Jacksonville Beaches
The Beaches
Jacksonville Beaches, Jax Beaches | |
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     from the left, Neptune Beach, Milam House in Ponte Vedra Beach, One Ocean Resort in Atlantic Beach, Boardwalk at Jacksonville Beach, and the Jacksonville Beach Pier | |
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| Coordinates: 30°18′N 81°24′W / 30.3°N 81.4°W | |
904 | |
The Jacksonville Beaches, or Jax Beaches known locally as "The Beaches", are a group of towns and communities on the northern half of an unnamed barrier island on the US state of Florida's First Coast, all of which are excluded cities or parts of the city of Jacksonville itself. These communities are separated from the main body of the city of Jacksonville by the Intracoastal Waterway. The Jacksonville Beaches are located in Duval and northern St. Johns County counties, and make up part of the Jacksonville metropolitan area. The main communities generally identified as part of the Beaches are Mayport, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, and Ponte Vedra Beach.
Area
The Jacksonville Beaches communities are all located on an unnamed barrier island defined by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the St. Johns River to the north, and the Intracoastal Waterway to the west. The island was actually originally a peninsula until 1912, when a 10-mile channel was dug connecting the San Pablo and Tolomato Rivers, facilitating the Intracoastal Waterway and separating the land from the mainland.[1][2] The island has no official name; beginning in the 21st century there has been a push to name it San Pablo Island.[2]
The northernmost of the beach communities is
The parts of Duval County on the other side of the Intracoastal are sometimes known as the West Beaches. Further inland are Jacksonville's
History
The first inhabitants of the Jacksonville Beaches area were Native Americans. Like most of the Jacksonville area, the region was inhabited by the Timucua people at the time of European contact.
Mayport was the first part of the beaches to see any concentrated population growth, when a small community of fishermen and
Ponte Vedra Beach and Palm Valley remained much more rustic into the 20th century. Palm Valley, especially, mostly consisted of farmland. In 1914 mineral deposits were discovered at Ponte Vedra, after which point it grew as the town of Mineral City. Following World War I real estate development began in the area and the name was changed to Ponte Vedra Beach.
Governance
Relations between the Beaches and the Jacksonville city government have at times been tense. The three incorporated towns in Duval County have fought with the city over the ways taxes and government services are shared; this led to a lawsuit in 1979, which established an interlocal agreement.
References
- ^ Rooney, Jackie (September 24, 2010). "Slithering snakes just not suitable for this ophidiophobe". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
- ^ a b "Group begins process to name Beaches island". jacksonville.com.
- ^ This definition of the Jacksonville Beaches is embraced, for example, by the local newspaper The Beaches Leader, which advertises it has been "[s]erving the communities of Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, Mayport, and Ponte Vedra Beach since 1963."
- ^ "History" Archived 2010-02-25 at the Wayback Machine. From the Beaches Area Historical Society Archived 2010-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed October 13, 2010.
- ^ Marissa Carbone. Insider's Guide to Jacksonville, p. 180.
- ^ a b Burmeister, Caren (February 1, 2006). "Mayors oppose any interlocal review". The Florida Times-Union Shorelines. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
- ^ Littlepage, Ron (May 9, 1999). "Everybody wins when local governments work together". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
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