Editing Neptune Beach, Florida (section)

==History==
[[Image:NeptuneBeachFL1979.jpg|thumb|left|Looking north along 1st St. at Neptune Beach in 1979.]]
Neptune Beach was originally part of Jacksonville Beach. Through its development, the part of Jacksonville Beach north of 20th Avenue North was sparsely populated, with a brick road (First Street) connecting the more populated southern area with [[Atlantic Beach, Florida|Atlantic Beach]]. The name "Neptune Beach" originated in 1922 with Dan G. Wheeler, one of the few residents. Wheeler had a home at what is now One Ocean Hotel (now in Atlantic Beach), and had to walk all the way home from [[Mayport (Jacksonville)|Mayport]] each evening after taking the [[Florida East Coast Railway]] train home from work in Jacksonville. A friend who worked for the railroad informed Wheeler that if he had a station, the train would have to stop for him, so Wheeler built his own train station near his home and named it Neptune.<ref name=NBHistory/>

Neptune seceded from Jacksonville Beach and incorporated as its own municipality in 1931, following a tax revolt. The comparatively few residents of the area were largely cut off from Jacksonville Beach city services such as police, fire, garbage collection, and road developments, though they paid taxes in equal share. The first mayor was O. O. McCollum, and the government met in Wheeler's old train station until a new town hall was completed in 1935.<ref name=NBHistory/>