Fleming Island Real Estate Guide

Live the Island Life

Sitting west of the St. John’s River, Fleming Island (which is actually a peninsula) is a census-designated place just inside the Jacksonville metropolitan area. Around 29,000 residents call this breathtaking island home, and because of this high population, it is rich with commercial and local businesses. This is one of the many reasons we recognize Fleming Island as one of the best places to live in Florida not to mention its wealth of world-class beaches, golf courses, and resorts nearby.

The island’s schooling and history also help it stand out as one of Florida’s premier suburbs to call home. Fleming Island offers plenty to see, do, and appreciate within community limits. The proximity to Jacksonville is another plus. It’s only a 43-minute drive to the city center and an hour’s drive to some of the best beaches in Florida. Who wouldn’t want to live in Flemming Beach!?!?

Cuisine

Great Fleming Foods

If you are a foodie like we are, you won’t be disappointed in the top-class eats you will find! Search for your next favorite meal within the community limits or look to the surrounding Jacksonville metropolitan. But for those who don’t want to stray too far from home, here are the Fleming Island Real Estate Guide’s top restaurant options for good eats:

History

Meet the Flemings

Interested in what Fleming Island looked like before its current residents arrived? Luckily enough, this is a community with a storied past rich in culture. The story starts with the community’s founders, the Fleming family. Here is a quick rundown of Fleming Island History:

  • 1783: George Fleming, the peninsula’s original settler, received a 1,000-acre land grant from the Spanish governor of East Florida. Fleming started a plantation named “Hibernia” (Latin for Ireland) on the land, farming orange groves and other crops.
  • 1821: George Fleming died, passing ownership onto his son Colonel Lewis Michael Fleming.
  • 1856: Lewis Fleming and his wife Margaret Fleming began construction on the grand Hibernia mansion.
  • 1861-1865: During the Civil War, Margaret Fleming and her daughters were falsely accused of spying for the Confederacy. The Fleming’s were then banished from their newly built mansion. The Union took over Hibernia.
  • 1866: After the war ended, the Flemings returned to Hibernia and transformed it into a hotel where it continued to operate under family supervision for around 60 more years.

Nowadays Fleming’s land is home to a cemetery and private chapel. The famous mansion no longer stands. The family’s legacy is well documented as an essential part of Florida history. In what is known as Florida’s “Gone with the Wind,” Eugenia Price wrote her novel Margaret’s Story based on the story of Margaret Fleming. You can read a more detailed account of Fleming’s dramatic story in author Scott Richie’s telling, The Flemings of Fleming Island.

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