Ponte Vedra Beach is a wealthy

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

seaside community and suburb of

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

in St. Johns County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States. Located southeast of downtown

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

and north of St. Augustine, it is part of 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 an unnamed barrier island on the US state of Florida's First Coast, all of which are excluded cities or parts of ...

area, and on the island nicknamed San Pablo Island. The area is known for its resorts, including the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, the Lodge and Club, and the Marriott at Sawgrass. It lies within St. Johns County, which is the wealthiest county in Florida. Ponte Vedra Beach is an upper-income

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

resort area best known for its association with golf and is home to the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

and the Players Championship.

History

What is now north Florida was visited several times by European explorers in the 16th century, but there is little evidence for them specifically coming to Ponte Vedra Beach. It may have been sighted by Juan Ponce de León during his voyage to Florida in 1513, but as his precise landfall is unknown, this claim can be made by many communities on the east coast of Florida. The area remained sparsely populated through the late 19th century, even as other seaside communities began to develop to the north. Minerals were discovered in 1914, and a community known as Mineral City grew around the mining operations. These minerals, mostly titanium (

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is Zr SiO4. An empirical formula showing some of t ...

, and

rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at visib ...

were recovered from beach sands by the Buckman and Pritchard Mining Company. The

National Lead Company NL Industries (), formerly known as the National Lead Company, is a lead smelting company currently based in Houston, Texas. National Lead was one of the 12 original stocks included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the time of its creation on ...

bought Buckman and Pritchard in 1921 and discontinued mining as demand dropped after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1929 it began to develop the area to be similar to The Cloister in

Sea Island, Georgia Sea Island is a privately owned, unincorporated area of Glynn County, Georgia, and is part of the Golden Isles of Georgia, which include St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island, Little St. Simons Island, and the mainland city of Brunswick. The well-vis ...

. Colonel Joseph C. Stehlin, who had been with the company in St. Louis, arrived on January 1, 1929 to manage development. The company wanted a more impressive name than Mineral City for its resort, so Colonel Stehlin and his wife, Elizabeth (''née'' Morton), went to the library in St. Augustine to research various possibilities for a new name. Since Florida had been under Spanish rule, they looked on an old map and found the name

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the '' Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality wh ...

on the Atlantic coast of Spain at "approximately" the same latitude as Mineral City. (Pontevedra, Spain, however, is over 800 miles farther north at about the same latitude as

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

.) The Galician name of the town was derived from a Roman bridge ("pontis vetera" or "old bridge") that spanned the nearby

Lérez River The Lérez is a river in South West Galicia, Spain. The river meets the Atlantic Ocean at Pontevedra, where it creates Pontevedra's ria. The sources of the long stream are in Serra do Candán, in the mountain of San Bieito, in the parish of Aci ...

centuries earlier. Colonel Stehlin submitted the name to the National Lead board for approval and Mineral City became Ponte Vedra.

Ponte Vedra Club

In the early 1920s, the National Lead Company built a nine-hole golf course designed by

Herbert Bertram Strong Herbert Bertram Strong (13 February 1880 – 8 October 1944) was an English professional golfer. He was an organizer and founding member of the PGA of America and later became a successful golf course architect. As a player, Strong's best finish ...

, one of the founders of the PGA, plus a 12-room clubhouse constructed of logs for the use of its employees. After the company left the area, that real estate became the foundation of the Ponte Vedra Club. Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co., a local developer, became the owner of the Ponte Vedra Corporation in July 1934.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the German submarine U-584 debarked four saboteurs at Ponte Vedra as part of the failed

Operation Pastorius Operation Pastorius was a failed German intelligence plan for sabotage inside the United States during World War II. The operation was staged in June, 1942 and was to be directed against strategic American economic targets. The operation was n ...

. The four German spies, all of whom had previously lived in the United States, came ashore on the night of June 16, 1942 carrying explosives and American money. After landing they strolled up the beach to

Jacksonville Beach Jacksonville Beach is a coastal resort city in Duval County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated on May 22, 1907, as Pablo Beach, and would later change its name to Jacksonville Beach in 1925. The city is part of group of communities col ...

, where they caught a city bus to

and departed by train for

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

and Chicago. The invaders were captured before they could do any damage. They were tried by a military tribunal and executed.

Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass

In 1972,

real estate developers Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

broke ground on the Sawgrass development. In the mid 1970s,

Deane Beman } Deane R. Beman (born April 22, 1938) is an American professional golfer, golf administrator. He was the second commissioner of the PGA Tour, serving from 1974 to 1994. Early years Born in Washington, D.C., Beman attended the University of Maryl ...

, the Commissioner of the PGA golf tour, was looking for a permanent home for the Tournament Players Championship. Many places in northern Florida were being considered. In an attempt to bring positive attention to the area, developer Paul Fletcher offered a tract of land to Beman for $1. Beman could not refuse this ''one dollar deal'' for the future home of

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as The PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

and the headquarters of the

. The Sawgrass Stadium Course has been the permanent home of

since 1982.

Geographics

Ponte Vedra Beach is wholly located east of the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a 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, then following t ...

, south of the Duval County line, and north of

Vilano Beach Vilano Beach is an unincorporated community in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. It was listed as the Villano Beach census-designated place (CDP) by the U.S. Census Bureau from 2010 to 1990; however, the name was corrected to Vilano Beac ...

. The South Ponte Vedra Beach community is commonly considered to be a part of Ponte Vedra Beach. The Ponte Vedra area includes Ponte Vedra, Ponte Vedra Beach, South Ponte Vedra Beach (an area between the Atlantic and

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve In 1999, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM Research Reserve) was designated in St. Johns and Flagler counties, Florida as a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Estuarine ...

), Sawgrass, and Palm Valley. In June 2006, the U.S. Postal Service designated an area to the south and southwest of the 32082 area as ''Ponte Vedra'' (as distinct from ''Ponte Vedra Beach'') and assigned it the ZIP code 32081.

Demographics

Median household income in Ponte Vedra Beach is $102,918 and median family income is $109,181. The median age of the people and Ponte Vedra reveals it has 49.0 overall median age of all people which is the 2nd most of all the places in the area. The place with the highest overall median age of all people in the area is Sawgrass with an age of 55.8 measures 13.9% larger. The Ponte Vedra area is known for being a very influential area of North Florida, and boasts one of the best school districts in Florida. Ponte Vedra Beach was 50th on the list of 100 finalists for ''CNN and Money Magazine's 2005 List of the Best Places to Live.'' It was the first place in Florida to be named in that year and one of only four areas in the state to make the cut. As of August 1, 2012 the average house costs around $720,000. There were three registered sex offenders living in Ponte Vedra, Florida as of April 10, 2017. The ratio of number of residents in Ponte Vedra to the number of sex offenders is 12,641 to 1. The ratio of registered sex offenders to the number of residents in the community is lower than the state average.

City statistics

* Population: 27,750 * Median family income (per year): $116,399 * Unemployment (September 2015): 3.8% * Job growth % (2000–2008): 5.27% * Median home price: $330,000 * Restaurants (within 15 miles): 1,373 * Avg. High temp in July °F: 89.90 °F * Avg. Low temp in Jan °F: 46.60 °F * Median age: 48.00

Education

Public primary and secondary schools in Ponte Vedra Beach are administered by the St. Johns County School District.

Allen D. Nease High School Allen D. Nease High School is a high school in the St. Johns County School District, located in the Nocatee census-designated place - Compare with school zone maps. (with a Ponte Vedra, Florida postal address), in St. Johns County, Florida. It ...

and Ponte Vedra High School, which was constructed to relieve the overcrowding of

, serve as the two public high schools in the Ponte Vedra area. Alice B. Landrum Middle School is one of the primary, public middle schools in the area. There is also a K-8 school in the area called Valley Ridge Academy. The Ponte Vedra Palm Valley-Rawlings Elementary School serves as one of the primary, public elementary schools (K-5) in the area, as well as Ocean Palms Elementary School. Ponte Vedra offers private education (K-8) at the Palmer Catholic Academy. Also, the

Bolles School The Bolles School is an American private college preparatory day and boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a lower school (including pre-kindergarten), a middle school, and a high school, spread across four campuses around the Jackson ...

has one of their two lower school campuses in Ponte Vedra Beach, and offers education from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade before transferring students to the middle and high schools located in

. Additionally, the

St Johns County Public Library System St. Johns County Public Library System serves the surrounding areas of St. Johns County, Florida, including St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fruit Cove, and Hastings. The library system has six branches, two bookmobiles, and offers books-by-mail ...

has a Ponte Vedra Beach branch library.

