Charles E. Van Zant (born November 24, 1943) is an American architect and Southern Baptist minister who served as a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives . From 2012 to 2018, Van Zant represented the 19th District, which includes Bradford County , Putnam County , Union County , and southern Clay County . Van Zant previously represented the 21st District from 2008 to 2012.
36-972: (Redirected from VanZant ) Van Zant or VanZant or Vanzant may refer to: People [ edit ] Charles Van Zant (born 1943), American politician Dennis Van Zant (born 1952), American basketball player Dick Van Zant (1864–1912), American baseball player Iyanla Vanzant (born 1953), American author and inspirational speaker Jimmie Van Zant (1956–2016), American singer-songwriter Paige VanZant (born 1994), American mixed martial artist Shawn Vanzant (born 1988), American basketball player Van Zant (band) , an American music duo and family of musicians Johnny Van Zant (born 1960), American musician, member of Lynyrd Skynyrd Ronnie Van Zant (1948–1977), American musician, member of Lynyrd Skynyrd Donnie Van Zant (born 1952), American musician, member of .38 Special Places [ edit ] Vanzant, Kentucky , an unincorporated community in
72-599: A Doctorate of Theology degree. In addition to working as an architect, he has served as the pastor of multiple churches, included the First Baptist Church of Keystone Heights and Trinity Baptist Church. Van Zant was appointed to the Clay County School Board in 2007 by Governor Charlie Crist , and served as its Vice-Chairman. When incumbent State Representative Joe Pickens was unable to seek re-election due to term limits, Van Zant ran to succeed him in
108-523: A small church called Gospel Lighthouse. It is located in Gainesville, Florida. It is a non-denominational church with a Biblical worldview and a heart for service. It's been around for about 15 years and is slowly being built up. Clay County, Florida Clay County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida along the west bank of the St. Johns River . As of 2020,
144-549: Is located entirely within the northern portion of the county and is represented by Republican Sam Garrison . Florida House District 20 covers the central and southern parts of the county and is represented by Republican Bobby Payne . According to the Florida Department of State, Republicans account for a majority of registered voters in Clay County. Politically, Clay County is one of the most reliably Republican counties in
180-464: Is served by the Clay County Sheriff's Office and Clay County Fire & Rescue. The current Sheriff, Michelle Cook (R), was elected in 2020. Clay County's government is led by a five-member Board of County Commissioners, each elected from a single-member district . The county commission appoints a County Manager as chief administrative officer of the county. Howard Wannamaker currently serves as
216-701: Is the highest rate of any county in Florida. As such, the county has the third highest average commute time in the state at almost 33 minutes. With the population expected to surpass 300,000 residents by 2040, projects such as the First Coast Expressway are being constructed to alleviate chronic congestion on major roadways in the county such as Blanding Blvd and U.S. 17 . Clay County is known for its rich military history with major current and former installations such as Branan Air Field, Naval Air Station Green Cove Springs , and Camp Blanding all being located in
252-629: Is today. Clay County was created on December 31, 1858, from a section of Duval County . The area was once a popular destination for tourists because of its springs and mild climate. Steamboats brought them to various hotels in Green Cove Springs, such as the St. Elmo, Clarendon, and Oakland. President Grover Cleveland was the most prominent of such tourists and had spring water shipped to the White House. Clay County's popularity among tourists peaked during
288-466: The Democratic nominee, who identified as a conservative Democrat. Groups supporting Myers attacked Van Zant for tax evasion, and group supporting Van Zant attacked Myers for funding a "road to nowhere" and for tax increases; both candidates rejected each other's claims. Though they agreed on a number of issues, including the need to create jobs, allowing oil drilling off the coast of the state and replacing
324-478: The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test , they vehemently disagreed as to which of them was the most qualified to handle the issues of contention. Van Zant narrowly defeated Myers, winning by fewer than 2,000 votes, with 51.5% of the vote to Myers's 48.5%. Though Myers initially announced that she would seek a rematch with Van Zant in 2010, she ultimately declined to contest the seat, and he
360-639: The Floridan Aquifer and are an important source of water for the surrounding region. During the 2000s, high growth rates in Northeast Florida caused many of the lakes to dry up as demand for water increased. To combat this, a project began in August 2022 to construct a pipeline from Black Creek in the central part of the county to Alligator Creek in Keystone Heights . This pipeline is expected to restore
396-496: The U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 644 square miles (1,670 km ), of which 604 square miles (1,560 km ) are land and 39 square miles (100 km ) (6.1%) are covered by water. The average elevation in Clay County is 95 feet above sea level with the highest point, located on the western border in Camp Blanding, being 259 feet. The southwestern portion of the county features many lakes which contribute to
