Nassau County
County
Nassau County Courthouse
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Florida
Florida's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 30°37′N 81°46′W / 30.61°N 81.77°W / 30.61; -81.77
Country	United States
State	Florida
Founded	December 29, 1824
Named for	Duchy of Nassau
Seat	Fernandina Beach
Largest community	Yulee
Area
• Total	726 sq mi (1,880 km2)
• Land	649 sq mi (1,680 km2)
• Water	77 sq mi (200 km2)  10.6%
Population  (2020)
• Total	90,352
• Estimate  (2022)	97,899
• Density	127/sq mi (49/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	4th
Website	www.nassaucountyfl.com

Nassau County is the northeasternmost county of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the July 2022 United States Census analysis, the county's population was 97,899, up from 90,352 at the 2020 census.^[1]

The designated county seat is Fernandina Beach. Nassau County is a constituent of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which accommodates around 1.68 million inhabitants as of the year 2022.^[2] The county is situated in Northeast Florida with a land area of 726 square miles (1,880 km²). The county's population has surged by more than 40,000 residents since the year 2000, driven by factors such as Nassau's nearness to downtown Jacksonville, the emergence of fresh residential projects, agricultural output, prominent tourist destinations, and a broadening tax foundation through the influx of novel industrial and business enterprises to the county.^[3][4] Nassau County is also a favored residential destination for military personnel stationed at bases in the adjacent Duval County, Florida (Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport) and Camden County, Georgia (Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay). Nassau County will celebrate 200 years with its bicentennial celebration in 2024.

History

Nassau County was created in 1824 from Duval County. It was named for the Duchy of Nassau in Germany.

• 
  The ancestral and core coat of arms of Nassau
• 
  Coat of Arms for Nassau

The Battle of Alligator Bridge took place in Nassau County around Callahan on June 30, 1778, and was the only major engagement in an unsuccessful campaign to conquer British East Florida during the American Revolutionary War.

In 1817, the short-lived Republic of the Floridas was established on Amelia Island. It was one of several attempts to wrestle Florida from Spanish control into the growing United States.^[5]

Some of the men from the county had formed a militia unit called the Davis Guards leading up to the Civil War. This unit would be organized as Company K of the 2nd Florida Infantry Regiment in the Confederate army.^[6]

Law and government

The primary entity overseeing environmental and agricultural matters is the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District, which maintains close collaboration with various other regional agencies.

County commissioners

Nassau County operates under the administration of the Nassau County Board of County Commissioners, comprising five members. These commissioners are elected by the voters to serve four-year terms, with the election cycle structured such that either three or two commissioners are subject to election every two years. The following individuals constitute the Nassau County Commissioners:^[7]

Ocean Highway & Port Authority

The Ocean Highway & Port Authority (OHPA) functions as an autonomous governmental organization within Nassau County, Florida, responsible for the ownership and management of the seaport infrastructure at the Port of Fernandina. OHPA was founded in 1941 by the Florida Legislature.^[8] The current Executive Director of OHPA is David Kaufman.^[9]

The Port of Fernandina operates as a terminal for handling various commodities, including pulp and paper, steel exports, machinery, automotive components, chemicals, beverages, building materials, and food items. The port's container lines facilitate shipping routes to destinations such as Colombia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Aruba, Curaçao, and Bermuda. Notably, in 2020, the port was awarded a substantial grant exceeding one million dollars from the United States Department of Transportation to initiate a barge service.^[10]

OHPA Commissioners

• District 1: Miriam Hill (Chair)
• District 2: Danny Fullwood
• District 3: Justin M. Taylor (Vice-Chair)
• District 4: Ray Nelson
• District 5: Michael Cole

Police

The Nassau County Sheriff's Office offers essential services to the residents of Nassau County. It bears the responsibility of upholding both the provisions of the Florida Constitution and the laws and statutes of the state of Florida, ensuring the protection, security, and welfare of its populace. This commitment is fulfilled by furnishing law enforcement solutions, managing operations at the Nassau County Jail and Detention Center, and ensuring court security. The central operational hub of the Nassau County Sheriff's Office is situated in Yulee.^[11] As of 2023^[update] the Sheriff is Bill Leeper.^[12][13]

Court houses

The Nassau County Courthouse in Fernandina Beach stands as a historic edifice, characterized by its two-story construction of red brick, dating back to its erection in 1891.

