St. Johns County is one of the two original counties created when control of the Florida territory
was ceded to the United States in 1821. The county was named for the St. Johns River and the
county seat is St. Augustine. The original county encompassed all of peninsular Florida with
Escambia County governing what is now the panhandle.

The office of the Circuit Court Clerk has land records from 1821 along with marriage, divorce and
probate records beginning in later periods. See also the  Spanish Land Grants page  for property
records prior to Florida becoming a United States territory.