25,000 BCE            Early immigration to Beaches area.

2000 BCE            Timucua Indians arrive to the shores of the St. Johns River.

1520                Juan Bono Quexo – Spanish explorer discovers and names the Rio

                       de Corrientes (St. Johns River), reclaims the land for the Spanish

                       crown.

1562                Jean Ribault, French explorer, renames the St. Johns River as the

                        River de Mai (May River); makes contact with the Timucua tribe and their chief Saturiba, claims the land for the French and places a marker on the site.

1564                French Huguenots return and build Fort Caroline west of the area.

1565               Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish explorer disposes of the

                        French presence in the area and establishes the first permanent

                        Spanish colony in the continental United States – St. Augustine.

                        Ft. Caroline is renamed Ft. San Mateo by the Spanish and two small

                       outposts at the mouth of the St. Johns River are built

1587                San Juan del Puerto, a Franciscan Mission, established on Fort

                        George Island, the St. Johns River takes its name from this mission

                       (Rio de San Juan).

1587-1600      San Pablo mission is established

1702                English Col. Robert Daniel and Carolinian troops sail to the St.

                        Johns River and march south on the beach to St. Augustine

1776                10,000 acres of land are granted to N. Woods by the British           

                  Parliament encompassing modern day Mayport.

1791                1,200 acres of land are granted to Andrew Dewees by the Spanish

            Crown encompassing modern day Mayport.

1793                Spanish build the Quesada battery at the mouth of the St. Johns

                        River. 

1800s              Menorcan fishermen, river pilots and farmers settle the area.

1820                Bar pilots organize the St. Johns Bar Pilot Association.

1827                Territorial Legislature passes the ‘St. Johns Pilot Age Act’ that

                        leads to the establishment of Hazard as the area was called.  Pilot

                        Town establish on the north shore of river mouth.

1828                May 23:  Congress appropriates funds for construction of

                        a lighthouse at the mouth of St. Johns River.                                    

1830                First lighthouse opens.  Joseph Finnegan opens first sawmill in

                        Hazard.                                 

1833                First lighthouse abandon due to shore erosion.

1835                Second Lighthouse opens.

1837                William’s History of Florida published; map shows unnamed town

                        at present day Mayport, and “Jenks” – another town at the mouth

                        of Pablo River

1839                Board of Port Wardens appointed.

1840s               St. Johns by the Bar Catholic Mission establishes.

1840                Finnegan’s Sawmill purchase by Halstead H. Hoag who partners

                       with Amander Parsons. Parsons moves to Hazard to supervise the

                       mill which is renamed Parsons Mill.

1841                Maj. Cornelius Taylor (cousin of President Zachary Taylor), a

                        veteran of the Seminole Wars, and his bride, Katherine Floyd,

                        heiress to Dewees grant, sell property to Wesley L. Palmer and

                        Darius Ferris. Pilot families petition to form the town called Hazard

1845                Florida becomes a state and Parsons Mill becomes largest mill in

                        Duval County

1848                Hazard is platted by Palmer and Darius.

1849                Kingsley B. Gibbs opens a sawmill in Hazard and names it

                        Mayport Mills after the May River. The new platted town takes the

                        name of Mayport Mills. The post office opens on Batten Island with

                        the name of Mayport Mills.

1851                Mary Dorcas Parsons marries Napoleon Bonaparte Broward in

                        Mayport Mills. Their oldest son would become Governor of

                        Florida in 1904.

1852                Second Lighthouse and surrounding property eroded by currents.

1854                Congress appropriates $15,000 for lighthouse

1857                Captain WJ King residence constructed.

1858                St. Johns the Evangelist Catholic Church built.

1859                Third Lighthouse opens on January 1.

1861                Capt. Holmes Steele fortifies Mayport - Confederate Ft. Steele built.

1862-1865            Union army occupies Mayport, burns the lumber mills and the

                        town and block the mouth of the St. Johns River.

                        Lighthouse light extinguished by Confederate sympathizers.

1867                Lighthouse reopens after Civil War.

1869                St. Paul AME founded. Mayport Mills Post Office ceases operation.

1870                Mayport Post Office opens.

1873                Burrows House, a year round hotel, opens.

1874                Atlantic Hotel built by WA Jameison.

1880s              Mayport school and churches are constructed including a school

                        for African American children in East Mayport. African American

                        families moved to the area to work on jetty construction forming

                        the community of Jettieville.

1881                Jetty built on the S. of the river extends 2.5 miles into ocean,

                        north jetty, from Fort George Island, extends 3 miles in length.

1882                Arlington and Atlantic Railroad Co., later named the Jacksonville

                        and Atlantic Railroad begin service to Mayport

1883                Mayport Hotel opens. Beach Hotel opens.

1885                Mayport described as “village of 600 people” with various

                        businesses that included general merchandise, grocery and

                        provisions stores and a fishing industry.