Notable people

Famous past and present residents of Ponte Vedra: *

Kim Alexis Kim Marie Alexis (born July 15, 1960) is an American supermodel and actress who was famous in the 1970s and 80s. She appeared on the cover of magazines like ''Sports Illustrated'', ''Vogue'', ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Glamour'', ''Self'' and ''C ...

, actress and model *

Ehsan Bayat Ehsanollah "Ehsan" Bayat ( Persian: احسان الله بیات, born July 15, 1963) is an Afghan American business entrepreneur who is the founder and chairman of Bayat Group, Afghanistan's largest private company. Early life and education Bay ...

, Afghan American businessman * Jason Altmire, U.S. Congressman *

Tony Boselli Don Bosco Anthony Boselli Jr. (born April 17, 1972) is an American former football tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He played college football at USC, where he received th ...

, professional football player * Caitlin Brunell, Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2008 (daughter of Mark Brunell) *

Mark Brunell Mark Allen Brunell (born September 17, 1970) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played in the NFL for nineteen seasons and is best k ...

, professional football player and coach * Shelby Cannon, professional tennis player *

Christina Crawford Christina Crawford is an American author and actress, best known for her 1978 memoir and exposé, '' Mommie Dearest'', which described her abusive relationship with her adoptive mother, film star Joan Crawford. Early life and education Christ ...

, dancer and professional wrestler *

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 46th governor of Florida since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, DeSantis represented Florida's 6th district in the U.S. House of Repres ...

, 46th Governor of Florida and former U.S. Congressman for 6th district *

Ron Duguay Ronald Duguay (born July 6, 1957) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and coach who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1977 through 1989, and served four seasons as a minor league coach. He appeared as an ...

, professional hockey player and coach * Bob Duval, professional golfer and author *

David Duval David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; incl ...

, professional golfer *

Tim Finchem Timothy W. Finchem (born April 19, 1947) is an American lawyer and retired golf administrator, who served as commissioner of golf's PGA Tour from 1994 to 2016. He served in the White House for two years during the administration of President J ...

Commissioner * Todd Fordham professional football player *

Alicia Fox Victoria Crawford (born June 30, 1986) is an American retired professional wrestler and former model known for her time with WWE under the ring name Alicia Fox. Crawford debuted on '' SmackDown'' on June 13, 2008, using the Alicia Fox name and ...

, model,

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

wrestler, actress *

Fred Funk Frederick Funk (born June 14, 1956) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Early life Fred Funk was born in Takoma Park, Maryland. He tried several sports, and even boxed for eight years for a junio ...

, professional golfer *

Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 200 ...

, professional golfer * Dan Galorath, software developer, businessman and author *

Brian Gottfried Brian Edward Gottfried (born January 27, 1952) is a retired American tennis player who won 25 singles titles and 54 doubles titles during his professional career. He was the runner-up in singles at the 1977 French Open, won the 1975 and 1977 Fren ...

, professional tennis player * Michael Huyghue, United Football League Commissioner *

Dan Jenkins Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University. Ear ...

, author and sports writer *

Hamilton Jordan William Hamilton McWhorter Jordan () (September 21, 1944 – May 20, 2008) was an American politician who served as Chief of Staff to President of the United States Jimmy Carter. Early life Jordan was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, the son ...

, White House Chief of Staff for President Carter *

Jeff Klauk Jeffrey Michael Klauk (; born November 28, 1977) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour. Amateur career Klauk was born in Boynton Beach, Florida. He played golf at Nease High School. He played co ...

, professional golfer *

E. L. Konigsburg Elaine Lobl Konigsburg (February 10, 1930 – April 19, 2013) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books and young adult fiction. She is one of six writers to win two Newbery Medals, the venerable American Library Association aw ...

, author *

Billy Kratzert William August Kratzert III (born June 29, 1952) is an American professional golfer and sportscaster, who has played on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Early life Kratzert was born in Quantico, Virginia when his father was in the serv ...

, professional golfer and commentator *

Matt Kuchar Matthew Gregory Kuchar (born June 21, 1978) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and formerly the Nationwide Tour. He has won nine times on the PGA Tour. Kuchar briefly enjoyed success in the early 2000s before suffering ...

, professional golfer *

Bowie Kuhn Bowie Kent Kuhn (; October 28, 1926 – March 15, 2007) was an American lawyer and sports administrator who served as the fifth Commissioner of Major League Baseball from February 4, 1969, to September 30, 1984. He served as legal counsel for Ma ...

