The Island of Ortega
Posted by: 
fo2gra4
N 30° 15.172 W 081° 41.863
17R E 432877 N 3347011
The Island of Ortega
Waymark Code: WM34X2
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 02/10/2008
Views: 47
Pre-European – Native Americans: Late Archaic, Timucuan, and Seminole Tribes.
1770-1775 – Abraham Jones was granted 2000 acres, then known as Maxton’s Creek Island, by King George III of England. He built a home and several small houses and cultivated about 50 acres.
1780-1785 – Daniel McGirtt and his Banditti used the island as their headquarters. McGirtt fought with American Forces in the Revolution, then for the British in East Florida. He became a Highwayman who frequently hid on his farm located here.
1791-1795 – John McQueen, an American Expatriate, was granted this Island and Fort George Island by the Spanish Governor, in honor of the Governor’s Patron Saint, The Island was named San Juan Nepomuceno Plantation.
1804-1836 – John H. McIntosh of St. Marys, Georgia bought both Island and Plantations from McQueen. He chose the name Ortega to honor Josef de Ortega, the Judge Advocate for East Florida, who approved the sale.
1836-185 – McIntosh’s son-in-law, Henry Sadler developed Ortega into a thriving Plantation with a village, many houses, sugar mill, and cotton gin. The crops included sea island cotton, sugar cane, and corn.
1856-1906 – Asa and Austin Moore purchased Ortega from the Sadler Estate and sold it to John P. Sanderson in 1857. U.S. Senator Wilkinson call’s Jacksonville Ortega Town Company purchased Ortega in 1902, then sold it to John N. C. Stockton’s Ortega Company in 1906. These companies began development of the Ortega we know today.
Marker Number: none
Date: none
County: Duval
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: This Historical Marker Donated by Ortega Preservation Society.
Website: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
In your log, please say if you learned something new, and if you took any extra time to explore the area once you stopped at the historic marker waymark.
Please post a photo at the marker location.