Five years ago, 2019

• A potential homeowner’s dream to restore a house at 513 Palmer St. in the historic downtown area "goes up in smoke" due to a devastating early-morning fire. Although neighbors said the handyman was living in the attic, nobody was injured, according to the Green Cove Springs Police Department.
• The Girl Scouts of Gateway Council planned to sell its 207-acre North Fork Leadership Center along the Black Creek to a company that provides fill dirt for road projects. Ultimately, the Clay County Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny its rezoning request.
• Jennifer Bradley, wife of Florida Sen. Rob Bradley, ran for her husband's seat after he was term-limited in 2020. She eventually won the Republican primary and the general election. 

10 years ago, 2014

• Ashley Nicole Chiasson of Chalmette, Louisiana, is given $67,000 in a settlement reached with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Sheriff’s Risk Management Fund after being arrested twice after being mistaken for Ashley Odessa Chiasson.
• In a controversial move, the Board of County Commissioners voted to remove a referendum allowing voters to decide whether the school superintendent should be elected or hired.
• Despite “No Swimming” signs and heavy boat traffic at the Main Street Boat Ramp on Black Creek, sheriff deputies said they are powerless to keep swimmers away.

20 years ago, 2004

• The Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrested Mike Webb of Orange Park after a hit-and-run crash that killed one person on County Road 220. Connie Gray was a passenger in a 2003 Nissan sedan Webb allegedly struck from behind.
• A Clay County jury convicted Larae Huff of Keystone Heights on one count each of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated assault on law enforcement officer after allegedly firing on police during a domestic dispute with her husband.
• The National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association presented Clay Electric Cooperative with its 2004 Edgar F. Chestnutt Award for marketing communications excellence

30 years ago, 1994

• The Clay County Sheriff’s Office investigated two break-ins, one at an Orange Park hair salon and the second at Florida Custom Cabinets at 7318 U.S. Highway 17. In the second break-in, the vandals spray-painted KKK on the walls, along with people’s names and random graffiti.
• The Board of County Commissioners held public hearings about a proposal to establish solid waste disposal assessments “against certain improved residential properties” in Clay County. As proposed, failure to pay the assessment could have meant losing title to the owner’s property.
• The Clay County Health Department issued a quarantine in certain parts of the county after a rabid bat was near Carter Spencer Road in Middleburg.

40 years ago, 1984

• Clay County public school principals went through a new training program to prepare them on how to observe teachers as part of a new merit pay program introduced by the Florida Legislature. The Florida Performance Measurement System would provide teachers with feedback on how to improve classroom instruction.
• Clay County Comptroller George Carlisle questioned the county’s use of funds collected from non-incorporated areas of the county. He said the funds were being used to fund projects in incorporated areas of the county and not on the people who paid them.
• The U.S Census Bureau reported that Clay County’s population had increased by 7,000 residents from 1980 to 1982 for an increase of 10.4 percent. The state growth rate, the Census said, was 7.6 percent in the same period.

50 years ago, 1974

• The Clay County School Board adopted a new teacher salary pay schedule while keeping the starting pay for a new teacher at $8,000 per year. The new schedule gave teachers $150 pay raises per year after seven years of service and a $200 pay raise.