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Where The World Golfing Community Meets The Atlantic Ocean
Perhaps no other community in Northeast Florida is better known than Ponte Vedra Beach and Sawgrass. As home to the world headquarters of the PGA Tour and The Players Championship golf tournament, PVB is a premier destination for golf enthusiasts everywhere.
The rich history of the region and its glorious natural resources have helped shape Ponte Vedra Beach and the presence of the PGA Tour, as well as The TPA Headquarters, has propelled it exponentially over the past quarter century.
Years of conflict between Timucuan Indians, the Spanish, the French, and the English persited until around 1821 when Spain sold Florida to the United States and it became a territory. In 1914, nearly 100 years later, two young chemical engineers, Henry Holland Buckman and George A. Pritchard, discovered that Ponte Vedra's beaches contained industrial minerals. Included in the minerals were components necessary for the production of titanium and zirconium. The National Lead Company bought out the partners two years later.
The mining settlement, named Mineral City, played a crucial role in WWI, as titanium was key component in the manufacture of poisonous gas. In 1928, the National Lead Co. rechrist5ened Mineral City in honor of what was believed to be the birthplace of Christopher Columbus -- Pontevedra, Spain. It was later discovered that his actual birthplace was Genoa, Italy but the name Ponte Vedra remained and has come to symbolize sophisticated style of beach-living and has become almost synonymous with "golf".
The game of golf had its tie-in with the area long before the PGA Tour made its home there. In fact, National Lead Co. built a 9-hole golf course for its employees along with a log clubhouse and polo field back in 1922. In 1928, the complex became the now world-famous Ponte Vedra Inn & Club which has served as a vacation ground for the "rich and famous" for many years.
With the post-war mineral market gone and production at a standstill, National Lead used its clubhouse and golf course as the base from which to launch a resort community. Road construction in the 1940s through the 1960s brought further development and in 1972 develper James Stockton Jr. broke ground on the 1,100-acre develpment known as Sawgrass which was the home of the Players Championship (then known as the Tournament Players Championship or TPC) when the PGA Tour first moved the tournament to the area and prior to building The Stadium Club.
Today, of course, Sawgrass is home to The Players Championship golf tournament and the world headquarters for the PGA Tour, thanks to a now-legendary 1978 deal in which develpers Jerome and Paul Fletcher sold PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman 415 densely wooded marshland for $1. From that $1 purchase has sprung multi-million dollar homesites, numerous golf courses, a plethora of new businesses and worldwide fame.
Although synonymous with luxury, Ponte Vedra Beach does have affordable housing away from the ocean and many affordable condominium complexes for any and every lifestyle. The average home price is over 1/2 million dollars but there are residences and condos available at under $200,000. However, the grand waterfront mansions and estates run well into the multi-million dollar range.
PVB/Sawgrass is truly a gem in Northeast Florida's crown!
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