Ponte Vedra Beach: A History

PONTE VEDRA BEACH

A HISTORY

MAURICE J. ROBINSON

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC 29403

www.historypress.net

Copyright © 2008 by Maurice Robinson

All rights reserved

Cover image: Shoreline Dunes. Courtesy of Ellen Diamond and Fairfax Publishing, www.ellendiamond.com.

First published 2008

Second printing 2008

e-book edition 2011

ISBN 978.1.61423.094.6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Robinson, Maurice (Maurice J.)

Ponte Vedra Beach : a history / Maurice Robinson.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

print edition ISBN 978-1-59629-441-7

1. Ponte Vedra Beach (Fla.)--History. 2. Ponte Vedra Beach (Fla.)--Social life and customs. 3. Ponte Vedra Beach (Fla.)--Economic conditions. 4. Ponte Vedra Beach (Fla.)--Biography. 5. Ponte Vedra Beach Region (Fla.)--History, Local. I. Title.

F319.P68R63 2008

975.9’18--dc22

2008015020

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

To Helen,

whose optimistic outlook and encouragement made this possible.

If I should go to heaven, which I much doubt, when St. Peter lets me walk through the Pearly Gates, I’m sure that I will look around and say, St Peter, I’m disappointed. I used to live in Ponte Vedra.

—Harry Johnston

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Where is Ponte Vedra Located?

Part I: Pre- and Post-Columbian History Through the Twentieth Century

1.   Florida’s Geographic Coastline Changes and Prehistoric Civilizations

2.   St. Johns Timucuan Indians—Saturiwa Tribe

3.   America’s Early Explorers, 1492–1526

4.   Spain’s Control of and Contributions to North Florida, 1565–1763

5.   Settlement of Diego Plains (Palm Valley), 1700s

6.   Arrival and Influence of the British in Florida, 1763–1783

7.   Three Spanish Citizens Remained Through the British Period

8.   From Diego to Palm Valley, 1800s–1900s

Part II: Modern History—1900s to Present

9.   Town of Mineral City—Mining for Minerals, 1914–1928

10. First Church in Palm Valley and Ponte Vedra Beach

11. German Saboteurs—Operation Pastorius, 1942

12. Ponte Vedra Inn and Club History

13. Ponte Vedra Beach Volunteer Fire Department—Station Number 10

14. The Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library

15. Beginning of the First Elementary and High School

16. Post Office History

17. Beaches Area Historical Society

18. Preserving the Guana Tract

19. The Fletcher Legacy

20. PGA Headquarters’ Beginning and the TPC

21. ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) International Headquarters

Appendix: Chronological History of Ponte Vedra Beach

Notes

About the Author and Artist

PREFACE

I began studying the history of Ponte Vedra back in 1995 when I moved to Ponte Vedra from Virginia. My youngest daughter was in the St. Johns public school system and chose to write a paper on Ponte Vedra. The printed information that we could find was very sketchy to say the least. Eventually, we did find newspaper and magazine articles, but found nothing definitive.

I began to prepare myself to undertake the project of researching and writing a more comprehensive history of the Ponte Vedra/Palm Valley area. With the help of Dr. Shafer at the University of North Florida, and the cooperation of organizations, colleges, historical societies and friends, I have organized and written this book and compiled illustrations inclusive of the most significant events in the history of the Ponte Vedra area.

Though Ponte Vedra may seem insignificant when compared to our historic First Coast neighbors, St. Augustine and Jacksonville, I think we have an important and equally interesting history to relay here in this small but unique area of St. Johns County, Florida.

Please enjoy this chronicle of the many events that have occurred in our small town, unique to both Florida and the United States.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would mainly like to thank the staff at The History Press, especially Magan Lyons, senior commissioning editor/publisher, and Jaime Muehl, project editor.

This book would never have been completed without the assistance of Dr. Daniel L. Shafer, history professor at the University of North Florida (UNF). Dr. Shafer’s encouragement and his thoughtfulness sent me back to college to learn how to interpret history more professionally.

Many have helped me gather and present the historical information that is necessary to express and accurately recapture most of the historical events in the Ponte Vedra Beach area.

