History of Fernandina Beach, Florida
Native Americans associated with the Timucuan mound-building culture settled on Amelia Island about 1000. They called the island Napoyca. They would remain on Napoyca until the early 1700s.
The written history of Fernandina on Amelia Island has unfolded under eight flags. The French flag was the first flag to fly over the island. Jean Ribault, French explorer, landed in 1562. He named the island Isle de Mar. Spanish forces led by Pedro Menendez de Aviles drove out the French in 1565. They killed Ribault and 350 French colonists.
The Spanish flag was the second flag. In 1573, Spanish Franciscans established the Santa Maria mission on the island. They renamed the island Isla de Santa Maria. Fernandina was settled in 1685. It was located in the area now called “Old Town.” British raiders destroyed the town in 1702. The area was deserted for many years.
James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, scouted the area. He found peach trees, orange groves, and deserted fields. He renamed the island “Amelia Island” in honor of princess Amelia, the daughter of King George II of England. Florida and Fernandina came under British rule. The English flag was raised as the third flag in 1763. During the American Revolution, Fernandina became home for English Loyalists fleeing the colonies.
In 1783, Spain again controlled Florida. A land grant became a plantation on the site of present-day Fernandina. The Spanish harbor of Fernandina became the nation’s center for smuggling slaves, liquor, and foreign luxury goods. During the second period of Spanish occupation, the Patriot Flag of the Republic of Florida appeared as the fourth flag. The flag only flew for one day. The Patriots of Amelia Island attempted to transfer Amelia Island to the control of the United States. Their plan failed and Spain regained control.
In 1817, the Scotsman Sir Gregor MacGregor and 55 men captured the island from its Spanish defenders. They raised their own Green Cross of Florida flag, which became the fifth flag. Smuggling and slave trading were still thriving.
That same year after MacGregor had already gone, pirate Luis Aury sailed with his armada of three ships into the harbor. Three days later he hoisted the Republic of Mexico flag, the sixth flag. He declared himself ruler of the island. Fernandina became a pirate haven and location for buried treasure. Aury was run out of Fernandina by a United States navel force.
In 1821, the United States took control of the territory from Spain. The American flag, the seventh flag, was raised. Because of its excellent harbor, Fernandina became a prosperous and important city. The building of Fort Clinch was begun. U.S. Senator David Yulee built Florida’s first cross-state railroad. It connected Fernandina on the Atlantic with Cedar Key on the Gulf of Mexico. Trade grew and flourished during Florida’s period as a U.S. territory and the early years of statehood.
The Confederate flag, the eighth flag to fly over Fernandina, appeared with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. Confederate troops occupied Fort Clinch. A year later, a Union force restored Federal control of the island.
After the Civil War, Fernandina became a bustling and thriving seaport town. It relied on the shipping industry, shrimping, and the tourist trade.
Thousands of Northerners voyaged to Fernandina on the Mallory Steamship Line from New York. Fernandina was hailed as “The Queen of Summer Resorts” by an 1896 edition of American Resorts magazine. Golden Age prosperity prompted a building boom. This attracted visitors such as the Vanderbilts, DuPonts, and Carnegies. Fernandina was home to the First Customs House in the United States. The oldest newspaper in Florida was started in Fernandina.
During the Spanish-American War (the Cuban war for independence from Spain) Amelia Island played another historic role. Soldiers were again housed at Fort Clinch. Freedom fighter Jose Marti was overheard plotting strategies in the Florida House Inn (Florida’s oldest surviving hotel) in Fernandina. This helped lead to the end of the war.
Today, an original 1899 railroad depot and a 1920s-era railroad sleeper car serve as the Visitor Center on Amelia Island. The area is the home of an early plantation, an international port, a Civil War fort, a turn-of-the century playground for rich tourists, Florida’s first cross-state railroad, and world headquarters of the shrimping industry.
The Historic District of Fernandina reflects the city’s long history. Centre Street has Florida’s oldest tavern, The Palace Saloon (1878). The state museum at nearby Fort Clinch State Park adds to the history visitors can relive when visiting Fernandina and Amelia Island.
Fort Clinch
Fort Clinch was named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, a veteran of the Seminole and Mexican wars. Construction of the fort on Amelia Island began in 1847. By 1861, the fort still was not finished. Although incomplete, Fort Clinch was occupied in the summer of 1861 by Confederate troops. By December, 1,524 troops were stationed there.