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#1732852459122432-637: The United States Senate from Kentucky , and United States Secretary of State in the 19th century. Since 1990, Clay County has transformed into a largely suburban county with the third highest household median income in Florida behind neighboring St. Johns County and Santa Rosa County. This transformation has come as workers from Jacksonville , and to a smaller extent other nearby cities such as St. Augustine and Gainesville , have moved into newly built residential subdivisions. Over half of workers living in Clay County work in another county, which
468-450: The 2021 ACS , the median age in Clay County was 40.9 years. 25.6% of residents were 0–19 years, 11.4% were 20–29, 13% were 30–39, 13.3% were 40–49, 14.1% were 50–59, and 22.6% were 60 years and over. There were 80,459 households in the county, of which 31.9% had children under 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, and 38.3% were individual householders with no spouse or partner present. The average household size
504-469: The 2021-22 school year, the school district received an "A" grade from the Florida Department of Education and was ranked the tenth top school district in the state. In 2023, U.S. News and World Report ranked Fleming Island High School the top high school in Clay County and 91st in Florida. The Clay County Public Library System consists of five branches: The first public library in Clay County
540-517: The 21st District, which included a swath of territory in North Florida , specifically, southern Bradford County , southern Clay County , northern Lake County , eastern Marion County , Putnam County , and northwestern Volusia County . In the Republican primary, he emerged narrowly victorious over Christopher France and Patricia Freeman. Van Zant faced Linda Myers, a Putnam County Commissioner and
576-612: The County Manager. The current office holders are: Currently, all elected County Commissioners are registered Republicans. All of Clay County is located in Florida's 4th Congressional District of the U.S. House of Representatives . The current representative is Aaron Bean ( R ). Clay County is located in Florida's 6th Senate District represented by Republican Jennifer Bradley . In the Florida House of Representatives , District 11
612-750: The House. At a 2014 event held by opponents of the Common Core State Standards Initiative , Van Zant announced that the American Institutes for Research , the group that helped create the tests that would be used in Florida , would be promoting a homosexual lifestyle in children, declaring, "These people that will now receive $ 220 million from the state of Florida unless this is stopped will promote double mindedness in state education, and attract every one of your children to become as homosexual as they possibly can." Charles currently pastors
648-638: The Keystone Heights Library in February 1962. The Keystone Heights Library was relocated to a new building in Theme Park in 1964. The Headquarters Library in Green Cove Springs became open to the public in 1970 after a population boom caused the need for a new library. In 1976, the Orange Park Library moved to a larger location within the town of Orange Park . The population growth experienced in
684-539: The United States Vanzant, Missouri , an unincorporated community in the United States See also [ edit ] Vansant (disambiguation) Van Sant (disambiguation) Van Zandt (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Van Zant . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
720-485: The county library system. Due to their efforts, the first public library in Clay County was opened in 1961 in Green Cove Springs . The Green Cove Springs Library purchased a bookmobile in 1962 and began to provide outreach services to different areas within Clay County that same year. In 1962 two more public libraries opened in Clay County, the Keystone Heights Library and the Orange Park Library. A fire destroyed
756-486: The county were Irish (11.7%), English (11.6%), German (10.7%), American (4.7%), Italian (3.5%), Scottish (3.1%), French (2.2%), Polish (1.9%), European (1.5%), and Scotch-Irish (1.1%). 45% of residents were born in Florida and 46% were born in another state. The majority of in-migration comes from other Southern states and the Northeast . There is a growing community of Puerto Ricans in Clay County, with
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#1732852459122792-520: The county. Hispanic or Latino residents comprised 10.6% of the population or 23,134 individuals. Among those not Hispanic or Latino, 159,922 (73.3%) were White alone or in combination, 29,317 (13.4%) were Black alone or in combination, 9,510 (4.4%) were Asian alone or in combination, 4,855 (2.2%) were American Indian or Alaska Native alone or in combination, and 3,234 (1.5%) were some other race alone or in combination. There were 85,049 housing units of which 78,939 (92.8%) were occupied. According to
828-441: The county. In all, 9,101 people have moved to Clay County since 2020 with over 95% of that growth coming from domestic migration. Since 2020, the county has experienced 5,643 deaths compared to 4,846 births resulting in a natural change of -797. This has corresponded with an increase in the median age to 40.5 years. As of the 2020 United States census , there were 218,245 people, 75,360 households, and 57,587 families residing in
