Ann Hayman, GRI,CDPE,IRES, Jacksonville FL. Gated Communities , Real Estate

Welcome to our Charming small town.

The City of Green Cove Springs

The area was first settled in the mid 1800's and was called White Sulfur Springs. The spring in the mid 1850's made the area a tourist destination, as some believed the warm sulfur waters were medicinal. A few of the more notable visitors that vacationed here were the Astor's, the Vanderbilt's and Henry Flagler, who with his railroad was a major catalyst in Florida's growth.

In the 1850's about 1500 people lived in Green Cove, today that number is about 6,000, in town. The population in the greater Green Cove area is approximately 24,000; even with our growth we still have that relaxed, friendly small town flavor.

Green Cove Springs is growing, with places like, Magnolia Point, a gated, golf course community, the new Bay Street Condominiums on the river and in the planning stages more waterfront development, lofts, offices and a hotel.

Green Cove Springs is the county seat for Clay County. The county includes the towns of; Orange Park, Fleming Island, Middleburg, Lake Asbury and Keystone Heights. Some of the communities you will find here are Oakleaf, Orange Park Country Club, Eagle Harbor, Pace Island, Fleming Plantation, Magnolia Point, Margarets Walk, Rolling Hills, Ravines and Fox Meadow. There is something for every budget and lifestyle in Clay County.

If you would like to have a lifestyle that can be everything from the quick, vibrant heartbeat of the city, (Jacksonville), or the more active atmosphere of many of our suburban neighborhoods that offer all the amenities; shopping, entertainment and great schools, or maybe you would like to have the friendlier feel of a "small town" (Green Cove Springs) experience to live in. No matter what or where you are in your thinking about a place to live, this area of Florida, from oceanfront to country, we have it all.

Come; join us, we are happy to have you!

For Northeast Florida it is the beautiful St. Johns River. The St.Johns begins its journey to the north 310 miles south of Jacksonville in the general vicinity of Melbourne Florida, as an area of wetlands.

By the time it reaches my "Old Florida" hometown of Green Cove Springs, on her west bank, St Johns requires that the Shands Bridge span a 1 mile arc over her wide flowing water, with abundant fish, wildlife, birds, grasses and cypress trees, to where her east bank meets St. Johns County, to find waterfront estates, Julington Creek Plantation and the new Rivertown development.

As she moves north from Green Cove Springs. Her waters spill into the Black Creek,

a haven for people that love the water for living and recreation, boating, jet skiing, fishing and all things to do with the waterfront living lifestyle.

Moving on towards Fleming Island she graces lovely waterfront homes and gives her waters to Drs. Lake with a calm, safe harbor for boaters and manatees alike. When she reaches Orange Park her banks are decorated with riverfront homes and the elegant Club Continental inviting you to gourmet dining and old world ambiance.

She moves on leaving Clay County at the Buckman Bridge before entering Jacksonville (Duval County) and making her way by Naval Air Station Jacksonville, onward to the established neighborhoods of Ortega and Venetia with the Timuquana Club opened in 1923 and many lovely homes that overlook the cityscape of Jacksonville's downtown. Flowing onward north she passes Avondale and Riverside with stately mansions that staked their claims to the river in the late 1890's.

Now, her waters quicken as she nears downtown Jacksonville, beginning her first eastern turn she passes under the Fuller Warren Bridge and quickly glides under the Acosta and Main St. Bridges and into the heart of downtown with San Marco and Southside on the south bank and the heartbeat of the city, high rise office buildings, hotels and condominiums on the north bank. Here she will listen to the fans roar for the Jaguars at Memorial Stadium. Now she fast approaches the Hart Bridge and makes her last north turn, taking her past Arlington and under the Matthews Bridge, the last of the downtown bridges. Soon she will reach Sandfly Point and the coast guard station where she begins her turn east for the last time. At this point she will rush to meet the magnificent Dames Point Bridge, rising 175 feet above her waters, and the fast growing north side of town, past the bluffs of Arlington, as she approaches Ft. Caroline beyond.

As she begins to meet the end of her journey, she will blend her waters with the Intracoastal Waterway, where the estuaries provide the nurseries for countless fish and wildlife. She comes to her end, almost, at Mayport and the Naval Air Station, performing one more task, the one that now brings in on her tides the cargo and cruise ships, the shrimp boats, fisherman, pleasure boaters and soon the new nuclear carrier and its attendants into the Port of Jacksonville. She has completed her journey.

The St. Johns River on her 310 mile journey to the north has provided, for us, water for the aquifer, she has feed and they her, many rivers, lakes, creeks, streams, sloughs, wetlands and marshes, given habitat for untold numbers of birds and all manner of wildlife in all their wonderful, beautiful diversity.

The St. Johns River is emphatically, "The River of Life".