Located in Yulee, the Robert M. Foster Justice Center was established in 2004 to complement the historical Nassau County Courthouse site. Spanning an extensive 111,000 square feet, this facility was realized at a construction cost surpassing $20 million.^[14]

Climate

Similar to a significant portion of the southern Atlantic region in the United States, Nassau County experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen classification Cfa). This entails moderate conditions in the winter months and warm, humid conditions throughout the summer. Precipitation patterns show a concentration of rainfall during the warmer months spanning from May to September, whereas the drier period falls between November and April. Owing to Nassau County's proximity to the coast and its lower latitude, frigid temperatures are infrequent, resulting in typically temperate and sunlit winters.^[15]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 726 square miles (1,880 km²), of which 649 square miles (1,680 km²) is land and 77 square miles (200 km²) (10.6%) is water.^[18] The city of Fernandina Beach is on Amelia Island, the county's one inhabited island. Fernandina Beach municipality extends across the Intracoastal Waterway along A1A to Yulee.

Topography

There are 12 distinct topographical zones in Nassau County. Most of these zones run in narrow bands stretching from north to south, although this is less true as one approaches the Atlantic coast.

1. Directly against the western border with Baker County, the topography ranges from fairly flat to slightly elevated. Drainage is poor and the soil is sandy.
2. Moving east, there are some areas (mostly in the northern and central county) of higher ground with much better drainage.
3. East of these areas are some lower places, especially in the south, that are level and have extremely poor drainage.
4. Eastward again, there is a stretch that ranges from a few miles in the extreme northern areas to about 6-8 miles (13 km) wide in the southern area, including Hilliard and much of County Road 108 and State Road 301. This area again has very poor drainage, low-lying land, and fairly sandy soil.
5. East of this are scattered areas of high, sandy land with spotty or poor drainage.
6. East of this, there is an area including Callahan with very sandy soil on top, and clay underneath. This section of the county is heavily permeated by small creeks and rivers, which bring with them low, poorly drained soils. This zone extends across the entire county from north to south at a fairly consistent width of about 3-4 miles (6.4 km), except in the north, where it widens to nearly 6 miles (9.7 km) across.
7. East of this area is a large band of land with a consistent width of about 8 miles (13 km). The land is low and level with extremely poor drainage, and it is permeated by small creeks and rivers. In the northern section, this is where some tributaries join the St. Marys River, while in the south a number of tributaries drain into the Nassau River, which flows into the Nassau Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.
8. East of this area is a section of land about 3 miles (4.8 km) in width that has extremely sandy soils with bad drainage all around.
9. Further eastward is a large area, including Yulee and O'Neil, about 4 miles (6.4 km) in width, with poor drainage and sandy soil at higher elevations, pockmarked by large areas of low lands with even worse drainage.
10. To the south is an area of low-lying, organic soils which are essentially marshes and wetlands along the northern bank of the Nassau River, continuing into the Nassau Sound.
11. Still eastward and somewhat to the north is a large area of marshes and organic soils which characterize area wetlands. There are many small islands in this area, and it is permeated by the Bells River and Jolly River, which empty into the Cumberland Sound to the north, just below Cumberland Island.
12. Amelia Island, the easternmost section of the county, is characterized by poor drainage in the west and better drained, higher, sandier land as one travels eastward towards the beach. The northern area of the island features salty marshlands surrounding Egan's Creek, which runs directly beneath Atlantic Boulevard in Fernandina Beach.

Adjacent counties

• Camden County, Georgia – north
• Duval County – south/east
• Baker County – southwest
• Charlton County, Georgia – west

Transportation

Airports

• Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport
• Hilliard Airpark

Major highways

Railroads

The main railroad line through Nassau County is the CSX Nahunta Subdivision, which runs parallel to the west side of US 1 and 23 from the Jacksonville Terminal through the bridge over the Saint Mary's River in Boulogne. It also has a junction with the CSX Callahan Subdivision which runs parallel to US 301 from the Duval County Line almost to Callahan. This line also once had an extension to the Fernandina Subdivision, as well as a second extension to Gross, which were abandoned in 1954 and 1985 respectively.

A third CSX line exists closer to the east coast of the state known as the Kingsland Subdivision, which runs parallel to US 17 from the Duval County line to Yulee, where it joins the First Coast Railroad, a class three railroad that runs along the Fernandina Subdivision and the former Kingsland Subdivision north of Yulee.

The other major railroad line in the county is Norfolk Southern Railway's Valdosta District, which spans northwest to southeast from a bridge over the Saint Mary's River in Kent to the Jacksonville Terminal. The Valdosta District has a diamond junction with the Callahan Subdivision in Crawford.

Demographics