Fleming Island - A Losing Battle

The Fleming Island I was born into was a wild tangle of woods, water, and wildlife.  By the time I reached adulthood, developers had transformed it into a bustling suburban sprawl of concrete, yuppies, and traffic jams.  As the island I grew up on becomes even further unrecognizable, I cling to the relics of past.  Recently I came across an old newspaper article from 1987 regarding the population of Fleming Island.  In some ways, it was enjoyable to read about the place I remember, but more so a painful reminder of what my home is not anymore.

Fleming Island residents fight for pristine environs

By Mary Shanklin

  Underneath the haunting oaks and dirt-road heart, Hibernia still remains a battleground where residents continuously try to hang onto a somewhat isolated way of life.

   Most recently, Fleming Island residents heard their call to arms when the state announced in June that a beltway could be built through the Hibernia area of the island.

   "Those people know what they're doing," said Bill Miller, assistant secretary of transportation, who oversees the beltway project.  He said the Fleming residents' united front against the beltway has been partially responsible for the state examining alternative routes.

   "There are corridors that are less costly with less wetlands associated," Miller said.  While the Fleming Island corridor still is being considered, Miller said the alternatives may "take the heat off of Fleming Island."

   The battle of the beltway is one of a long-running series of battles waged by islanders to preserve their rare lifestyle.  Residents battled zoning applications for shopping centers and businesses which, they say, could have stripped the island of its integrity.  They successfully formed the Fleming Island Advisory Committee several years ago and established a land-use map for the county to use when considering zoning cases.

   Battles will continue as the newly formed group Friends of Fleming Island attempts to manage the development of the island.  Two companies are planning to add 30,000 residents to the 5,000-population island in the next 15 years.

   But none of the Fleming Island battles will be as interesting as those that have been immortalized in several books.  Eugenia Price's Margaret's Story depicts the pioneering days of Margaret Fleming, whose father-in-law George Fleming settled on the island in 1790.  Hibernia: The Unreturning Tide, was authored by Margaret Fleming Biddle.

   The books relay George Fleming's war on the wilds in 1790, when he was granted a tract of land on the St. Johns River in appreciation for his service to the Spanish government.  He named the area Hibernia in honor of his homeland in Ireland, the book says.

   Indian battles came next as Fleming's son Lewis and his wife Margaret watched the Seminoles burn the home George Fleming had built.  After rebuilding, the Flemings' Hibernia plantation flourished, with 100 slaves helping with crops, according to county historians.  During the plantation's glory days, Margaret Fleming planted the two rows of stately oaks that now seem to guard the dirt-bed Hibernia Road.

   The Civil War crippled the homestead until the innovative Margaret Fleming turned her mansion into a boarding home for vacationers.  She was able finally to build stoic St. Margaret's Church, which held its first service for her funeral in 1878.

  The Flemings have since scattered themselves from Texas to Philadelphia.  Marian Fleming, 59, returns to her ancestral homeland from her Texas tree farm regularly to visit grandchildren, a daughter and son-in-law.

   "I think it is such a unique ecological area.  To me there is quite a spiritual connection there," Ms. Fleming said.  She said she hopes her grandsons, Daniel and Sean Ritchie, grow to appreciate the island.

  Ms. Fleming's daughter and son-in-law, Margo and Scott Ritchie, live on some of the original Fleming property in a house called the Holly Cottage.  Mrs. Ritchie said the structure was built by people vacationing on the island years ago and has since reverted to the Fleming family.  "It's just such a special place, I think we all feel the history here.

   But you don't have to be a Fleming "blueblood" to appreciate the character of the area and want to protect it.

   Blanding Boulevard has been an inspiration for many Fleming residents to work to protect the island, said Mae Byars, who has been active in Fleming Island issues.  "In recent years, the new folks appreciate all that [beauty], but we have all been shown examples of what overdevelopment can do to a place like Blanding Boulevard," Mrs. Byars said.

   Mrs. Byars credits residents such as Betty Hagland, who recognized the unique and fragile flavor of the island many years ago and started efforts to preserve that.  The residents don't want to oppose growth as much as control it, Mrs. Byars said.

   For Wes Hoffman, secretary-treasurer of the newly-formed Friends of Fleming Island, the island's natural environment inspires the fight for  preservation.  Wildlife officers have noted 11 bald eagles on the island, as well as indigo snakes, gopher tortoises, a black bear and a host of other rare species.

   Fleming Island is the closest locale to Jacksonville where wildlife exists in much the same manner it did 100 years ago, Hoffman said.  "The battles before were in human lives.  The battles now are to preserve the remaining wildlife," he said.

For anyone wondering if there is wildlife left on this now 28,527-population island, the answer is not much.  Sure, we still have bald eagles, hawks, owls, and foxes, but the bears are gone, as are the Indigo snakes, Eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes, and bobcats.  There's just no room for wildlife when the people come....