News & Events

Mayport Getting A Second Ferry

It was widely anticipated for several months, and we are thrilled to see it finally come to fruition. Thank you Nat Ford, Jacksonville Transportation Authority.

A huge thank you to the U.S. DOT and Secretary Sean Duffy for the $15.6 million grant to bring a second St. Johns River Ferry, improving the connection between Mayport Village and Ft. George Island.

The introduction of this second vessel will reduce wait times, minimize detours, and provide a more reliable transportation option for the community, strengthening the future of mobility along the St. Johns River.

Helen Cooper Floyd: Keeper of Mayport’s Memory

Helen Cooper Floyd was more than a historian—she was Mayport Village’s living memory. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Helen devoted her life to chronicling the layered, salt-sprayed history of Mayport and its founding families: the Singletons, Tuttles, Floyds, and others whose names still echo through the docks and oyster beds of the St. Johns River.

With a tape recorder in hand and a storyteller’s heart, Helen captured the voices of the “old timers”—river pilots with weathered hands, shrimp boat captains who navigated by instinct, and their formidable wives who ran households like ships. She knew them personally, often sitting with them on porches or in cluttered kitchens, coaxing out stories that might otherwise have vanished with the tide. Her anecdotes were rich with humor and grit, revealing the iconoclastic personalities that shaped Mayport’s fiercely independent spirit.

Helen’s oral history project, a treasure trove of audio tapes, was donated to the University of Florida in Gainesville. These recordings—now digitized and available to the public (see link below)—offer an intimate portal into mid-20th century life in the village. Listeners can hear the cadence of old Mayport, the laughter, the arguments, the pride.

She also authored several books on Mayport’s history, each one a tapestry of archival research, personal memory, and community lore. Her titles include:

• Mayport: A Village by the Sea
• Pilots and Pioneers: The Families of the River
• Shrimp Nets and Sunday Suppers: Life in Mayport Village

Helen’s writing captured the rhythms of village life—the scent of mullet frying, the clang of boat rigging, the hush of cemetery walks. She wrote not just as a scholar, but as someone who had lived it, loved it, and wanted it remembered.

Her legacy lives on in every story she preserved, every voice she recorded, and every reader who finds themselves drawn into the soul of Mayport. Through this digital archive, you’re invited to step into her world. Choose a tape, press play, and let Helen—and Mayport—speak to you.

Listen to the Voices of Mayport

Step into the heart of Mayport Village through the voices Helen Cooper Floyd preserved. This audio archive—donated to the University of Florida—features candid, unscripted conversations with river pilots, shrimp boat captains, and the strong-willed women who anchored the community. Helen recorded these tapes over decades, capturing the humor, hardship, and heritage of a vanishing way of life.

Each tape is a window into the soul of the village. You’ll hear stories of storms weathered, boats built by hand, family feuds, and Sunday suppers. Whether you’re a researcher, a descendant, or simply curious, this collection offers a rare chance to hear Mayport’s history told by those who lived it.

Browse the recordings below and select any tape to begin listening. No script, no polish—just real voices, real stories, and Helen’s gift of remembrance.

Link to audio tapes at the University of Florida, Gainesville: (https://ufdc.ufl.edu/title-sets/AA00090738/results?q=Helen%20Cooper%20Floyd%20)  (Not all tapes are digitized. Some are available only in transcript form at the University)

Selected Bibliography of Helen Cooper Floyd

Helen Cooper Floyd’s books are a testament to her lifelong dedication to preserving the voices and stories of Mayport Village. Each title blends archival research, oral history, and personal recollection to illuminate the lives of river pilots, shrimpers, matriarchs, and the families who shaped the village’s character.

• Mayport: A Village by the Sea - A sweeping narrative of Mayport’s evolution from a fishing hamlet to a cultural landmark, featuring rare photographs and interviews with longtime residents.
• Pilots and Pioneers: The Families of the River - Focused on the Singleton, Tuttle, Floyd, and other founding families, this book traces their maritime traditions and contributions to Jacksonville’s development.
• Shrimp Nets and Sunday Suppers: Life in Mayport Village - A vivid portrait of mid-century village life, from boat launches to backyard fish fries, told through the voices of women who held the community together.
• Tales from the Riverbank: Anecdotes of Old Mayport - A collection of colorful stories and character sketches drawn from Helen’s personal conversations with Mayport’s “old timers.”
• The Cemetery by the Sea: Remembering Pablo and Mayport - A reflective work on the village’s burial grounds, including genealogical notes and oral histories tied to the Pablo Mayport Cemetery.
• Voices of Mayport: An Oral History Archive - Companion volume to her audio recordings, this book includes transcripts, commentary, and historical context for selected interviews.

Mayport Stories - A Mayport Moment

The King House holds many secrets as witness to Mayport Village’s history over the decades since it was built sometime in the mid 1800’s.

Situated on Ocean Street directly across from the Ocearch Research Center, the two story southern gothic home with wrap around porches was built pre civil war by a river pilot, Captain William Arnau. It destroyed by fire in 1881 and reconstructed in the early 1900’s by Captain William Joseph King after he and Arnau’s daughter Clara married and began living there.

It was a constant through decades as Mayport’s main street sprouted hotels, as many as four, to accommodate beachgoers arriving by a Flagler built railroad, as saw mills flourished from the abundant timber nearby, and as fishermen and river pilots plied their trade on the St. John’s River and Atlantic Ocean. Through the years it has been more than just a home to one of Mayport Village’s most esteemed families. It once housed Roman Catholic services and sailors. It may have been the site of a murder by a jealous lover. It may be haunted.

The house is long reputed to have ghostly occurrences in with some King family members embellishing these rumors of the supernatural. In 1968, parapsychology researchers from Duke University examined the house and investigated recuring claims of ghostly sightings of a butler, a bride and a kitchen maid, among others. Their report concluded there was some "presence" within the house.

In the late 1970’s the pre-Civil War portion of the house was partially demolished in a failed attempt to convert the house into a restaurant. The home today is half the size it was originally built but the main part of Captain King's residence still remains, with its legacy of poltergeists, ghost stories, and architectural beauty.

William Joseph King came to Mayport from Delaware as a cook on a schooner in 1878. After serving an apprenticeship as a river pilot under Captain Arnaut, King joined the ranks as one in 1882. In 1913, Captain King decided to enlarge his residence into a more elaborate manor. He hired a builder from Fort George, who daily rowed across the St. Johns River to work on the two-story addition, which soon dwarfed by a two-tier veranda with turned posts, brackets, and a filigreed balustrade, which encircles the house on three sides.

At one time it was painted all white in keeping with the rest of the buildings in Mayport. Upon Captain King's death in 1940, his son John inherited it and lived there till 1977.

It is now owned by a non- profit LLC and in part houses a cat rescue program. The home is also occupied by private tenants and is not open to the public but its historic exterior is a Mayport Village landmark.

> Learn More About The King House