San Pablo Island is an unofficial name of a

barrier island Barrier islands are a Coast#Landforms, coastal landform, a type of dune, dune system and sand island, where an area of sand has been formed by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of an ...

located off the northeast

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It composes the

Jacksonville Beaches The Jacksonville Beaches, or Jax Beaches known locally as "The Beaches", are a group of towns and communities on the northern half of San Pablo Island on the US state of Florida's First Coast. These communities are separated from the main body ...

sitting on the eastern edge of the

Jacksonville metropolitan area The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, also called the First Coast, Metro Jacksonville, or Northeast Florida, is the metropolitan area centered on the principal city of Jacksonville, Florida and including the First Coast of North Florida. As of th ...

. The island is about long. It is separated from the mainland by the

Intracoastal waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...

to the west, the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River () is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and is the most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders 12 counties. The drop in elevation from River s ...

to the north, and St. Augustine Inlet to the south. The island's name has been recognized by the city-county consolidated government of

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

and by the municipal government of Atlantic Beach. Multiple other names had been proposed, including Pablo Island, San Diego Island, Diego Island. The goal of uniting a 30-plus mile stretch with its seven communities, some unincorporated, under one name is to provide better opportunities for tourism business. The northern half of the island is in Duval County, and consists of the cities of Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, as well as a portion of Jacksonville, including Mayport village. The southern half of the island is in St. Johns County, and includes the communities of

Ponte Vedra Beach Ponte, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Italian, Portuguese, and Galician languages, may refer to: Places England *Pontefract, a town in the Metropolitan City of Wakefield France *Ponte Leccia, a civil parish (hameau) in the department of Haute-Cors ...

, Sawgrass and Vilano Beach

Naval Station Mayport Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base on San Pablo Island in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a m ...

is at the northern tip of the island, and the mouth of the St. Johns River.

History

San Pablo Island has a rich history influenced by various cultural and economic developments. Originally inhabited by Native American tribes like the Timucua, the area saw increased activity in the 19th century as Jacksonville emerged as a key port, and rapid development in the mid-to-late 20th century. In the 1940s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed the Intracoastal Waterway, which connected the San Pablo River to the

Matanzas River The Matanzas River is a body of water in St. Johns and Flagler counties in the U.S. state of Florida. It is a narrow saltwater bar-bounded estuary sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by Anastasia Island. The river is part of the Atlantic Intraco ...

, completely separating San Pablo from mainland Florida. This development bolstered local shipping, tying the coastal area closer to the Jacksonville economy and leading to suburban growth in the mid-20th century. Today, San Pablo Island is primarily residential, known for its natural beauty and recreational opportunities like boating, hiking, and golf, contributing to the overall charm of the Jacksonville area.

Transportation

Growth on north San Pablo Island was facilitated by roads and bridges built over time to connect it with Jacksonville on the mainland, beginning with Atlantic Blvd in the early 1900s, Beach Blvd (which was constructed on the railway bed of the former Jacksonville and Atlantic Railroad) in the late 1940s, the Butler Blvd expressway in the late 1980s, and finally, the Wonderwood Connector completed in the mid 2000s. The St. Johns River Ferry carries A1A across the St. Johns river near the northern tip of the island. Six bridges link San Pablo Island to the rest of the

, four in Duval County, and two in St. Johns County.

References

Sources

External links

{{authority control Atlantic Coast barrier islands of Florida Islands of Duval County, Florida Islands of St. Johns County, Florida Beaches of Duval County, Florida Beaches of St. Johns County, Florida Islands of Florida

History

Transportation

See also

References

Sources

External links