Thanks go to Taryn Rodriguez-Boette, archivist, Beaches Area Historical Society (BAHS); Charles A. Tinsley, St. Augustine Historical Society; Dwight Wilson, director, BAHS; Dr. Dale Clifford, chair of the History Department at the University of North Florida; Jerome Fletcher, Fletcher Land Corporation; Sid and Jo Mickler, Palm Valley; Phil and Julianna Howe, Jacksonville Beach; University of Florida Archives; Sharon Laird, archivist, Jacksonville Historical Society Archives; Robin Moore, archaeologist, St. Johns County; Marsha A. Chance and Greg C. Smith, senior archaeologists, Environmental Services, Inc.; James R. Jimmy Stockton Jr., Ponte Vedra; Robert Bob Kroner, son of Elaine Koehl, Ponte Vedra; Fred Cosby, certified hotel administrator, Ponte Vedra Inn and Club; Kirt Kaunath, Ponte Vedra; Steve Sciotto, Palm Valley; Inna Heilman, South Ponte Vedra; Don Staley, Neptune Beach; Ponte Vedra Public Library; St. Augustine Public Library; University of North Florida Archives; Susan R. Parker, PhD, State of Florida; Christine L. Newman, archaeologist II, State of Florida; Jennifer Lynch, researcher, U.S. Post Office, Washington, D.C.; Bruce A. Chappell, archivist, University of Florida, Smathers Library, just to name a few.

INTRODUCTION

WHERE IS PONTE VEDRA LOCATED?

The counties of Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau and St. Johns are known historically as the First Coast of the New World to be explored by the Spanish. Of these, Ponte Vedra Beach can truly boast of being first on the First Coast because it is believed that Ponce de León landed on its shores at Guana State Park in 1513.

The unincorporated area of northeast St. Johns County, Florida, includes Ponte Vedra Beach, Ponte Vedra, South Ponte Vedra Beach and Palm Valley and encompasses fifty-one square miles along the Atlantic Ocean from below J. Turner Butler Boulevard, south to and including Guana River State Park and South Ponte Vedra Beach and farther south to Vilano Beach. The twenty-eight miles of beaches are on the barrier island that extends from Mayport to the north and St. Augustine (Vilano Beach) to the south.

The welcome sign at Ponte Vedra Beach in the most northern portion of St. Johns County on A1A. The sign recalls the community’s establishment in 1928. M. Robinson photograph, 2004.

PART I

PRE- AND POST-COLUMBIAN HISTORY THROUGH THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

1.

FLORIDA’S GEOGRAPHIC COASTLINE CHANGES AND PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATIONS

BEFORE THE WHITE MAN

PALEO-INDIAN PERIOD (15,000 TO 8000 BC)

Little is known of the Paleolithic Period along the coast and in the east and central Lake District cultural area, which includes St. Johns County. Theories about the paleo-man’s existence are based primarily upon site size and the uniformity of the known stone tool kit of the period. It is thought that these early populations lived a nomadic life based on hunting and gathering, and it appears that they clustered near certain waterways, springs and cenotes (water-filled limestone sinkholes) throughout the peninsula. This information is based upon research conducted and published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when surveying the Palm Valley Bridge vicinity.

About fourteen thousand years ago, people first entered the Florida peninsula. Known as Paleo-Indians, these original Floridians survived by hunting mastodons, camels, mammoths, bison and horses. At the time, much of the world’s water was frozen in glaciers, sea level was much lower than it is today and Florida was a large, dry, grassy prairie. The North Florida coastline extended into the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico at double its present size.

Discoveries of stone spears and animal bones have been found, insinuating that there has been human travel in Florida since 12,400 BC.

PALEO-INDIAN SITES

According to Elizabeth Purdum in Florida Waters (2002), the accompanying map indicates the changes to the coastline of the First Coast and the number of years it took to change. The map indicates that Paleo-Indian sites have been recorded in Florida, but because many may be underwater and will never be located, it has been difficult to determine the extent of Florida’s Paleo-Indian culture.

A map of the Florida shoreline in the Paleo-Indian Period, twelve thousand years ago. Many Paleo-Indian sites are now underwater. From Elizabeth D. Purdum, Florida Waters (Florida State University, 2002).

Juan Ponce de León, from John Ledyard Denison, ed., Die Illustrierte Neue Welt (1858). Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The term Paleo-Indians refers to the small bands of nomadic people who first populated North America. After crossing the large expanse of land that appeared between Alaska and Siberia during the last glacial period, they kept traveling until some of them had reached as far as the southern tip of South America. Currently, however, we know very little about the everyday life of these people. The Paleo-Indians were the first human residents recorded in Florida, according to archaeologist Jerald Milanich.

After about 9000 BC, as glaciers melted and sea levels rose, Florida’s climate generally become wetter than it had been, providing more water sources around which the Paleo-Indians could camp. But as the sea rose, coastal areas were flooded and the Florida landmass was reduced.

