History of Nassau County FL

“No man would immigrate into Florida — no, not from Hell itself,” stated John Randolph of Roanoke in the United States House of Representatives. He declared that the newly annexed territory in 1821 was nothing more than a “land of swamps, of quagmires, of frogs and alligators and mosquitoes.”

But prior to the annexation of Florida by the United States, settlers had moved to Florida for any number of reasons: some to find land in less crowded circumstances; some to escape persecution for their beliefs, either political or religious; and, some for the adventure of being here. The area that is now Nassau County was a buffer zone between the groups which kept trying to wrest control of Florida from each other. Fernandina was a “free port” and, during the early 19th century, was the center of smuggling, piracy, and intrigue. The little town was important because of its close proximity to Georgia and provided a base of operations for businessmen and politicians.

The only permanent settlements in Florida in 1821 were at Fernandina, St. Augustine and Pensacola with a population of less than 5000. During the Spanish Period, the territory had been divided into East Florida and West Florida which became the original counties of St. Johns and Escambia on 21 July 1821. Duval County was formed in 1822 from a part of St. Johns County and Nassau County was cut from Duval County on 29 December 1824 as the tenth Florida county.

By 1993, the “swamps and quagmires” of Nassau County were home to about 49,000 people!

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Notes on Fernandina and Nassau County

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From Our Place in Time – A Chronology of Putnam County, by Nancy Cooley Alvers and Janice Smith Mahaffey 1736-1742 – James Oglethorpe stationed Highlanders at Plaza San Carlos in present-day Fernandina (Old Town). August 9, 1807 – Don Domingo Fernandez awarded grant which included present-day Fernandina Beach. August 6, 1815 – Elizabeth Esabele Wiggins, free mulatto, resident of Fernandina, and her son, Carlos Clark, free negro, each received a grant of 300 acres on Lake George. 1816 – Fort San Carlos near Fernandina built by Spanish of wood and earthworks and armed with 8 to 10 guns. February 10, 1822 – John E. LeConte and ten men left Fernandina on a project to survey Florida’s interior. December 29, 1824 – Nassau, Florida’s tenth county, was named for the Nassau River and Nassau Sound which help to separate Nassau and Duval counties. The name of the county comes from a German state linked to William the Silent and William III of England who died in 1702, was brought from England during the English occupation. January 1, 1825 – The City of Fernandina was incorporated. February 9, 1842 – Fort Clinch was established on Amelia Island, north of Fernandina. 1855 – Florida’s first senator, David Levy Yulee, was granted a charter to build a railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key where steamships waited for transport up and down the Atlantic or across the Gulf. One link in New York-New Orleans route, the Florida Railroad would run through a small settlement, Deer...

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Sky Line at Fernandina Beach Rapidly Changing

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From Nassau County Leader, 1926 The sky line at Fernandina Beach is rapidly changing, and it is predicted that before the opening of the 1927 season it will have pretty much the appearance of Pablo or Daytona Beach. Among those who have recently built attractive cottages at the beach are H. P. Livingston, C. H. Klotz, and Mrs. P. R. Brady. Others who contemplate building during the present season are J. M. Adams, T. G. Ozmer and Ben Acosta. The bath house recently constructed adds materially to the casino facilities, which under the management of Webb and Weimar, is doing an unusually fine business. The new building extends to the water’s edge at high tide and is approached by a board walk from the casino. Hundreds of visitors as well as crowds of local people are enjoying a dip in the surf these days. It is perhaps the best bathing beach on the Florida East Coast, not attended with the dangers that are so common at other seaside resorts. In the shallows along the beach children can wade with perfect safety. Life-saving apparatus has been provided by the management of the pavilion and every precaution is taken to forestall accidents....

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Nassau County Nominations and Appointments found in the Florida Territorial Papers

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Proclamation Re Election by Governor Duval [July 23, 1826] William P. Duval, Governor of the Territory of Florida, announces that an election for thirteen members of the Legislative Council will be held on the first Monday of October. Election districts are established. 9th District – within the following assigned limits, “the boundary lines of Nassau County.” Four precincts – 1st precinct at Roses Bluff, judges, James T. Oneil and William Mathews jun. 2d precinct – at the house of D. Higginbottom judges, D. Higginbottom, Ridgon Brown and Lewellen Williams. 3d precinct – at Amelia Island – Fernandina, judges, Chas Seaton, Thomas Reynolds and Domingo Acosta 4th precinct – at Wm. Frinks house, judges, William Frink, Britton Knight and James G. Smith Reference: Florida Territorial Papers, Vol. XXIII, p.p. 619, 622. Acting Governor McCarty to the President of the Legislative Council [January 28th 1828] William M. McCarty, the Acting Governor Florida, sent a letter to the President of the Legislative Council nominating the following people in Nassau County for office: James McCormickGustavus CoxDaniel McDanielThomas BackhouseChas Canto Magistrate for the Upper DistrictMagistrate for the Middle DistrictMagistrate for the Amelia DistrictAuctioneerLumber Measurer Reference: Florida Territorial Papers, Vol. XXIII, p. 1016 1833 Appointments to Office by the Governor [February 17, 1833] Nominations were considered and confirmed “yesterday”. Nassau County Judge of the county court – James T. O’NeilJustices of the Peace – Robert Miller, John Middleton jr, John Braddock, Charles Seaton, William Braddock, William Buford, Zachariah MoatNotaries Public – John Evertson, John Middleton jrAppraisers

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Memorial to the President by Inhabitants of the Eastern Judicial District

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A memorial signed by the inhabitants of Florida in 1831. This memorial can be considered a census of the free male population at that time since it appears that all men in each area signed this memorial.

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Fernandina from 1811 until 1821

Old Town Fernandina Land Plats – 1811-1821

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Fernandina was the last city platted by the Spanish in the New World, thirty years after the plat of Los Angeles. The plat of what is now known as Old Town follows the traditional elements of city planning in the New World by the Spanish. A town plaza faced the harbor with streets laid out in a grid pattern with lots measuring 46 feet wide and 96 feet deep. The Spanish Governor’s order to rezone Fernandina was signed on May 10, 1811, and read as follows: “Whereas, for the purpose of regulating the town of Fernandina on the Island of Amalia in this province, which town your Governor has observed to grow day by day, and in Order to lend it greater usefulness, comfort and beauty, I, Governor (White) ordered the Surveyor General, George I. F. Clarke, to prepare a plat of that establishment and of possible improvements which could be made in it.” The land grants given here were originally published in the American Guide Series, “Seeing Fernandina: A Guide to the City and its Industries,” in 1940. The material was compiled from documents in Spanish land grants. Square 1 Half Lot 1: Granted to Miguel Mabrite, at some time previous to 1814, presumably to build a dwelling house. Half Lot 2: Granted to Jose Jimenez, who built an eating place on it about 1813. Half Lot 3: Granted to James Cashen, Subaltern (military) Judge of the Island of Amalia and the Frontier for the Spanish Government, about 1809....

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1907 Nassau County Map

Pro Cuba and City Expansion, 1895-1937

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Building up to the Spanish-American war the port of Fernandina was used as a base of operation for those sympathetic to the Cuban plight. Arms, ammunition, and recruits were shipped from her port to Cuba. Once War was declared Fort Clinch was prepared for up to 10,000 soldiers and the economy of Fernandina began to grow again. But it was short lived as additional railroads built out in the early 20th Century to cities like Jacksonville and Savannah. Finally, in the late 1930s, the mills arrived in Fernandina and released the citizens of the community from their reliance on cotton and tobacco to timber and industry.

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