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Ponte
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Ponte
Vedra History |
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Ponte Vedra History
Ponte Vedra's history begins 400 years ago when settlers first landed in St Augustine. But, it wasn't until the National Lead Company, a minerals mining company, discovered titanium, zircon and rutile in the beach sands in the area. Originally known as Mineral City, the area was first developed as a resort community after World War I. The present name appears to be in honor of Pontevedra, Spain. The actual reason for the name choice is unknown, but there is a rumor that one of the developers read a newspaper acticle that claimed that Christopher Columbus was born there.
In the early 1920s, the National Lead Company had built a 9-hole golf course and 12-room clubhouse constructed of logs for the use of their employees.[5] After the company left Ponte Vedra, that real estate became the foundation of the Ponte Vedra Club. Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co. was a developer of Ponte Vedra Beach in the early 1930s and owned the Ponte Vedra Club. By 1942, National Lead Company sold its interest in Ponte Vedra to the locally driven Ponte Vedra Corporation. The community rapidly developed into a year-round resort community with a substantial permanent population.
Palm Valley
Palm Valley is a part of the history of Ponte Vedra. Long before the first Spanish settlers arrived, there was an Indian village in what we call Palm Valley today. Several Indian mounds have been uncovered revealing points, pottery and human skeletons. Early Franciscan missionaries constructed a mission in the area called The Nativity of Our Lady of Tolomato.
By 1703, Don Diego Espinoza had settled in what is today the Palm Valley area. His vast ranch and the surrounding territory was known as Diego Plains. In the 1730s, the ranch was fortified to protect its inhabitants from Indian attack. By 1739, Great Britain and Spain were at war and trouble was brewing for the Diego Plains settlers. British General James Oglethorpe was commissioned to harass the Spanish settlements south of the colony of Georgia so the Spanish governor fortified the Diego farmhouse which was already being called Fort San Diego. After Oglethorpe’s failure to capture St. Augustine, the Spanish military abandoned Fort San Diego, but other inhabitants moved into the area, living off the land and the cattle.
In 1908, a canal was dug through Diego Plains connecting the San Pablo River to the north with the Tolomato River near St. Augustine to the south. This Intracoastal canal made access to the valley much easier for the residents that had settled in this area. In addition to raising cattle, they farmed, logged, and sold palm fronds to religious groups. The many palm trees growing in the region led some of the settlers to decide on the name Palm Valley for their community.
Prohibition turned some of the valley residents to another source of income – moonshine. The abundant water supply and deep woods areas in the valley were ideal for the concealment of illegal whiskey distilling. The moonshine industry thrived even after the Volstead Act was repealed in 1933, but the rising price of sugar finally brought the illegal whiskey industry to an end.
Palm Valley remained a quiet area of the Beaches, between A1A and U.S. 1. There were many farms where produce and livestock were raised. The development of the Beaches has also affected Palm Valley. Today most farms in the valley have disappeared, opening the land for luxurious residences overlooking the Intracoastal
Waterway.
The remoteness of the Beaches was still a problem. The developers offered initial buyers deep discounts to encourage development and a small, existing golf course was greatly improved. As residential development increased, the State of Florida completed the road from Jacksonville Beach south to St. Augustine, opening the last segment of the East Coast Scenic Highway.
In 1972 developers broke ground on the 1,100-acre Sawgrass development. Around the same time, Deane Berman, the Commissioner of the PGA Tour at the time, was looking for a permanent home for the Tournament Players Championship. Many areas around North Florida were considered. In an attempt to bring positive attention to the area the Sawgrass developers offered a 400-acre tract of land to Deane for only $1. He couldn't refuse this One Dollar Deal and so Sawgrass became the home of the Tournament Players Championship and the headquarters for the PGA Tour.
Today, Ponte Vedra is an upscale community with homes ranging from $300K to over $2 million dollars. There are waterfront homes on the ocean as well as the Intracoastal. Other Ponte Vedra homes are on golf courses and some have acreage. Ponte Vedra is know for world class tennis and professional golf. Some of the most prestigious and scenic golf courses in the world attract professional tournaments including the PGA TOUR’S “fifth” major, THE PLAYERS Championship, with a 6 million dollar purse. Ponte Vedra Beach, with its 135 professional caliber holes, is acclaimed as the Pebble Beach of the East Coast. Our signature course, acclaimed "the seventh best resort course in America by Golf Digest, is the 6,857-yard TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course with its notoriously difficult island green, one of the "World's Most Photographed Holes.”
Glenn Weilbacher, REALTOR
Local 904-794-9609 Toll Free 888-236-2579 E-Mail
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