The Island of Ortega

The Island of Ortega. . , Pre-European – Native Americans: Late Archaic, Timucuan, and Seminole Tribes. , 1770-1775 – Abraham Jones was granted 2000 acres, then known as Maxton’s Creek Island, by King George III of England. He built a home and several small houses and cultivated about 50 acres. , 1780-1785 – Daniel McGirtt and his banditti used the island as their headquarters. McGirtt fought with American forces in the Revolution, then for the British in east Florida. He became a highwayman who frequently hid on his farm located here. , 1791-1795 – John McQueen, an American expatriate, was granted this island and Fort George Island by the Spanish Governor. In honor of the Governor’s patron saint, the island was named San Juan Nepomuceno Plantation. , 1804-1836 – John H. McIntosh of St. Mary’s Georgia bought both island and plantations from McQueen. He chose the name Ortega to honor Josef de Ortega, the Judge Advocate for East Florida, who approved the sale. , 1836-1856 – McIntosh’s son-in-law, Henry Sadler, developed Ortega into a thriving plantation with village, many houses, sugar cane and corn. , 1856-1906 – Asa and Austin Moore purchased Ortega from the Sadler Estate and sold it to John P. Sanderson in 1857. U.S. Senator Wilkinson call’s Jacksonville Ortega Town Company in 1902, then sold it to John N.C. Stockton’s Ortega Company in 1906. These companies began development of the Ortega we know today., This historical marker donated by Ortega Preservation Society , Text by Linda Ingram