Nassau County, Florida

Nassau County was created in 1824. It was named for the Duchy of Nassau in Germany.

Nassau County is governed by the five-member Nassau County Board of County Commissioners, who are elected to four-year terms by the voters. The terms are set up so that either three or two commissioners (alternately) are up for election every two years.

The main environmental and agricultural body is the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District, which works closely with other area agencies.

Local law enforcement is conducted by the Nassau County Sheriff's Office.

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 725.86 square miles (1,880.0 km²), of which 651.55 square miles (1,687.5 km²) (or 89.76%) is land and 74.30 square miles (192.4 km²) (or 10.24%) is water,[4] much of it in the Atlantic Ocean. Fernandina Beach is located on Amelia Island, the county’s only island with people living on it.

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 57,663 people, 21,980 households, and 16,528 families living in the county. The population density was 34/km² (88/sq mi). There were 25,917 housing units at an average density of 15/km² (40/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 90.02% White, 7.74% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.32% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. 1.51% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

According to the 2000 Census, the largest European ancestry groups in Nassau County were: English (36.2%), Irish (13.6%) and German (11.7%).

There were 21,980 households out of which 32.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.80% were not related. 20.10% of all households were made up of people living alone and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.97.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 28.80% from 25 to 44, 26.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,022, and the median income for a family was $52,477. Males had a median income of $37,027 versus $25,443 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,836. About 6.40% of families and 9.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.90% of those under age 18 and 8.90% of those age 65 or over.

Nassau County is home to nine elementary schools, three middle schools, three high schools, and one middle-senior high school.

The Betty Cook Center, started and run by Florida State College at Jacksonville, offers classes for post-secondary degrees.

There are four newspapers in Nassau County. The largest, the Fernandina Beach News-Leader, is owned by Community Newspapers Incorporated, a media company headed by Tom Wood and Dink NeSmith. The Nassau County Record is also owned by Community Newspapers Incorporated. Both of these are available by subscription or from newsstands. The Westside Journal, an independent newspaper, is published by Florida Sun Printing, and is available for free through the mail and usually features submitted stories. My Nassau Sun Archived 2010-01-21 at the Wayback Machine, a community section of The Florida Times-Union, is also available for free by subscription for delivery cost.

• Hoyt House, 804 Atlantic Avenue,
• Historic Nassau County Courthouse, 416 Centre Street
• United States Post Office, Custom House, and Courthouse (Fernandina, Florida, 1912), NE corner Centre and 4th streets

• Jan H. Johannes, Yesterday's Reflections, (1976, 1984)
• Jan H. Johannes, Yesterday's Reflections II, (2000) ISBN 978-0-9677419-0-1
• Jan H. Johannes, Tidewater Amelia: Historic homes & buildings of Amelia Island, Cumberland Island, St. Marys, Fort George Island, (2002) ISBN 978-0-9677419-2-5