Amelia Island

The island claims to be the only place in the United States to have flown eight different national flags - French, Spanish, British, Spanish again, Patriot, Green Cross of Florida, Mexican, Confederate and American - the result of a chaotic run of short-lived occupations and filibuster republics in the early nineteenth century, several lasting weeks. Fernandina Beach's fifty-block downtown is a preserved Victorian district built on the shrimping and railroad boom; the modern shrimping industry is generally traced to this port. Fort Clinch, a brick fortification begun in 1847 and never finished, sits at the northern tip in a state park with re-enactors on the first weekend of each month.

Background

Amelia Island is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, a chain running down the East Coast from South Carolina to Florida, and the northernmost barrier island on Florida's Atlantic shore. It lies in Nassau County, 13 miles long and approximately 4 miles across at its widest, with Fernandina Beach, Amelia City and American Beach as its communities. Timucua bands settled here around 1000 and called the island Napoyca. In 1562 the French explorer Jean Ribault, its first recorded European visitor, named it Île de Mai, and in 1573 Spanish Franciscans founded the Santa María de Sena mission. James Oglethorpe later named it after Princess Amelia, daughter of George II.

Source: Wikipedia, "Amelia Island"

What you'll find

• A fifty-block Victorian downtown - built on shrimp and rail money.
• Eight flags flown - several of them over occupations lasting weeks.
• Fort Clinch - begun 1847, never completed, in a state park.
• Long Atlantic beaches - on the ocean side.

When to go

October to May; summer is hot and humid. A full day.

What to expect

Summer heat and afternoon storms are heavy. The resort end of the island is expensive and separate from the town. Hurricane seasons affect the coast. Parking downtown fills at weekends.

Nearby

Cumberland Island is over the border in Georgia; Jacksonville is south.