The Union military command realized the importance of Fernandina to the Confederacy as a supply base. The Confederacy did not think they could defend the fort. In 1862, Robert E. Lee ordered Fernandina and Fort Clinch evacuated.
A Union flotilla of 28 gunboats appeared as the last Confederate train was leaving. Fort Clinch became the first Union fortress restored to Federal control. In 1869, all troops left Fort Clinch.
In 1898, Fort Clinch was again used at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Volunteer soldiers were camped at Fort Clinch.
Though occupied, the fort was never completed. In 1935, it became part of the Florida Park System. It is one of the oldest parks in the system. It has sandy white beaches, campsites, nature trails, a fishing pier, and a state museum.
More Information Concerning the Flags
FRENCH FLAG
French Huguenot explorer Jean Ribault becomes the first (recorded) European visitor to Napoyca in 1562, which he names Isle de Mar. In 1565, Spanish forces led by Pedro Menendez de Aviles drive the French from northeastern Florida, slaughtering Ribault and approximately 350 other French colonists.
SPANISH FLAG
In 1573, Spanish Franciscans establish the Santa Maria mission on the island, which is named Isla de Santa Maria. The mission was abandoned in 1680 after the inhabitants refuse a Spanish order to relocate. British raids force the relocation of the Santa Catalina de Guale mission on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia, to the abandoned Santa Maria mission on the Island in 1685. In 1702, this mission was again abandoned when South Carolina's colonial governor, James Moore, leads a joint British-Indian invasion of Florida.
ENGLISH FLAG
Georgia's founder and colonial governor, James Oglethorpe, renames the island "Amelia Island" in honor of princess Amelia (1710-1786), King George II's daughter, although the island was still a Spanish possession. After establishing a small settlement on the northwestern edge of the island, Oglethorpe negotiates with Spanish colonial officials for a transfer of the island to British sovereignty. Colonial officials agree to the transfer, but the King of Spain nullifies the agreement.
The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ratifies Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War, ceding Florida to Britain in exchange for Havana and nullifying all Spanish land grants in Florida. The Proclamation of 1763 established the St. Mary's River as East Florida's northeastern boundary.
SPANISH FLAG
In 1783, the Second Treaty of Paris ends the Revolutionary War and returns Florida to Spain. British inhabitants of Florida had to leave the province within 18 months unless they swore allegiance to Spain. In 1811, surveyor George J. F. Clarke plats the town of Fernandina, named in honor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain.
PATRIOT FLAG
With the approval of President James Madison and Georgia Governor George Mathews in 1812-1813, insurgents known as the "Patriots of Amelia Island" seize the island. After raising a Patriot flag, they replace it with the United States Flag. American gunboats under the command of Commodore Hugh Campbell maintain control of the island until Spanish pressure forces their evacuation in 1813.
GREEN CROSS OF FLORIDA FLAG
Spanish forces erect Fort San Carlos on the island in 1816. Led by Gregor MacGregor in 1817, a Scottish-born soldier of fortune, 55 musketeers seize Fort San Carlos, claiming the island on behalf of the "Green Cross."
MEXICAN REBEL FLAG
Spanish soldiers force MacGregor's withdrawal, but their attempt to regain complete control is foiled by American irregulars organized by Ruggles Hubbard and former Pennsylvania congressman Jared Irwin. Hubbard and Irwin later join forces with the French-born pirate Luis Aury, who lays claim to the island on behalf of the Republic of Mexico. U. S. Navy forces drive Aury from the island, and President James Monroe vows to hold Amelia Island "in trust for Spain."
CONFEDERATE FLAG
On January 8, 1861, two days before Florida's secession, Confederate sympathizers (the Third Regiment of Florida Volunteers) take control of Fort Clinch, already abandoned by Federal workers who had been constructing the fort. General Robert E. Lee visits Fort Clinch in November 1861 and again in January 1862, during a survey of coastal fortifications.
UNITED STATES FLAG
Union forces, consisting of 28 gunboats commanded by Commodore Samuel Dupont restore Federal control of the island on March 3, 1862 and raise the American Flag.
Nassau County Timeline
Date Event
1592, May 3 Jean Ribaut casts anchor in St. Mary's River near Fernandina.
1598 Santa Maria Mission established on Amelia Island.
1686 Fort San Carlos Built on Amelia Island.
1696 A shipwrecked Quaker & companions stop at Santa Maria Mission on their way to the Carolinas.
1699 British king grants territory to Carolina including half of the Florida peninsula
1702 Battle of Amelia Island between Spanish troops and Governor Moore's troops of South Carolina; Santa Maria fort captured and destroyed.
