History Lessons!

Once upon a time, I undertook the project of writing the History of Sawgrass.

That project, when complete, was turned over to the Sawgrass Association to compile with their other work on this area.

I have yet to see anything come of it and am truly disappointed!

With that said, I was so pleased to see 'real follow-through' from Maurice Robinson, when I attended Guest Speaker Day at the PV Senior Center.

Maurice shared highlights of his recent book, The History of Ponte Vedra.

The book covers a timeframe from 1514 to current.

With his slide presentation, he tweaked just enough of our curiosity to encourage a more indepth look of our history here in PV.

Barbara Marshall purchased Maurice's book for her husband who loves historical literature and lives in Ponte Vedra. They may just uncover a mystery in the property where they live. :)

When Maurice said, 'How could a place so beautiful, not have been written about?', I, too, was perplexed!

So, he undertook the exciting task of uncovering a very interesting history. He unveils an interesting history of our beautiful community and a plethora of influential names we still hear today throughout our community. We now better understand how the people and the land interface to make The History of Ponte Vedra.

Here are a few highlights Maurice shared from The History of Ponte Vedra:

• From 1514 when Ponce de Leon landed 3 vessels;

• The Guana Watershed;


• The Palm Valley Bridge History;


• Peyton's influence;


• Where the name Diego Plains came from during 1600-1906;


• How and why our subdivision on 210 was named Sawmill Lakes;


• Moonshine Days and Mineral City

Most amazing to me was the large area of land Florida covered in those days. It spread up through the Louisiana tip over to Chesapeake Bay. Very shocking! No wonder people say we are South Georgia.

Of course, Jean McCormick's name was inevitable along with the Beaman's, Fletcher's, and not to leave our our first church in Ponte Vedra Beach - Christ Episcopal.

Maurice also said the lakes around this area are often due to the chemical digs when cleaning up after the Mineral City Days.

He reminded us when a round of golf at the Ponte Vedra Club was a mere $1.50 per day and a stay at the inn was $8.00. Where have those days gone?

All in all, the audience completely enjoyed their history lesson. The books are available throughout our community bookstores.