, lawyer and former MLB Commissioner *

Christian Laettner Christian Donald Laettner (, ; born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player. His college career for the Duke Blue Devils is widely regarded as one of the best in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) hi ...

, professional basketball player * Mike Lester, cartoonist, illustrator, author *

Frank Lickliter Franklin Ray Lickliter II (born July 28, 1969) is an American professional golfer. He featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, going as high as 41st in 2001. Early life Lickliter was born in Middletown, Ohio, adjacent to his hom ...

, professional golfer *

Todd Martin Todd Martin (born July 8, 1970) is an American retired tennis player. He reached the men's singles final at the 1994 Australian Open and the 1999 US Open and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4. Playing career Martin was born ...

, professional tennis player *

Len Mattiace Leonard Earl Mattiace (; born October 15, 1967) is an American professional golfer, formerly of the PGA Tour and now playing on the PGA Tour Champions. Mattiace was born in Mineola, New York. He attended Nease High School in Ponte Vedra, Florid ...

, professional golfer *

Brian Moorman Brian Donald Moorman (born February 5, 1976) is an American former football punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Pittsburg State University, and was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free age ...

, former professional football player *

Mark McCumber Mark Randall McCumber (born September 7, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour. McCumber was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, where he attended Robert E. Lee High School. He turned p ...

, professional golfer * Craig McKinley, first

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

four-star general *

Ben Nowland Ben Nowland (born May 27, 1980, in Jacksonville, Florida) is a former American football offensive lineman. He played most recently for the Georgia Force of the Arena Football League. High school years He attended Allen D. Nease Senior High Schoo ...

, professional football player *

Donna Orender Donna Geils Orender (born February 14, 1957) is a sports executive and a former collegiate and professional basketball player. She was formerly president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and senior vice president of the PGA ...

, professional athlete and sports executive *

Calvin Peete Calvin Peete (July 18, 1943 – April 29, 2015) was an American professional golfer. He was the most successful African-American to have played on the PGA Tour, with 12 wins, prior to the emergence of Tiger Woods. Peete won the 1985 Tournament ...

, professional golfer *

Rick Rhoden Richard Alan Rhoden (born May 16, 1953) is a professional golfer and former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. During his 16-year baseball career, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1974–1978), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1979–1986), the Ne ...

, professional athlete *

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

, television personality, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood * Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., general and winner of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

* Michael Russell, professional tennis player *

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( hif, विजय सिंह ; born 22 February 1963), nicknamed "The Big Fijian", is a Fijian professional golfer. He has won 34 events on the PGA Tour, including three major championships: one Masters title (2000) and two ...

, professional golfer * Nancy Soderberg, foreign policy strategist * Tim Tebow, professional football & baseball player * Bill Terry, baseball Hall of Fame member * G. Kennedy Thompson, former

Wachovia Wachovia was a diversified financial services company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Before its acquisition by Wells Fargo and Company in 2008, Wachovia was the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, based on total asset ...

CEO *

Bobby Thomson Robert Brown Thomson (October 25, 1923 – August 16, 2010) was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player, nicknamed the "Staten Island Scot". He was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants (1946–53, 1957), M ...

, professional baseball player, star of the " Shot Heard 'Round the World" * MaliVai Washington, professional tennis player * Bobby Weed, golf course designer *

Bob Wenzel Bob Wenzel (born October 4, 1949) is a former American college basketball coach and broadcaster for the Big Ten Network, ESPN, CBS Sports and Fox Sports. Biography College playing/Coaching career Wenzel graduated from Rutgers University in 1971 ...

, college basketball coach and broadcaster * Rick Wilkins, professional baseball player * Betty Williams,

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

winner

References

External links

* * *

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

, Jacksonville District
St. Johns County, Florida, South Ponte Vedra Beach, Vilano Beach, and Summer Haven Reaches. Coastal Storm Risk Management Project Final Integrated Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment
March 2017. {{Authority control Unincorporated communities in St. Johns County, Florida Seaside resorts in Florida Beaches of St. Johns County, Florida Unincorporated communities in the Jacksonville metropolitan area Unincorporated communities in Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Atlantic Ocean Beaches of Florida

History

Ponte Vedra Club

World War II

Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass

Geographics

Demographics

City statistics

Education

Notable people

See also

References

External links