Land Grants

Spanish Land Grants

During the Second Spanish Period (1783-1821), Spain offered tracts of land to entice settlement of the more sparsely populated areas of the Florida colony. Upon ratification of the Onis-Adams Treaty in 1821, control of Florida passed to the United States, and thus began the Territorial Period (1821-1845). The US government agreed to honor such land grants, so long as claimants could produce sufficient documentation and testimonials in support of their claims. Dossiers consisting of surveys and plats, copies of royal grants, testimonials, correspondences, deeds, wills and translations of Spanish documents were submitted to prove date and size of grant along with property boundaries, physical descriptions of the land granted and proof of residency on and cultivation of the lands by the grantees. Grants were reviewed and either confirmed (found to be valid) or unconfirmed (found to be invalid) by the various land commissions established by the US government, or federal courts or US Congress. [Source: Florida Department of State, State Library & Archives of Florida, Spanis Land Grants Collection].

Spanish Land Grants relevant to the development of the City of Atlantic Beach include claims made by Bartolome de Castro y Ferrer and Andres Dewees.

Bartolome de Castro y Ferrer Grant

Map Selection (Bartolome de Castro y Ferrer_Claim 25)_crop.jpg

Claim C-25
(Descriptive List No 118)

2266 2/3 acres adjacent to San Pablo Creek,
near the mouth of the Saint Johns River

Confirmed by Commissioners
American State Papers, Vol 4, pp 161, 220
Report 1, No 126
1824

Residents may recognize the northern extent of the western boundary shown on the "translation" map, as coinciding with the "meander" line that defines the western boundary of the city on survey and plat maps of the early to mid 1900s.

Map Selection (Bartolome de Castro y Ferrer_Claim 26)_crop

Claim C-26
(Descriptive List No 104)

2000 acres adjacent to San Pablo Creek

Confirmed by Commissioners
American State Papers, Vol 4, p 238
Report 4, No 10
1824

Map Selection (Bartolome de Castro y Ferrer_Claim 27)_crop

Claim C-27
(Descriptive List No 114)

1000 acres adjacent to "Little Creek"

Confirmed by Commissioners
American State Papers, Vol 4, pp 159, 175
Report 1, No 17
1824

Map Selection (Bartolome de Castro y Ferrer_Claim 28)_crop.jpg

Claim C-28
(Descriptive List No 95)

35 acres adjacent to San Pablo Creek

Confirmed by Commissioners
American State Papers, Vol 4, pp 161, 210
Report 1, No 97

Once known as Pine Island, this claim was to present-day Dutton Island.

Andres Dewees Grant

Map Selection (Andrew DeWees_Claim)_crop.jpg

Claim D-11
(Descriptive List No 76)

2290 acres south of Saint Johns River,
east of Pablo Creek

Confirmed by Commissioners
American State Papers, Vol 4, p280
Report 1, No 116
1825


This grant extends from present-day development Oceanwalk and the oceanfront area previously known as Seminole Beach in northern Atlantic Beach, all the way to the Saints Johns River, and includes the land on which the Village of Mayport and Mayport Naval Station are situated.