The History of Northeast Florida

In 1947, Nassauville Road , across the Amelia River from Fernandina Beach , Florida , was a dirt road surrounded by deep woods.  The stillness of the forest remained undisturbed, decades before housing developments would replace it.  At night, the road leading from the hamlet of O'Neil in the north to the settlement of Seymour 's Point in the south was pitch black, as the tree canopy overhead choked out even the light of the stars.  A few homes and churches dotted the periphery, set too far back to cast any illumination onto the path. At 1:30 in the morning of August 13, 1947, Sidney Pope was driving to his home in Seymour ’s Point following his shift at the Fernandina pulp mill.  He took a shortcut and turned left on a path that intersected with Nassauville Road .  There he came upon a car parked on the side of the road, facing him with it’s headlights on.  As he drove past the parked car, he looked over and saw that it was unoccupied. Pope stopp...