864-518: The county. The county also attracts many tourists due to its abundance of natural water features. Many notable lakes such as Kingsley Lake , Lake Asbury , Doctors Lake , Lake Geneva , and Lake Brooklyn are all located in the county. Black Creek begins at the St. Johns River just north of Green Cove Springs and runs through the central portion of the county. Early in the 19th century, Zephaniah Kingsley built his prosperous Laurel Grove Plantation, planting oranges and trading slaves, where Orange Park
900-498: The fourth-largest "city" in the state. In Green Cove Springs, Lee Field was a flight training center. After World War II, Lee Field became a base for the mothball fleet. Although Lee Field closed in the early 1960s, Camp Blanding continues to operate today as a base for military training. Clay County is also a popular choice of residence for military personnel stationed on bases in nearby Duval County ( NAS Jacksonville , NS Mayport , and, before it closed, NAS Cecil Field ). According to
936-554: The last three decades of the 19th century. Tourism later waned because of Henry Flagler's extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to other destinations such as Palm Beach and Miami . The military has also played an important role in Clay County history. In 1939, Camp Blanding opened on Kingsley Lake in southwest Clay County. The Florida National Guard developed this 28,000-acre (110 km ) complex. During World War II , it trained over 90,000 troops and became
972-466: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Van_Zant&oldid=1019704299 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Charles Van Zant Van Zant
1008-811: The number of residents born on the island numbering 3,590. Clay County has the second highest percentage of Filipino immigrants in Florida, after neighboring Duval County, with 1.1% of residents hailing from the Philippines . In total, 6.1% of residents were foreign-born with over 68% being naturalized citizens and the majority entering the United States prior to 2010. Population in Clay County Clay County Population Population in Florida Florida Population Clay County's large population in unincorporated areas
1044-468: The population was 218,245 and in 2023, that number increased to 232,439, making it the third largest county in the Jacksonville metropolitan area . While most of the county is unincorporated, there are 4 municipalities with Green Cove Springs being the county seat and the unincorporated Lakeside CDP being the largest place. It is named in honor of Henry Clay , a famous American statesman, member of
1080-549: The state during presidential elections outside of the Panhandle . It last supported a Democrat for president in 1960, and Jimmy Carter is the last Democrat to manage even 40 percent of the county's vote. However, conservative Democrats continued to hold most state and local offices well into the 1980s. The Clay County School District operates 42 public schools, with currently 28 elementary schools, five junior high schools, six high schools, and one junior/senior high school. As of
1116-435: The water levels in the lakes to their former high points. Clay County is home to Goldhead Branch State Park , Belmore State Forest , and Jennings State Forest . These protected areas provide critical habitat to many native species of plants and animals, as well as provide a buffer around Camp Blanding from surrounding development. Before the opening of the first segment of the First Coast Expressway in 2019, Clay County
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1152-435: Was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.15. The median income for a household in the county was $ 76,679, and the median income for a family was $ 85,196. Males had a median income of $ 47,393 versus $ 35,103 for females. The per capita income was $ 33,364. About 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 6% of those age 65 and over. The ten largest reported ancestry groups in
1188-634: Was born in Jacksonville and attended Stetson University before graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in architecture in 1968. Upon graduation, he founded Van Zant Associates, an architecture firm, which he continues to own. Van Zant attended the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary , where he received a Master of Divinity degree, and the Western Baptist Theological Seminary, where he received
1224-565: Was made up of a small collection established by the Village Improvement Association within the county. Other small libraries were established by other organizations within Clay County. In 1961, representatives from different women's organizations in the county started a movement to establish a library system within the county, and resulted in the Clay County Board of County Commissioners beginning to set aside funds to create
1260-534: Was re-elected without opposition. When the state legislative districts were redrawn in 2012, Van Zant was moved into the 19th District, which retained the Clay County and Putnam County areas of the district, but added sections in Bradford County and Union County . In both the primary and general elections, Van Zant was elected unopposed. In 2014, Van Zant was re-elected unopposed to his fourth and final term in
1296-475: Was the largest county in Florida without a limited-access highway . Once complete, this project will connect Interstate 10 in Jacksonville with Interstate 95 in St. Johns County and will result in the replacement of the current Shands Bridge with a new, expanded bridge. According to 2022 census estimates, Clay County's population increased to 226,589. This increase was fueled exclusively by in-migration to
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