Fruit Cove, Florida

20 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1917 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Fruit Cove census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32259. It stands on Cunningham Creek. The Survey maps it on the Fleming Island quadrangle. 32,143 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 10 feet above sea level.

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Fruit Cove within St. Johns County

Then and now

1917 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 75 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Fruit Cove, surveyed 1992

Topographic sheet of Fruit Cove, surveyed 1917

Compare 1917 against another survey:

Population over time

3 figures

Fruit Cove grew from 16,077 to 32,143 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2000	16,077
2010	29,362	+13,285 (+83%)
2020	32,143	+2,781 (+9%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 20 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1917 USGS Orange Park quadrangle1:62500
1918 USGS Orange Park quadrangle1:62500, 5 printings
1948 USGS Jacksonville quadrangle1:250000
1952 USGS Fleming Island quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
1957 USGS Jacksonville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1959 USGS Jacksonville quadrangle1:250000
1960 USGS Jacksonville quadrangle1:250000
1977 USGS Jacksonville quadrangle1:100000
1980 USGS Jacksonville quadrangle1:100000
1988 USGS Jacksonville quadrangle1:250000
1992 USGS Fleming Island quadrangle1:24000

Fires near this place

133 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 133 fires within 5 miles of Fruit Cove between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,119 acres in total. 31 started naturally. 21 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Natural	31
Misuse of fire by a minor	30
Arson/incendiarism	21
Equipment and vehicle use	19
Railroad operations and maintenance	12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	11
Debris and open burning	6
Fireworks	3

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
6 September 1999	Misuse of fire by a minor	1.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
11 September 2010	Misuse of fire by a minor	2.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	WF-55-IVY HOLLOW
3 August 1993	Natural	1.5 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
2 August 1999	Natural	1.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
14 August 1993	Equipment and vehicle use	15 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
9 July 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Florida Forest Service	not named
8 July 1999	Natural	10 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
5 July 2000	Railroad operations and maintenance	3.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in St. Johns County

