Duval County was created in 1822 from St. Johns County. It was named for William Pope DuVal, Territorial Governor of Florida from 1822 to 1834. When Duval County was created it covered a massive area, from the Suwannee River on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, north of a line from the mouth of the Suwannee River to Jacksonville on the St. Johns River. Alachua and Nassau Counties were created out of parts of Duval County in 1824. Clay County was created from part of Duval County in 1858. Part of St. Johns County south and east of the lower reaches of the St. Johns River was transferred to Duval County in the 1840s.[2]

On October 1, 1968, the government of Duval County was consolidated with the government of the City of Jacksonville, although the Duval County cities of Atlantic Beach, Baldwin, Jacksonville Beach, and Neptune Beach are not included in the corporate limits of Jacksonville, and maintain their own municipal governments. In the early 1990s these three beach cities considered separating from Duval and forming Ocean County, an idea that had been discussed since consolidation, but after the 1995 election of Jacksonville mayor John Delaney, a resident and former Mayor of Neptune Beach, the idea was dropped.[

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More than 6000 years ago, the area was inhabited by the Timucuan Indians. In 1562 the first European expedition was conducted by French Huguenot explorer Jean Ribalt along the St Johns River and established Fort Caroline on a high bluff. The Spanish arrived in 1565 and occupied Florida; in 1763, it ceded Florida to England. In the 1800’s Florida became a winter escape for wealthy northerners, and by 1860 there were weekly steamboat trips between Savannah, Charleston and Jacksonville. Indigo, sugar and citrus crops were produced on drained marshlands. The county was named in 1822 for the first territorial governor of Florida, William Pope DuVal, and the city was named after the future 7th U.S. President, Andrew Jackson. The Civil War and the Spanish-American War of 1898 brought destruction to the area, and changed owners several times; however, the arrival of the railroad in 1895 brought a great economic boom. The Great Fire of 1901 destroyed the business district, but with the city’s reconstruction in the early 1900’s, the motion picture industry, seeking a warmer climate, established over 30 studios. Revitalization again brought prosperity.


During WWII, Naval Air Station Jacksonville was established and was used as a training center. It is located near the Port of Jacksonville at the mouth of the St Johns River. In 1992 it combined operations with the Naval Air Station and is now called Naval Station Mayport. It’s the third largest naval facility in the continental United States.

11 files, last one added on Jun 04, 2008