ATLANTIC BEACH, FL

Atlantic Beach is a city in Duval County, Florida, United States and part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville in 1968, Atlantic Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Baldwin, remained quasi-independent. Like the other towns, it maintains its own municipal government, but its residents vote in the Jacksonville mayoral election and have representation on the Jacksonville city council. The population was 12,655 at the 2010 census.

History

thumb|left|225px|Atlantic Beach Hotel in 1919.

In 1900 Henry Flagler built the Mayport branch of the railroad and erected a station north of where the Adele Grage Cultural Center is currently located. Soon afterwards Flagler built a large hotel called the Continental Hotel on the railroad line between Pablo Beach (Jacksonville Beach) and Mayport. The hotel was a summer resort with 250 guest rooms. There was also a dance pavilion, tennis courts and a fishing pier. In 1913 the railroad sold most of the land to the Atlantic Beach Corporation which then began paving streets, installing lights, and water and sewer lines. In that same year the Continental Hotel changed its name to the Atlantic Beach Hotel. However, during World War I people were afraid to come to the coast and the Atlantic Beach Corporation went bankrupt. To make matters worse the Atlantic Beach Hotel burned down on September 20, 1919. After the war land began to sell again and settlement grew. The Town of Atlantic Beach was incorporated in 1926 and the first charter was adopted in 1929. The first town hall burned down in 1932, so a new one was built later that year. The newly established Mayport Naval Station and the construction of the Mathews Bridge led to further development of the town. The boundaries of Atlantic Beach were extended in 1987 with the annexation of Seminole Beach and again in 1996 by extending the westerly boundary to the Intracoastal Waterway.

Geography

Atlantic Beach is located at .

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (73.07%) is water.

Transportation

Major highways

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 13,368 people, 5,623 households, and 3,643 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,584.3 inhabitants per square mile (1,383.8/km²). There were 6,003 housing units at an average density of 1,609.5 per square mile (621.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.23% White, 12.69% African American, 0.26% Native American, 2.09% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.12% from other races, and 1.58% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.18% of the population.

There were 5,623 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.2% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $48,353, and the median income for a family was $53,854. Males had a median income of $37,438 versus $27,321 for females. The per capita income for the city was $28,618. About 5.7% of families and 8.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.3% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people