St Johns County

St. Johns County, Florida
St. Johns County Courthouse
Flag Seal
Location in the U.S. state of Florida
Florida's location in the U.S.
Founded	July 21, 1821
Seat	St. Augustine
Largest community	Ponte Vedra Beach
Area
• Total	822 sq mi (2,129 km2)
• Land	601 sq mi (1,557 km2)
• Water	221 sq mi (572 km2), 26.9%
Population (est.)
• (2015)	226,640
• Density	363/sq mi (140/km²)
Congressional district	6th
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Website	www.sjcfl.us

St. Johns County is a county of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2010 United States Census, the county's population was 190,039. The county seat and largest incorporated city is St. Augustine.

The county was established in 1821. It is one of the two original counties established after Florida was ceded to the United States, at the start of the Florida Territorial period, and corresponded roughly with the former colonial province of East Florida. It was named for the St. Johns River, which runs along its western border.

St. Johns County is included in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The county is primarily made up of residential bedroom communities. Tourism, primarily associated with St. Augustine and the many golf courses in the area, is the chief economic industry.

St. Johns County’s history begins in 1821, when Colonel Robert Butler received Spanish East Florida from Captain-General Colonel José M. Coppinger. Butler represented Major General Andrew Jackson, Governor of the Provinces of the Floridas, exercising the powers of the Captain General and the Intendants of the Island of Cuba and the Governors of the said provinces, respectively, who ordained that all of that country lying east of the river Suwannee should be designated as the County of St. Johns.

St. Johns was established, along with Escambia County (in the former West Florida province), on July 21, 1821, just eleven days after Butler received Florida for the United States, and only five days from the date that the city of St. Augustine was incorporated.