Today
one
of
the
U.
S.
Navy's
most
strategically
significant
seaports,
Mayport's
early
history
was
fraught
with
military
engagements,
as
control
of
the
mouth
of
the
St.
Johns
River
was
hotly
contested.
The
first
European
to
visit
Mayport
was
the
French
naval
officer,
Commodore
Jean
Ribault,
who
landed
at
Ft.
George
in
1562.
After
establishing
an
outpost,
the
French
were
defeated
in
1565
by
Spanish
forces
from
St.
Augustine.
The
Spanish
took
advantage
of
a
hurricane
to
attack
by
land
and
sack
the
French
post
while
the
French
ships
were
foundering
in
the
storm
off
St.
Augustine.
The
Spanish
later
built
three
forts
in
the
area,
most
notably,
"St.
John
of
the
Portal"
near
the
mouth
of
the
river,
believed
to
be
the
source
of
the
river's
name.
Spain
retained
jurisdiction
of
Florida
until
turning
it
over
to
Great
Britain
in
1763,
and
the
British
would
rule
for
twenty
years.
Following
the
American
Revolution,
the
treaty
returned
Florida
to
Spain,
and
the
territory
remained
under
Spanish
control
until
it
was
ceded
to
the
United
States
in
1820.
The
first
U.S.
military
use
of
Mayport
occurred
at
the
beginning
of
the
Civil
War,
when
a
Confederate
company,
the
Jacksonville
Light
Infantry,
established
a
fort
at
the
site
of
today's
naval
station.
It
was
named
Fort
Steele,
for
the
company's
commanding
officer.
Faced
with
superior
numbers
of
Union
troops,
however,
the
fort
soon
was
considered
indefensible,
and
its
guns
were
buried
and
the
fort
abandoned.
Mayport
itself
saw
no
action
in
the
Civil
War.
In
the
late
19th
century,
land
developers
from
Chicago
established
Burnside
Beach
near
the
mouth
of
the
St.
Johns
River.
Possibly
named
for
a
shipwreck
offshore,
Burnside
Beach
was
located
on
property
now
part
of
the
naval
station.
The
developers
laid
tracks
for
a
railroad
to
the
area,
and
they
established
the
new
communities
of
Seminole
Beach
and
Manhattan
Beach
immediately
south
of
Burnside
Beach.
Nearby,
Atlantic
Beach
became
a
fashionable
tourist
destination
in
the
late
19th
century,
and
several
hotels
were
built.
One
visitor,
Elizabeth
Worthington,
was
so
enthralled
with
Mayport
during
her
1914
visit
that
she
decided
to
settle.
First
acquiring
two
oceanfront
lots,
she
expanded
her
holding
to
some
300
acres,
with
plans
to
raise
horses
and
grow
figs.
Miss
Worthington
promptly
wired
her
fiancee,
Jack
Stark,
to
join
her.
The
Starks
were
married
in
Waycross,
Georgia,
and
began
to
plan
their
new
home
in
East
Mayport,
Wonderwood
by
the
Sea.
Wonderwood
was
built
on
the
waterfront
at
the
present
harbor
at
Naval
Station,
Mayport,
and
the
estate
eventually
comprised
more
than
20
buildings.
The
Starks'
home,
Miramar,
overlooked
the
harbor
on
the
site
of
the
present
Administration
Building
[Bldg
1].
In
the
early
20th
century,
the
Starks
operated
a
riding
school
and
a
lodging
and
dining
facility.
In
addition
to
entertaining
guests
from
around
the
world,
the
Starks
were
strong
supporters
of
a
broad
range
of
community
efforts,
contributing
substantially
to
the
growth
of
the
village.
During
the
1930s,
the
U.
S.
government
recognized
significant
naval
value
in
the
region.
In
1939,
Duval
County
citizens
approved
a
$1.1
million
bond
issue
to
buy
land
for
a
naval
base.
In
1940,
Mrs..
Stark
and
other
local
property
owners
were
summoned
to
a
court
hearing
in
Jacksonville
to
discuss
the
sale
of
their
properties.
There
they
learned
that
much
of
their
property
would
be
purchased
for
a
naval
base
to
support
aircraft
operations
and
two
aircraft
carriers.
Although
the
price
offered
by
the
federal
government
was
below
what
they
considered
market
value,
the
Starks
remained
staunch
supporters
of
the
community.
The
Naval
Section
Base
at
Mayport
was
commissioned
in
December
1942.
The
following
year
the
base
became
a
Sea
Frontier
Base
and
was
used
for
maintenance
and
refueling
of
submarines
and
as
a
homeport
for
minesweepers.
On
adjacent
property,
in
April
1944,
the
Naval
Auxiliary
Air
Station
was
commissioned
and
schools
for
anti-aircraft
and
degaussing
training
were
established.
The
two
bases
provided
vital
support
to
the
personnel
and
logistics
war
effort.
After
World
War
II,
the
bases
were
decommissioned
and
placed
in
caretaker
status.
Reactivated
in
June
1948
as
a
Naval
Outlying
Landing
Field,
and
later
as
a
Naval
Auxiliary
Landing
Field,
under
Naval
Air
Station,
Jacksonville,
Mayport
was
expanded
to
provide
longer
runways.
In
October
1952,
USS
Tarawa
[CVS
40]
was
the
first
capital
ship
to
utilize
Mayport's
new
carrier
basin.
USS
Coral
Sea
[CVA
34]
was
the
first
of
the
new
Midway-class
carriers
to
visit
Mayport.
In
1955,
Mayport
was
recommissioned
a
Naval
Auxiliary
Air
Station,
and
Commander
Carrier
Division
Two
soon
relocated
to
Mayport.
In
1956
USS
Franklin
D.
Roosevelt
[CVA
42]
changed
homeport
to
Mayport.
For
the
remainder
of
the
20th
century,
Mayport's
capabilities,
in
both
aircraft
and
ship
support,
continued
to
grow
to
support
the
increasing
importance
of
the
base
to
the
fleet.