CLOVIS CULTURE (11,500–10,500 BC)

The Paleo-Indian people of the Clovis culture colonized North America, including Gulf Coast areas of Florida, after crossing the Bering Strait from Siberia. The first material evidence of Clovis culture dates back to 11,500 BC. Although no Clovis sites have yet been found in St. Johns County, future undersea archaeology may discover evidence of Clovis culture under the Atlantic Ocean along Florida’s coast.

THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

The Archaic tradition (8000–500 BC) is divided into three parts: Early Archaic (7500–5000 BC), Middle Archaic (5000–3000 BC) and Late Archaic (3000–500 BC). Milanich states that these divisions are based largely on stylistic changes in stemmed projectile points and fiber-tempered pottery dating from the Late Archaic Period.

Throughout the Archaic Period, natives are thought to have been dependent on fishing, hunting and gathering, but with increasing sedentariness from the early to late periods and an egalitarian form of social organization.

Approximately fifteen hundred archaic sites are recorded throughout Florida. In several Florida counties, there are over a hundred sites recorded. In St. Johns County, there are nine archaic sites recorded. Because sea levels continued to rise during the Archaic Period, many more archaic sites are undoubtedly located on the continental shelf off the coast of Florida.

There are several written records from the time when the first humans were in the North Florida area. Archaeological digs in Jefferson County (which was the county seat before President Jefferson separated it from Leon County in 1827) on Florida’s Gulf Coast unearthed tusks with stone tool–cut marks, indicating that humans existed here in approximately 10,300 BC.

The Timucuan Indians of the Saturiwa tribe arrived in Florida from the North between 8000 and 1000 BC.

THE MOUNT TAYLOR PEOPLE (6000 TO 4000 BC)

The record of the first (or any semipermanent) settlement of the Florida Indians indicates that it probably occurred around 5000 BC.

The climate of the earth began to warm in about 6000 BC and the sea level rose. The Ice Age had come and gone. Archaeological evidence of mounds of freshwater snails is attributed to the Mount Taylor people. One site was Cootnie Island at the south end of St. Augustine on the Intracoastal Waterway. This was the first known site in St. Johns County and the first evidence of the Mount Taylor people living along the Intracoastal Waterway.

The Mount Taylor name comes from a site along the St. Johns River in Volusia County that was dug a century ago. The Mount Taylor people were the archaic hunters during this time.

THE ORANGE PERIOD (CIRCA 2000–1000 BC)

The beginning of the Orange Period is marked by a shift in population, the making of pottery and the use of oysters—all occurring at the same time. Mount Taylor people moved from the river’s intracoastal area to the coast. They were the first to use pottery in the New World made from the sandy clay found in the marshes. When fired, it produced a coarse, orange-colored pottery with plant-fiber impressions throughout.

They overharvested the freshwater snails during this period for making pottery and began the use of oysters. Abundances of oyster shells have been found and are called shell middens (most likely the village trash heaps). In 1000 BC, the Orange pottery began to disappear and was replaced by ceramic known as St. Johns pottery.

Only ten sites from the Orange Period are known in St. Johns County. One site is in North Ponte Vedra Beach and two are in South Ponte Vedra Beach in the canal area. However, it was not until about 2000 BC that any large settlements of Native Americans first appeared, especially near the water in northeast Florida.

FLORIDA TRANSITIONAL PERIOD (CIRCA 1200–500 BC)

During this period, changes in technology and lifestyle occurred in Florida to mark the beginning of the Formative Period. Sand-tempered and limestone-tempered pottery began to replace pottery that was created with plant fiber. A nomadic lifestyle was no longer required as prehistoric peoples refined their subsistence strategies in order to more efficiently exploit their resources, and pottery began to change.

THE ST. JOHNS CULTURE (500 BC–AD 1565)

St. Johns I Culture (500 BC to AD 800)

St. Johns II Culture (AD 800 to 1565)

St. Johns pottery took over the Orange Period pottery in about 1000 BC. This was a new type of pottery that today we call ceramic. Only a very small portion of St. Johns County was suitable for the type of farming used by the St. Johns people. This kept the number of St. Johns residents relatively low.

But by about AD 1300, the St. Johns II culture exhibited the greatest degree of social complexity in northeast Florida. Sites from this period contain pottery and other goods brought in from throughout Florida and elsewhere in the Southeast.

Jerald Milanich also noted that these were probably the first natives of North America to make any contact with the exploring Europeans at the beginning of the sixteenth century. At this time, there were no more than 250,000 recorded Native Americans throughout the state. Upon white man’s arrival in Florida, the Timucuas were the most populous native tribe.

2.

ST. JOHNS TIMUCUAN