Storms near this place

52 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fruit Cove in 52 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 23 thunderstorm wind, 9 hail, 7 heavy rain, 5 lightning. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 2023	Lightning	Fruit Cove	1 hurt	A teenager under a tree was injured by a lightning strike in Switzerland. The time of injury was based on radar and lightning data.
April 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	1 hurt	A tree was blown down onto a vehicle which caused a minor injury.
September 2004	Tornado (F0)	Fruit Cove	$20,000	no account filed
September 2004	Tornado (F0)	Fruit Cove	$15,000	Hurricane "Frances"F0 tornado damage was observed along Race Track Road. St. Johns EMA assisted with storm damage assessment.
July 2002	Lightning	Fruit Cove	$10,000	Second house struck. Power pole and transformer on fire.
December 2023	Flood	Fruit Cove	$5,000	Street flooding along Racetrack Rd caused a car to slide and flip into a nearby water-filled ditch.
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	$5,000	Shed damaged.
September 2004	Tornado (F0)	Fruit Cove	$5,000	no account filed
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	$3,000	3 Large oak trees down. Report by retired NWS Employee.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	$2,000	A tree was blown down onto a home off of San Jose Blvd near Julington Creek bridge. The time of damage was based on radar. The cost of damage was unknown, but it was estimated for inclusion of the event in Storm Data.
October 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	$1,500	no account filed
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	$1,000	A few trees were blown down. Damage cost estimated.
April 2014	Lightning	Fruit Cove	$1,000	Lightning struck a home in Julington Creek which damaged the fireplace and removed tile from the fireplace wall. The cost of damage was estimated for the event to be included in Storm Data and the estimated cost of damage is likely inaccurate.
August 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	$500	A tree was blown down in Fruit Cove. The time of damage was based on radar. The cost of damage was unknown, but it was estimated so the event could be included in Storm Data.
August 2013	Lightning	Fruit Cove	$100	Lightning struck a home at 139 Lige Branch Lane in the Fruit Cove and Switzerland areas. There were no known injuries, and the cost of damage was estimated since the extent of damage was unknown. The cost of damage is likely grossly underestimated.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	A tree was blown down over a driveway in the vicinity of Racetrack Road and Veterans Way.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Strong thunderstorm winds damaged utility equipment from Mandarin to Switzerland along State Road 13 (San Jose Blvd). The time of damage was based on radar.
May 2022	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	Quarter size hail was observed on social media. Report shared by Broadcast Meteorologist.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Power lines were blown down on State Road 13 and Race Track Road.
June 2020	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	Half dollar size hail was reported in Julington Creek.
June 2020	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	Penny size hail, wind gusts to 40 mph and very heavy rain were reported in Fruit Cove.
June 2020	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	Golf ball size hail was observed.
July 2020	Heavy Rain	Fruit Cove	-	The public reported 2.48 inches of rainfall in Fruit Cove over the past hour.
July 2020	Heavy Rain	Fruit Cove	-	A public rain gauge in Fruit Cove measured 4.48 inches in the past hour.
August 2020	Heavy Rain	Fruit Cove	-	The public measured 1.25 inches of rain in 15 minutes. Minor street flooding was observed.
September 2020	Heavy Rain	Fruit Cove	-	A mesonet station near Fruit Cove measured 3.45 inches of rain in 3 hours.
August 2018	Funnel Cloud	Fruit Cove	-	A funnel cloud was reported near State Road 13 and Roberts Road.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	A tree was blown down in Julington Creek. The time of damage was based on radar.
May 2017	Heavy Rain	Fruit Cove	-	A spotter measured 1.65 inches of rainfall in less than 1 hour. Wind gusts were estimated between 40-45 mph.
May 2017	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	Quarter size hail was observed in Fruit Cove.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	A large tree was blown down in Fruit Cove.
August 2014	Heavy Rain	Fruit Cove	-	Daily rainfall of 3.25 was measured by a COOP-Observer.
May 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	A downburst with winds estimated at 60-65 mph leveled numerous trees.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Power lines were damaged along State Road 13 near Colee Cove. The time of damage was based on radar.
May 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Trees were down and blocking the road on Durbin Creek Blvd. Other tree debris was on the road near Davis Pond. The time of damage was based on radar.
June 2010	Funnel Cloud	Fruit Cove	-	Two brief funnel clouds were spotted near the St. Johns River.
April 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Law Enforcement reported a tree down on Fruit Cove Drive.
July 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Large tree limbs were blown down at the Champions Club Golf Course in Julington Creek. One as big as 8-10 inches in diameter. The time of the event was based on radar.
June 2008	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	A spotter reported hail slightly smaller than golf ball size about 2 miles south of Marbon Road and San Jose Blvd.
February 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	WTEV Chief Meteorologist reports a tree and wire down at 1800 Navajo Place in St Johns County.
October 2007	Flood	Fruit Cove	-	Heavy rainfall resulted in flooding of neighborhoods and portions of Race Track Road in northwestern St Johns County. At 18:00 EDT a storm spotter reported ankle deep water on her street in the Cimmaron subdivision off County Road 210. At 18:55 EDT a resident in Julington Creek Plantation reported two and a half feet of standing water flooding Roberts Road. Flooding was also reported on Highway 208 near the Whisper Ridge subdivision. Race Track Road did not reopen until 12:00 EDT on October 3rd.
July 2002	Lightning	Fruit Cove	-	House struck.
May 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	A large tree was blown down.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Wind blew down trees and power lines near Fruit Cove.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	Numerous trees were blown down in Fruit Cove.
June 2018	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	no account filed
September 2005	Heavy Rain	Fruit Cove	-	no account filed
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	no account filed
June 2004	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	no account filed
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Fruit Cove	-	no account filed
September 2004	Tornado (F0)	Fruit Cove	-	no account filed
March 2003	Hail	Fruit Cove	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in St. Johns County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Switzerland	2.4 miles	20
Pine Bluff	3.1 miles	18
San Diego Salamototo (historical)	4.2 miles	20
Julia (historical)	5.7 miles	18
Blacks Ford	6.2 miles	18
Orangedale	7.2 miles	18
Sampson	8.1 miles	18
Whites Ford	8.5 miles	18

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Fruit Cove	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q949709	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 307970. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.