Amy Stump · Artist

Laurel Grove Plantation, where Orange Park now stands, was a 1790 grant to Zephariah Kingsley, a prominent land speculator of the period. A grant of the same year to George Fleming, is now called Hiberia and is still held by descendants. The original surveys of lands in what is now Clay County were begun in 1830-31 and completed in 1835. Confirmed Spanish grants were surveyed in 1848-49. Clay County was formed from Duval County on December 31, 1858, and aside from returning a small portion of land to Putnam County a year later, the boundaries of Clay County remain today substantially as they were defined in 1859. The County was named for Henry Clay of Kentucky, one of the political giants of the nation in the first half of the 19th Century.

The four municipalities in Clay County are Green Cove Springs, Orange Park, Keystone Heights, and Penney Farms. 

Live-oak cutters established Green Cove Springs in 1830. Legend has it those years before this; pirates sailed up the St. Johns to this point where they filled their casks with water from the deep, clear springs nearby. The spot where they landed is now called Pirate's Cove, and the spring itself is located behind City Hall and now provides water for the municipal pool. Green Cove Springs was incorporated in 1858 and became the county seat in 1872. In the 1880's many tourists began spending their winters in Green Cove Springs then called the "Parlor City". Among them were rheumatic victims who received great benefits from bathing in the mineral waters of the Great Spring. A hotel nearby was named the Qui-Si-Sana, meaning, "place of good health". Abraham Lincoln and Mrs. Lincoln, as well as Grover Cleveland were among the winter guests at the Magnolia Springs Hotel, just north of Green Cove Springs. Thousands of gallons of water from Magnolia Springs have been bottled and sold, and it is said that Grover Cleveland had some of this water shipped to the White House.

Green Cove Springs had the first street car in the State and was the tourist town of Florida in the 1800's. Harriet Beecher Stowe often visited while living on her estate across the St. Johns River. Green Cove Springs is located approximately 27 miles south of Jacksonville on US Highway 17. The congenial little city has a picture book enchantment in its scenic location on a bend of the majestic St. Johns.

In 1803, one thousand acres on the western bank of the St. Johns River, bounded on the South by Doctor's Lake, was purchased by Zephaniah Kingsley, notorious slave trader, for starting his new plantation, called Laurel Grove, for the many laurel trees. The plantation acquired other owners after Kingsley moved his enterprises to Fort George Island in 1817.

Some of the subsequent owners were John Houston McIntosh, Owen S. Bryant, Mr. Hookey and W. G. Benedict of Boston, who formed the Florida Winter Home and Improvement Company in 1877 with the hope that northerners would flock to this sunny locale. They gave the original deed of property, 7.13 acres, for the Town's Magnolia Cemetery in 1886 and built a hotel called the "Sparhawk" that burned to the ground in 1881 and was quickly rebuilt and named the "Parkview." The hotel was located at the corner of Kingsley Avenue and River Road and housed such famous guests as Harriet Beecher Stowe, author Nixon Waterman, Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, General Ulysses S. Grant, General and Mrs. Philip Sheridan and many wealthy people from the North. In the early 1900's some of the land and the hotel was purchased by Charles Albert Brown, Jr., originally from New York State. Brown renovated the hotel and renamed it the "Hotel Marion" in honor of his mother.

In 1877, the community was named Orange Park for the many orange groves in the vicinity. However, severe freezes in 1894, 1895 and 1899 destroyed the groves and they were never replanted. The town was first incorporated on February 18, 1879, by an Act of the State Legislature, and with only 26 qualified voters, held its first election to establish the boundary line between Clay and Duval Counties. In 1963, Orange Park boasted 3,300 residents and the current population is approximately 9,666.

In 1888, Daniel Hand, a northern philanthropist, endowed the American Missionary Association with $1,000,000 to provide blacks with vocational colleges. A college was established in Orange Park in 1890 on the entire block of what now comprises the Town Hall property. The school was closed in 1918 due to racial conflicts.

In 1921, the Loyal Order of Moose purchased the "Hotel Marion" as a nucleus for its new complex, Moosehaven. In 1927, the Moose for expansion of their facilities purchased the entire vocational college complex. All of the Moosehaven facilities were moved to the River Road campus in 1948 and the old college site was donated to the Town for a civic center. The Town used the old college buildings for the Town Hall, Police and Fire Stations and a library.

St. Johns Country Day School was founded in 1953 and located in one of the buildings at the corner of Kingsley Avenue and Highway 17 until moved to its new campus on Doctor's Lake Drive in 1957. The present Town facilities were dedicated in 1963 and the old buildings were demolished. On July 4, 1976, a new library, located on Plainfield Avenue at Stowe Avenue was dedicated.

