Jacksonville Beach dates to 1831, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 59% of U.S. towns · #47 of 638 in Florida. What drives it
Most of Jacksonville Beach was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listings are the Casa Marina Hotel and the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps Station. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1918 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1886.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Jacksonville Beach’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jacksonville Beach is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #47 of 638 in Florida. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Jacksonville Beach’s overall grade.
Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Jacksonville Beach’s 0.8 sits above most of its state (71% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1831.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.5 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Jacksonville Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jacksonville Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Mayport sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Jacksonville Beach.
Timeline
Jacksonville Beach, 1831 to 1990
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and changed to Jacksonville Beach in 1925.
The area around present-day Jacksonville Beach was first settled by Spanish settlers. Spanish missions were established from Mayport to St. Augustine. Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain by treaty in 1763, only to have Spain regain it again, and then a final time in 1821 to the United States. American river pilots and fishermen came to Hazard, present-day Mayport, and established a port.
Passages that mention Jacksonville Beach, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Duval County, Florida1928 · page 205Read the page →
Read the text
tomobiles which were just coming into general use. By 1910, a highway had been built to Jacksonville and paved with oyster shell, which afterward became the Atlantic Boulevard. HH. M. Shockley was the first mayor of Pablo Beach which retained that name until 1925 when it was changed to Jacksonville Beach. Later the section to the north was incorporated as Atlantic Beach. An effort to consolidate the two municipalities in 1927 failed.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Duval County, Florida1928 · page 371Read the page →
Read the text
In 1884 he moved to what is now Jacksonville Beach and built the first house, and also established the first post office there under the name of “Ruby”, his wife, Mrs. Eleanor (Kennedy) Scull being postmistress. The house that they built still stands and is located near Bussey’s Hotel. The following year, 1885, the Jacksonville and Atlantic Railroad was built and the name “Ruby” was changed to Pablo Beach and the post office moved to the new palatial hotel called Murray Hall and Mr. French became postmaster.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewBooth's Ocean Front Cabanas, 1411 North First Street (NBY 10495), 1937
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Jacksonville Beach’s page.
In 1831, according to Wikidata. Jacksonville Beach’s post office opened in 1886, and the census of 1910 counted 249 people here.
How does Jacksonville Beach rank for history?
Jacksonville Beach is more historic than 59% of U.S. towns, #47 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Jacksonville Beach?
Two places: the Casa Marina Hotel (listed 1993) and the American Red Cross Volunteer Life Saving Corps Station (2014).
How old are the homes in Jacksonville Beach?
3% of Jacksonville Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1983.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (24), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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