1735 Oglethorpe scouts Amelia Island, finding peach trees, orange groves and deserted fields; names the island Amelia.
1737, April War of "Jenkin's Ear" between England and Spain opens in Florida with the killing of two Englishmen on Amelia Island. Oglethorpe seizes the forts of Picolata and San Francisco de Pupa on the St. John's River.
1742 Spanish fail to capture Fort Williams opposite Amelia Island; 200 Spanish troops killed in the Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island, Georgia.
1748 Treaty between Spain & England cedes Florida to Spain.
1763 Florida ceded to England by Spain.
1767 Town of Egmont appears on English map where Fernandina's "Old Town" is now located. Indigo is planted on Amelia Island.
1774, March William Bartram, the naturalist, visits Amelia Island.
1775, May American forces under Colonel Elbert land on Amelia Island. Elbert orders all island homes destroyed in retaliation for the killing of Lt. Ward; the massacre at Thomas' Swamp occurs.
1778 Florida invaded by General Howe; Council of War held at Fort Tonyn, July 11th.
1783, February Governor Tonyn received notice that by the Treaty of Paris, Florida is ceded to Spain again. In May a convoy of food ships arrives at Amelia Island. In June, transports loaded with Florida planters leave for the Bahamas and foreign countries.
1785, November 19 Evacuation of the English is complete.
1800 Don Domingo Fernandez' grant of 1785 is confirmed and is known as "Eliza" or "Louisa" Plantation, the site of present day Fernandina.
1807 Fernandina, a free port, becomes resort for ships of all nations.
1810 Many planters settle on Amelia Island. Dr. Karl Sontag erects the first hospital in Fernandina. Governor Folch asks Spain for aid and says if reinforcements do not come soon he will give the Floridas to to the United States.
1811, January Spanish Government replats Fernandina and many residents move homes to conform to the new plan. President Madison calls a secret session of Congress and plans to take Florida. General George Matthews and Colonel John McKee are appointed to organize forces in Florida. John McIntosh is chosen leader of the Florida troops.
1811, March 15 Colonel Ashley demands that Lopez surrender Fort San Carlos. Two days later, the flag of the Republic of Florida is hoisted over the fort. Under new articles, Fernandina is to remain a free port until May 1815.
1812 Republic of Florida is organized with General McIntosh as the leader.
1813 The Embargo Act is repealed and Fernandina loses its commercial advantages. General Thomas Pinckney leaves Fernandina and Spain again takes possession.
1816, August George I.F. Clarke bargains on Spain's behalf for the patriots to return to Spanish rule.
1817, June General George MacGregor arrives in Fernandina. Fernandina surrenders to MacGregor; he sets up a new city government but lack of funds forces him to surrender Fernandina to Jared Irwin.
1817, September Irwin wins battle with Spaniards and takes complete possession of Amelia Island. Ruggles, Hubbard and Irwin join in a plan to retain Fernandina as a rendezvous for smugglers (illicit slave trade began in 1808).
1817, October Luis Aury, a general of the Mexican Republic, raises the flag of Mexico over Amelia Island.
1817, December Aury surrenders Amelia Island to American forces.
1818 A yellow fever epidemic ravages Fernandina.
1821, July 10 Spanish flag at Fort San Carlos is replaced by the Stars and Strips when Florida becomes a U.S. territory.
1824 Nassau County created with Fernandina selected as the county seat.
1835-1850 County seat moved to the community of Courthouse Ditch on Waterman's Grant.
1842 Fernandina selected as the site for a new fort.
1850 Building of Fort Clinch begun.
1853 Senator David Levy Yulee begins promoting the Florida Railroad to Fernandina.
1860 Population of Fernandina: 1,390.
1862 Colonel W.S. Dilworth and Confederates occupy Fort Clinch. Federal troops seize Fort Clinch and the Presbyterian Church in Fernandina serves as quarters for the Union troops.
1866 Florida Railroad Company is sold to northern capitalists.
1870 Population of Fernandina: 1,722; many business improvements occur and a fashionable girls school is opened.
1880 Ex-President U.S. Grant visits Fernandina.
1881 The Florida Railroad Company builds the Strathmore Hotel.
1888 Yellow fever epidemic ends longshoremen's strike.
1898 10,000 volunteer soldiers camp at Fort Clinch and vicinity. The Cuban revolution promotes business activities.