Gross is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Nassau County, Florida Nassau County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the northeasternmost county in the state. The county seat is Fernandina Beach. The population was 90,352 at the 2020 census. Nassau County is a constituent of the Jackso ...

, United States. It is located on

U.S. Route 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that spans in the Southeastern United States. It runs close to the East Coast of the United States, At ...

in the north of the county, and is also the northernmost interchange (Exit 380) along

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

within the U.S. state of Florida. Being an unincorporated community, the addresses of all buildings in Gross are labeled as belonging to Yulee, the nearest in-state city located southeast. Few buildings and businesses reside in the community modern day, but include a

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

landscaping Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including the following: # Living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal ...

business, and campground.

Geography

The nearest settlement to Gross is Crandall, Florida, at south-southeast. The nearest city to Gross is

Kingsland, Georgia Kingsland is a city in Camden County, Georgia, Camden County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The population was 18,337 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 15,946 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of th ...

at north, and the nearest city in-state is Yulee at southeast.

History

The community began as a small turpentine village along the Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line. It became the starting location for the Gross Cutoff, a

railroad cutoff A railroad (or railway) cutoff (or cut-off) is a new railroad line built to replace or supplement an existing route, typically one where the old line is deficient for some reason. Reasons and types The term "cutoff" refers to the fact that the ...

from the SAL main line passing through the community, that ran from Gross to

Callahan, Florida Callahan is a town in Nassau County, Florida, United States, adjacent to Duval County. The population was 1,972 at the 2020 census, up from 1,123 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jacksonville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is ...

via a junction with the Callahan Subdivision. The line was created as a bypass route for passenger trains, such as the ''

Silver Meteor The ''Silver Meteor'' is a Long-distance Amtrak routes, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between New York City and Miami, Florida. Introduced in 1939 as the first diesel-powered streamliner between New York and Florida, it was t ...

'', which often became congested at the larger Union Terminal in

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 ...

. The line operated for sixty years between 1925 and 1985, before it was deemed to be unnecessary and abandoned. The section of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line that passed through the community, which also has since ceased operations, is currently operated by First Coast Railroad. The community has few building modern day, but is home to some small businesses including "Casey's Lounge & Liquor", a small

which occasionally hosts live music, "Designer Landscaping", a

business, and "Horne Lake RV Park", a campground adjacent to the nearby Horne Lake.

References

{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Nassau County, Florida Unincorporated communities in the Jacksonville metropolitan area