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and a Mexican pirate named Luis Aury, in addition to French and Spanish colonizers. The frequent identity changes led to Amelia Island’s nickname, “Isle of 8 Flags.”
During the American Revolution, Amelia Island, and the rest
of Florida, remained loyal to the crown. Fernandina even became home to English Loyalists that fled the Northern colonies. On June 30, 1778, near present-day Callahan, British troops turned back a group of American militiamen in a skirmish at Alligator Creek. Nassau County was established in 1824. Some people believe the county was named after the Nassau Sound, though there is no proof to support the claim. Construction on Fort Clinch began in 1847, but has never been completed. Even though it wasn’t entirely finished, it was occupied by both sides during the Civil War. Great prosperity blessed the Fernandina area in the late 1800s and early 1900s, as a result of tourism and the start of the modern shrimping industry. In addition, the towns of Callahan, Yulee and Bryceville were established during this time due, in large part, to the success of the local railroad system and timber industry. In the late 1930s, A.L. Lewis, president of the Afro-American Insurance Company in Jacksonville, established American Beach on the southern end of Amelia Island. The beach became a prominent African-American resort area. From the 1930s into the 1960s, the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line Railroads rattled through Callahan, transporting travelers from the Florida peninsula to the Northeast. Seaboard used the remaining segment of the Florida Railroad in Callahan, which was eventually torn out around 1974.
In 1958, Hilliard became home to the Federal
Aviation Administration’s Air Traffic Control Center, which controls en route air traffic in
five southeast states. The White Oak Conservation Center was established by Howard Gilman, owner of the Gilman Paper Company in 1982. A 7,500-acre property near Yulee, the center provides a sanctuary for the conservation and propagation of threatened and endangered wildlife species. Nassau County is one of the fastest growing rural counties in Florida. The current population is more than 74,000. The county plans to preserve its natural beauty as well as provide a welcoming community for new growth.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY In 1565, Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded
St. Augustine, “The Nation’s Oldest City,” at the site of the Timucua village, Seloy. Within a century, the city was attacked twice—in 1586, by English corsair Sir Francis Drake who burned the city down, and in 1668, by pirate Captain John Davis who killed 60 inhabitants. Even with these setbacks, the early settlers of St. Augustine stayed and rebuilt after each attack. St. Johns County was chartered in 1821, but American tycoon and railroad developer, Henry Flagler, is credited with transforming St. Augustine in the late 19th century. Flagler built two lavish hotels, Alcazar (now the Lightner Museum and City Hall) and Hotel Ponce de Leon (now Flagler College), thereby turning St. Augustine into a major resort town for the wealthy leisure traveler. Flagler’s cousin, Thomas Horace Hastings, established a plantation west of St. Augustine to grow winter vegetables for Flagler’s resort hotels. In 1909, the town of Hastings was chartered and became known as the “Potato Capital of Florida,” because the Irish potato was its biggest money crop.
In 1914, a discovery was made on the beaches in the northern
section of St. Johns County. Engineers Henry Holland Buckman and George A. Pritchard found over a dozen industrial minerals, including rutile and ilmenite—elements necessary for the production of titanium. The National Lead Company bought the land from the chemical engineers and named it Mineral City. The town played a crucial role in World War I as the country’s leading producer of titanium. In 1928, Mineral City was renamed Ponte Vedra Beach. Julington Creek, Switzerland and Fruit Cove, in the northwest part of St. Johns County, are historically rural, but are expanding rapidly with new neighborhoods, shopping
centers and businesses. St. Johns County is one of the fastest growing communities in Florida. The master-planned golf community, World Golf Village, receives much of the credit for the county’s growth. The region is a worldwide recreational destination, home to THE PLAYERS Championship, PGA TOUR Headquarters, ATP Tennis America’s Headquarters and the World Golf Hall of Fame.
_________________________________________________________________ Top: Flagler College, previously Hotel Ponce de Leon, photo by Jacqueline Persandi Center: Battle of Bloody Mose, photo courtesy of Florida Park Service
Bottom: Flagler College, previously Hotel Ponce de Leon, photo by Jacqueline Persandi
16 First Coast Relocation GuideTM 2014
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