MIDDLEBURG, FL

Middleburg is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) within Clay County in the U.S. state of Florida, located southwest of downtown Jacksonville and northwest of Green Cove Springs, the county seat of Clay County. As of the 2020 census,the population of Middleburg was 12,881.

It is home to Middleburg High School and to the Middleburg Historic District.

Geography

Middleburg is located northwest of the center of Clay County at (30.050783, -81.902013). Florida State Road Blanding Boulevard leads northeast to the Orange Park area and southwest to Keystone Heights.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Middleburg CDP has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 13,008 people living in 4,891 housing units within the CDP. Between the 2000 and 2010 census, Middleburg realized a population increase of 2,670 individuals. The racial makeup of the CDP was 92.9% White, 3.1% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.9% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.1% of the population.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 24.87% under the age of 18, 75.13% age of 18 or over, and 10.36% age of 65 or over. The population is 49.7% female and 50.3% male.

History

Early settlement

Middleburg began as a settlement called in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Asa Clark ran the first ferry on Black Creek until 1828; as such, the settlement was known as Clark's Ferry from the 1820s through 1833. John Hanson ran the ferry from 1828 through 1833, after which it was sold to Samuel and Charlotte Garey, leading the area to be known as Garey's Ferry. George Branning operated a ferry that competed with Garey's.

thumb|left|259px|United Methodist Church in the 1880s.

Between 1824 and 1827, the Federal Military Road was constructed, running south from Colerain, Georgia to Tampa Bay. The Federal Military Road passed through Garey's Ferry along the route of present-day Main Street, resulting in increased traffic through the community and providing a postal route. Blakey (1976) stated that Whitesville was a settlement that existed approximately near the intersection of present-day Florida State Road 21 and County Road 218 and had grown large enough by 1828 to warrant its own United States Post Office, which was established on February 19 of that year. Also in 1828, the Black Creek Methodist Church was founded by Isaac Boring, but the frontier Methodist society met in their own homes until the Methodist United Church was built in 1847.

Forts Heileman and Sanderson

The community expanded rapidly during the Second Seminole War. Fort Heileman, a wooden stockade fortification located between the North and South prongs of Black Creek, was hastily built in 1836 and protected settlers at Garey's Ferry where it was the "principal depot for the east coast of Florida."

During the Seminole Wars, Fort Heileman was used as a quartermaster workshop and storage depot until its armaments were moved to Fort Shannon in Palatka and the fort was largely abandoned after June 18, 1841. The Fort was permanently abandoned in 1842 and destroyed by a flood later that year. The only building remaining of what was once Fort Heileman is the Clark-Chalker House, which was built in 1835 and served as Fort Heileman's army hospital.

In 1840, Fort Sanderson was built at an unspecified location. Used mostly for storage, the short-lived Fort was abandoned the following year.

Creation of Middleburgh, Seat of Clay County

Garey's Ferry expanded following the Seminole Wars, growing quickly and trading in timber, citrus fruits, cotton, and farm crops. In 1851, Garey's Ferry and Whitesville were consolidated into the town of Middleburgh and the Post Office moved from Whitesville to its current location on Palmetto Street. Clay County (named for Henry Clay) was created from Duval County in December 1858, and Middleburgh became and remained the county seat until 1874.

Throughout the 1850s, as national tensions leading to the American Civil War were increasing, Middleburgh and Clay County remained a stronghold of Whig voters and pro-Union sentiment; in 1859, Whitesville residents renamed their community Webster in honor of Whig politician Daniel Webster.

American Civil War

On October 23, 1864, during the American Civil War, the 4th Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry engaged local Confederates in a skirmish from their base at the Magnolia Springs hotel. Moving into Middleburg the next day, October 24, 1864, the 4th Massachusetts raided and set fire to downtown Middleburg on Main Street and Thompson (now Wharf) Street, destroying Samuel B. Thompson's cotton warehouses and docks, as well as a hotel. The 2nd Florida Cavalry, under command of Captain J.J. Dickison, retaliated by firing on the Massachusetts regiment, leading the latter to retreat across Black Creek and burn the ferry bridge behind them. As the Massachusetts regiment rushed back to Magnolia Springs, Dickison's regiment detoured four miles through Whitesville and caught the Massachusetts regiment at Jeremiah Halsey's Plantation, engaging in a skirmish that resulted in twelve Union deaths and Confederate victory. This skirmish is known officially as the Battle of Halsey's Plantation, but has also been referred to as the Battle of Big Gum Creek. The exact location of Halsey's Plantation is not known, but it was near the site that is currently Shadowlawn Elementary School on County Road 218.

Among the repeated skirmishes between the 4th Massachusetts and 2nd Florida cavalries was a two-hour engagement whereby Dickison's troops rescued cattle that had been seized by Union troops, which local history refers to as the Battle of the Tiger Head.

Decline and expansion

Middleburg suffered from the Civil War, after which there were less than 100 residents. Middleburg's population numbered 700 in 1890 and in 1895, a big freeze and lessening of the river trade caused the city to decline further. The population numbered in the 700s in 1920.

The 1989 film, Brenda Starr, was partially filmed on Black Creek.

Since the 1990s, Middleburg's population and industry have rapidly expanded along with the surrounding communities of Orange Park, Fleming Island, and Jacksonville.

Notable people

Bands