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Gross, Florida

Coordinates: 30°42′58″N 81°40′31″W / 30.71611°N 81.67528°W / 30.71611; -81.67528
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Gross
A row of colored businesses off to the right side of a highway
Gross, Florida, photographed moving northwest on US 17.
Map
Coordinates: 30°42′58″N 81°40′31″W / 30.71611°N 81.67528°W / 30.71611; -81.67528
CountryUnited States
StateFlorida
CountiesNassau
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern Time Zone)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time)
ZIP Code
32097
Area 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

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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]

A beige-colored map depicting rail lines running across the US east coast and gulf of Mexico
Map of the Main Line of Seaboard Air Line Railroad, with the route to Jacksonville passing through Gross.

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

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  1. ^ a b "Gross (in Nassau County, FL) Populated Place Profile". HomeTownLocator. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  2. ^ "Welcome to Gross ..." RoadsideThoughts. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "The Gross Cutoff". abandonedrails.com. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
  4. ^ "First Coast Railroad (FCRD)". Genesee & Wyoming. Retrieved March 4, 2024.