1886                The Jacksonville, Mayport, Pablo Railway and Navigation Co.

                        forms; Burnside Beach is platted by the company. Burnside House

                        (owned by Fred Haworth family) built on the  sands near the South

                        Jetty. August 31: Tidal wave along the beaches and Mayport, up the

                        St. Johns River, earthquake with no recorded damage with its

                        epicenter in Charleston, SC. This earthquake was followed by a

                        series of tremors on Sept. 1, 3,5, 8, 9 and October 22.

1887                Lighthouse raised by 15 ft.

1888                Jacksonville, Mayport and Pablo Railroad opened to connect

                        Arlington, Mayport and Burnside Beach                       

1889                Burnside Beach hotels destroyed by fire.

1890                First Mayport seafood restaurant opens: French Louie’s.

1892                Mayport Presbyterian Church built on Palmer St.; Jim Corbett

                        trains at Mayport for heavyweight title fight

1895                Jetty project largely completed, allowing large ships to navigate St.

                        Johns River unhampered.

1899                Flagler buys the JMP train, converts it to standard gage.                      

1900                A thousand-foot railroad pier that extends from Mayport coal

                       depot out into the river to receive coal from ships to power the

                       railway built.

1901                Flagler extends railroad to Mayport.

1903                Wood frame jail constructed.

1907                Manhattan Beach established for the African American train

                        Workers. Crab processing plant opens.

1909                June 3:  Mayport incorporated as a city.

1912                Miramar built by Elizabeth and Jack Stark. Mayport Community

                        Church at Palmer and Broad Streets became Mayport Presbyterian

                        Church

1914                Elizabeth Stark buys 375 acres and establishes “Wonderwood-by-

                        the-Sea”, a resort that featuring cottages, swimming pools, riding

                        stables, and a 1,100 foot fishing pier.

1916                Atlantic Hotel burns down. Elizabeth Stark organizes the first Girl

                        Scouts troop in the Jacksonville area naming it Cherokee Rose

                        Troop 1.        

1917                Fire destroys most of Mayport and ended tourism age until it was

                       revived by Mrs. Stark and Wonderwood-by-the-Sea

1923                DAR replica of the Ribault Monument erected in Wonderwood

                        commemorating his landing on May 1, 1562.

1924                May 1: US Postage stamp (series of 3) honoring early

                        settlements in N. America, including Ribault’s landing.

1929                St. Johns Lighthouse replaced by the St. Johns Lightship

                        Menhaden (pogies) facility opens to produce fertilizer.

1927                Ribault School # 32 replaces old wooden school. Florida Inland

                        Navigation District organized to purchase waterway rights for the

                        Federal government

1932                Coal wharf and railroad line cease operation.

1936                Electrical service arrives in Mayport.

1939                the 76^th US Congress enables the creation of Mayport Naval Base

1940                US Naval Frontier Section Base at Mayport opens

                        in land formerly occupied by Wonderwood by - the Sea, East           

                        Mayport and Burnside Beach.

1941                Navy purchases 935 acres in Mayport

1942                Base commissioned as a US Naval Station Base

1943                Airstrip added.

1944                Facility renamed Navy Auxiliary Air Station.

1946                Mayport Ferry established.

1947                Fertilizer plants closed down.

1948                Station reactivated as a Naval Outlying Landing Field for the

                        Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

1950               A1A constructed west of the Naval Station as part of the Buccaneer

                                   Trail to join St. Augustine with Fernandina.

1951                Navy increases the Mayport Base to 1680 acres

1952                Carrier basin dredge at Ribault Bay

1953                St. Johns Lightship replaced by a new lighthouse built in the

                        grounds of the Naval Station and later operated by the US Coast

                        Guard. Mayport named homeport of aircraft carrier USS Lake

                        Champlain

1955                           Station becomes the Naval Auxiliary Air Station Mayport. US FD

                        Roosevelt home ported in Mayport followed by the USS Essex and

                        the USS Saratoga

1957                Base size reached 2,428 acres

1959                First US Mail by missile landed at Mayport. Mayport becomes a

                        Naval Station

1960                           US Coast guard facility constructed.

1968                Mayport becomes part of Jacksonville as part of the consolidation

                        process of Jacksonville and Duval County.

1976                Old St. Johns Lighthouse listed in the National Register of Historic

                       Places.

1980                DAR Ribault Monument removed from Mayport to Ft. Caroline                           National Memorial.

1981                First Jazz Festival celebrated.

1982                Restoration of Old St. Johns Lighthouse starts.

1988                Mayport Naval Air facility re-designated as a Naval Air Station

                        Mayport.

1991                First Mayport Seafood Festival held.

1998                Mayport receives a grant from The Waterfronts Florida Program to

                        develop a  special area management plan. Mayport Waterfronts

                         Florida Program instituted with goals and objectives for an

                        economic revitalization plan for the Village.

2005                Navy Air Station Mayport encompasses 3,409 acres and is the third