Very few of the original homes are still in existence, most being in the Plainfield Avenue area. However, "Winterbourne" built in the 1860's and purchased by Mr. B. R. Johnson in 1871, became the home of his daughter, Mr. John Ferguson's brother, Caleb Johnson, president of the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company, retired and bought the property next door to the south and built the Villa "Mira Rio" in 1923. It is now the Club Continental, one of Orange Park's loveliest showplaces. Some of the homes built in the early 1900's along River Road are still standing.

The Orange Park Woman's Club was organized in 1910 and made a significant contribution to the growth and development of the Town. They established and maintained the first library, contributed $1,500 to equip the Town Hall with its first electricity, furnished school lunches, entertained residents of Moosehaven and participated in many other civic projects. The present home of the Woman's Club was dedicated in 1930 on land given by Charles Albert Brown, Jr.

Located on Kingsley Avenue at the corner of Astor Street stood the old watering trough and hitching post in front of what is now a doctor's building. This is the "THE GATHERING PLACE" until the advent of the automobile. At the foot of Kingsley Avenue was the 1,400 foot pier built to receive the steamers bringing passengers and taking produce to market. In the early 1900's Harry Horton operated a pavilion on the shore by the pier to sell refreshments to the tourists.

The St. James A.M.E. Church, located on the corner of McIntosh Avenue and Stowe Avenue, was founded in 1879 and is one of the oldest churches in the community.

The history of St. Margaret's and its picturesque surroundings were captured by the late Eugenia Price in Margaret's Story, a novel about Margaret Seton Fleming, who fulfilled a dream by having the church built. The structure, an example of carpenter Gothic architecture, took three years to complete, however, and the first service conducted there was Margaret Seton Fleming's funeral in 1878. Though the sanctuary seats only about 50 people, which necessitates three services Sunday mornings, the smaller setting intimate setting seems to enhance worship experience.

During the 1820's and 30's, Middleburg served as a port of entry to the Florida interior. Clark's Ferry, later known as Gary's Ferry allowed a settlement to develop and prosper. Settlers developed cotton and tobacco farms, raised crops and harvested timber. Middleburg did well until to Seminole Indians became a problem. In spite of a treaty signed at Moultrie, establishing a four million-acre reservation for the Seminoles, clashes broke out between Indians and settlers. In 1835 it became war.

The U.S. Government military installation, Fort Heilman, was a catalyst for future development. During the war, civilians were employed there. From 1836 to 1841 the Fort played a major role in the war effort, stimulating the building of roads and the clearing and development of land. After the war, Middleburg continued to be used as a transportation center. It was a junction point between Jacksonville and St. Augustine, with access through Black Creek. The town thrived. When Clay County was developed, Middleburg became county seat. A year later, in 1859, in an election to form a permanent county seat. Middleburg lost the honor to Green Cove Springs by just two votes, losing much of its prestige.

Middleburg opposed the building of a railroad and therefore when the Florida Railroad was constructed in 1853, it bypassed the town. That loss, and the Civil War, caused a cessation of development for Middleburg. It was three years after the Civil War, with the development of the steamboat that the town once again thrived. River trade and a growing agricultural and timber economy brought about a boom in population. Later, the great freeze effected Middleburg as it did the rest of Florida, and hopes for the town's development were dashed even further by the decline in the steamship industry. It was a reversal unlike any other community in the state.

Population spiraled downward in the early 1900's. With the development of Camp Blanding in World War II it began to grow. The camp was a principal training facility and the area became the fourth largest population area in the state. At the conclusion of the war, however, many families left.

During the last decade, development has intensified in Middleburg. Officials are earnestly dealing with "growth management problems" and a serious historic preservation group has emerged. The population can presently be called burgeoning, and the citizens are determined to protect and preserve their historic resources and their cultural heritage. It will be interesting to observe these exciting times.

The term high tea is sometimes refer to afternoon tea or the tea party, a very formal, ritualised gathering in which tea, thin sandwiches and little cakes are served on the best china. This usage comes from misunderstanding the term high to mean formal. Most etiquette mavens advise that such usage is incorrect; (Etiquette authority Judith Martin's tongue-in-cheek interpretation is, "It's high time we had something to eat.")   Usually High Tea's are for a special occasion or in honor of a visiting celebrity or guest. This occasion is a formal one in which ladies wear good afternoon dresses or suits and gentlemen wear business suits, but otherwise afternoon tea is an informal gathering of friends.

Wintertime Sesquicentennial Events - December - Dress in the time period between 1920's - 1950's for an outragous costume ball!  This will be sure to be remembered for another 100 years - so pull out zoot suits, the ostrich feather hats,  flapper dresses and soulful hats for the Roaring 20's.  However, for the 50's you cant go wrong with circle skirts or an audry hepburn inspirational 'little black dress' with a FABULOUS hat! Men roll up your sleeves and don an old leather jacket for the bad-boy era of James Dean, or the classic crooner styling of Sinatra's  Rat Pack.