St. Johns County has three incorporated cites: St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach and Hastings. Unincorporated communities includes Ponte Vedra, Switzerland, Crescent Beach, Tocoi, Bakersville, Picolata, Orangedale, Fruit Cove, Summer Haven and Vilano Beach.
St. Augustine, the county seat, was incorporated under Florida law on December 2, 1924. It has a city manager - commissioner form of government. Hastings, the potato capital of Florida, was incorporated in 1931 and has the mayor - council type of government. St. Augustine Beach was incorporated January 1, 1960 and also has the mayor - council type of government.
Frequently Called
Government Offices Numbers:
St. Augustine City Hall 904-825-1005
St. Johns County Courthouse 904-823-2285
St. Augustine Beach 904-471-2122
Hastings Town Hall 904-692-1420
County School Board 904-826-2000
Tourism is St. Johns County's major industry. St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city, draws more than a million visitors annually.
St. Johns County is first in the state in production of potatoes and cabbage. Total agriculture in the county is valued in excess of 64 million dollars. In addition to potatoes and cabbage, this includes timber products, livestock, dairy, poultry, cut flowers and grain sorghum. The area of the county is 388,480 acres.
Diversified industry characterized St. Johns County. Principal manufacturing and commercial activities include commercial fishing, boat building, aircraft modification/overhaul, aluminum extrusion, book binding, garment manufacturing, food and agricultural products processing, biomedical research, high precision machining, automotive after-market manufacturing and manufacture/distribution of natural food products. St. Augustine is location for the general offices of the Florida East Coast Railway, headquarters of Florida Military Department and the Coast Guard Air Station, St. Augustine; also, Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and Flagler College.
Flagler Hospital has 115 beds and is located at US HWY 1 & SR 312, St. Augustine General Hospital on US 1 & 312 also has 115 beds. Twenty-two dentists and 110 physicians, including specialists in most fields serve the area. Six nursing homes are located in St. Augustine.
More than 40 religious affiliations are available in the county, including Roman Catholic, Greek Orhtodox, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Aventist, African Episcopal, Christian Science, Church of God, Church of the Nazarene, Lutheran, Mormon, Pentecostal Holiness and Jewish. For more specific information, please contact the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, 1 Riberia St., P.O. Drawer "0", St. Augustine, Fl 32085.