Gross, Florida

30°42′58″N 81°40′31″W / 30.71611°N 81.67528°W / 30.71611; -81.67528CountryUnited StatesStateFloridaCountiesNassauTime zoneUTC-5 (Eastern Time Zone) • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time)ZIP CodeArea code904

Gross is an unincorporated community in Nassau County, Florida, United States. It is located on U.S. Route 17 in the north of the county, and is also the northernmost interchange (Exit 380) along Interstate 95 within the State of Florida.

Geography

The nearest settlement to Gross is Crandall, Florida, at 3.1 mi (5.0 km) south-southeast. The nearest city to Gross is Kingsland, Georgia at 5.8 mi (9.3 km) north, and the nearest city in-state is Yulee at 7.1 mi (11.4 km) southeast.^[1]

The community began as a small turpentine village along the Seaboard Air Line Railroad main line. It became the starting location for the Gross Cutoff, a railroad cutoff from the SAL main line passing through the community, that ran from Gross to Callahan, Florida via a junction with the Callahan Subdivision.^[3] The line was created as a bypass route for passenger trains, such as the Silver Meteor, which often became congested at the larger Union Terminal in Jacksonville.^[3] The line operated for sixty years between 1925 and 1985, before it was deemed to be unnecessary and abandoned.^[3] The section of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line that passed through the community, which also has since ceased operations, is currently operated by First Coast Railroad.^[4]

References