The History of Green Cove Springs...
Humble Beginnings, Exciting History.
High ground along the river, and a flowing mineral spring, drew the
first inhabitants to this area some 700 years ago. But historic
development began back in 1816 when George I. F. Clarke erected a sawmill in
the vicinity under a Spanish land grant.
The first settlement, White Sulfur Springs, was established
in 1854 with a wharf, a store, and several houses clustered around a
public square. During the Civil War, Federal troops frequently skirmished
with Confederate forces in the vicinity and finally occupied the town in
1864. Renamed in 1866, Green Cove Springs became the seat of Clay County
government in 1871.
Tourism flourished, eventually surpassing citrus culture and lumbering as the
area's primary economic base. River steamers brought visitors to
Green Cove Springs (the "Saratoga of the South") noted for the healthful qualities of
its spring and for hotels and boarding houses often said to rival the finest
northern resorts.
By the 1890's, the population reached more than 1500. But an
expanding railroad system carried tourists further southward, and a great freeze in
1895 destroyed the surrounding citrus groves. Soon thereafter, the city's tourist industry
declined sharply.
The advent of the automobile age and the creation of the state
highway system provided the basis for economic recovery in the
1920's. The city shared in the general prosperity of the Great Florida Land Boom.
But the eventual collapse of the land boom and the depression of the 1930's marked the
end of the early 20th century development of the city.
Between 1940 and 1945, the city again experienced renewed development. The
population increased from 1752 to 3026 as a result of the wartime
construction of Lee Field, a 1400-acre Air Auxiliary complex, by the US
Navy. At the end of World War II, eleven piers which were constructed by the Navy, and
the base, became the home port to a "mothball fleet" of some 600 ships.
And with its share of returning war veterans, the community's population
grew through the 1950's to a total of 4233 in 1960.
In 1961, the Navy decommissioned its base and the
reserve fleet was transferred to another facility. The Navy property was
purchased by the city in 1963 and later sold to the Reynolds Corporation
for development as an industrial park. In 1984, the city annexed the
former naval base into its corporate limits, thereby tying this part of its
heritage to its future growth and development.
Today's Green Cove Springs continues in the tradition
of its colorful past. The days of the river steamers, early
railroads, and the Liberty ships are gone, but the waterfront district
around River Park Inn has retained the quiet small-town charm of the
city's past.
Come visit for a few days.
You'll be glad you did!
