
| September 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | $1,000 | Winds estimated at 60 mph downed numerous small with a few large tree limbs on Eglin Air Force Base near the Burger King. |
| December 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | - | Tree blown down at Mary Esther Cut-off and Jonquil Avenue in Fort Walton. Reported by Okaloosa Fire/Rescue. |
| August 2001 | Waterspout | Mary Esther | - | A waterspout was sighted over the Gulf of Mexico just south of Mary Esther. The waterspout dissipated just before hitting land. |
| July 2001 | Waterspout | Mary Esther | - | A waterspout was observed offshore, south of Mary Esther. The waterspout remained over open water and dissipated after a few minutes. |
| July 2000 | Funnel Cloud | Mary Esther | - | A funnel cloud was observed near Mary Esther. The funnel never touched down and dissipated back into the cloud. |
| December 1998 | Waterspout | Mary Esther | - | A waterspout was sighted just over the Intracoastal Waterway south of Mary Esther. The waterspout went back up into the cloud and again reappeared over the Gulf just south of Fort Walton Beach. The waterspout moved east along the coast then went back up into the cloud. No damage was reported. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | - | Wind gusts to 68 mph were recorded at Hurlburt Air Force Base in Mary Esther. |
| April 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | - | no account filed |
| September 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | - | no account filed |
| September 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Mary Esther | - | no account filed |
| March 2009 | Funnel Cloud | Mary Esther | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Mary Esther | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Walton Beach | 2.4 miles | 18 | |
| Cinco Bayou | 3.0 miles | 18 | |
| Ocean City | 3.4 miles | 18 | |
| Wright | 3.4 miles | 18 | |
| Harris | 3.9 miles | 18 | |
| Garnier | 4.7 miles | 18 | |
| Shalimar | 5.1 miles | 18 | |
| Longwood | 5.3 miles | 18 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Mary Esther | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q1003695 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 286480. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.







