Exploring Green Cove Springs
Named after the portion of the St. Johns River upon which the city is built and home to 6,000 residents, Green Cove Springs is the county seat of rapidly growing Clay County.
First inhabited over 7,000 years ago by natives drawn by the warm mineral spring. The spring attracted tourists in the 19th Century and there were hotels near the spring; today the sulphur-scented spring water feeds an adjacent public swimming pool before flowing the short distance to the St. Johns River. The Green Cove Springs area was first developed by George E. Clarke in 1816 when he was provided land, under a Spanish land grant to build a sawmill. Green Cove Springs was established in 1854 as White Sulfur Springs. Renamed in 1866, it became the county seat in 1871.
Old County Courthouse
Old County Jail
Green Cove Springs city hall
Tourism was the primary economic base until the end of the century, when Henry Flagler's railroad began taking tourist further south into Florida. In 1895, the Great Freeze destroyed the areas citrus crops, and tourism all but ended. The 1920s saw renewed development with automobile traffic bringing in tourists again. The Great Depression of the 1930s saw the end of growth again for the city.
The period immediately before and during World War II again brought new growth to Green Cove Spring. In September 1940, the U.S. Navy opened Naval Air Station Lee Field in honor of Ensign Bejamin Lee who had lost his life in a crash at Killinghome, England during World War I. In August 1943, the facility was renamed Naval Air Station Green Cove Springs (Lee Field) and consisted of four 5000 ft asphalt runways. After the war, NAS Green Cove Springs was downgraded in status to a Naval Auxiliary Air Station (NAAS) as part of the greater NAS Jacksonville complex. A total of 13 piers were also constructed along the west bank of the St. Johns River adjacent to NAAS Green Cove Springs (Lee Field) to house a U.S. Navy "Mothball Fleet" of some 600 vessels, primarily destroyers, destroyer escorts and fleet auxiliaries. In 1960, the Navy decommissioned NAAS Green Cove Springs and the pier facility. Some of the mothballed vessels were transferred to foreign navies while others were relocated to other Reserve Fleet locations.
In 1984, the city annexed the former naval base into the city to utilize it for further growth and development as the Clay County Port and Reynolds Industrial Park. The air station is now a private airfield known as Reynolds Airpark (FAA airfield identifier: FL60) with a single 5000 ft asphalt runway currently operational, although reportedly in poor condition. Although the original air station air traffic control tower is still standing, attached to one of the former Navy aircraft hangars, the airfield remains an uncontrolled facility.
Famous Residents
Green Cove Springs is the birthplace of Charles E. Merrill (1885–1956), one of the founders of Merrill, Lynch & Company. The town's spring is described by his son James Merrill in the poem "Two From Florida," published in The Inner Room (1988).
Green Cove Springs is also the birthplace of Augusta Savage née Augusta Christine Fells (February 29, 1892 - March 26, 1962) Savage was an African American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
Locally, the community is known as the home of Gustafson's Farm, a brand name of milk and dairy products sold throughout Florida. The main Gustafson Dairy Farm is located in Green Cove Springs, Florida, and is one of the largest privately-owned dairy farms in the Southeast United States. Started in 1908, the main farm occupies nearly 10,000 acres (40 km²) within the city limits. Gustafson's has many bottling plants across the state, stretching from Tallahassee in the west to Tampa and Cocoa in the south. All Gustafson products have the picture of the husband-and-wife founders, Frank and Agnes Gustafson, (also known as Mama and Papa Gus), who along with their first cow on their farm (named "Buttercup") are prominently featured on the packaging of the dairy's products.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Cove_Springs,_Florida
Photos by Ennis Davis