ZIP Code 32656

Keystone Heights is a city located in southwestern Clay County, Florida, United States. The city's name is derived from the state of Pennsylvania's nickname, the "Keystone State". In fall of 2021, Keystone Heights served as the host of the internationally-televised Nitro Rallycross North America Championship at the Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park at the Keystone Heights Airport. In the early 2000s, the city saw its tourism industry decline as many of its surrounding lakes, which serve as a primary inflow point for the Floridan aquifer, nearly disappeared. Increased rainfall totals in the 2010s have helped in the recovery of many area lakes including Lake Brooklyn and Lake Geneva. The Black Creek Pipeline, a $43.3 million project to pump excess water from Black Creek in central Clay County to Alligator Creek just north of Lake Brooklyn, is expected to further restore lake levels. The project is slated to begin in August of 2022. In April of 2022, Keystone Beach hosted the Motosurf Games, a motorized surfboard racing contest on Lake Geneva that was televised on CBS Sports. The former property of the Keystone Inn is now a park in front of City Hall. In 1984, an American sycamore seedling, germinated by the United States Forest Service, was planted at the Pennsylvania Library. The "Moon Tree" traveled with Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper, aboard the Apollo 14 mission on January 31, 1971 and the resulting seedlings were planted all around the world.

History

Keystone Heights is the primary city name, but also Keystone Hgts are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is Keystone Heights, Florida. In 1917, the area that would eventually become known as the city of Keystone Heights was a small community known as Brooklyn. The town would be incorporated as Keystone Heights, named after Lawrence's home state of Pennsylvania's nickname, the "Keystone State", in 1925. The opening of the Keystone Inn on New Years' Day in 1923 was one of the most significant events in the early history of the city. In the early 2000s, the city saw its tourism industry decline as many of its surrounding lakes, which serve as a primary inflow point for the Floridan aquifer, nearly disappeared. Increased rainfall totals in the 2010s have helped in the recovery of many area lakes including Lake Brooklyn and Lake Geneva. The Black Creek Pipeline, a $43.3 million project to pump excess water from Black Creek in central Clay County to Alligator Creek just north of Lake Brooklyn, is expected to further restore lake levels. The project is slated to begin in August of 2022. In fall of 2021, Keystone Heights served as the host of the internationally-televised Nitro Rallycross North America Championship at the Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park at the Keystone Heights Airport. In April of 2022, Keystone Beach hosted the Motosurf Games, a motorized surfboard racing contest on Lake Geneva that was televised on CBS Sports. In 1984, an American sycamore seedling, germinated by the United States Forest Service, was planted at the Pennsylvania Library. The "Moon Tree" traveled with Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper, aboard the Apollo 14 mission on January 31, 1971.

Geography

Keystone Heights is located in northeast Florida in the southwest corner of Clay County, at 29°4714N 82°159W (29.787243, 82.033026) The city overlooks the north shore of Lake Geneva. State Road 21 leads northeast 30 miles (48 km) (via SR 16) to Green Cove Springs, the Clay County seat, and south 18 miles (29 km) to Hawthorne. SR 100 crosses SR 21 and leads north 12 miles (19 km)to Starke and southeast 26 miles (42km) to Palatka.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.9 km²), of which 0.012 square miles of that is water. The city has an estimated population of 1,068, of whom 1.16% are foreign born. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the population of Keystone Heights to be 1,000, with the majority of that population living in the city of 2,000 or more. The population of the city was 1,071 as of the 2010 Census, and 1,082 as of 2012. The town has a population density of 0.738, with 1.03 square miles per square mile (0.03 km²) of its total area being 1.0 square miles. It has an elevation of 29.4 feet (8.2 meters) and an area of 2.9 square miles, or 0.8 square kilometers. It is located at 29.3 miles (9.4 km) from the center of the state.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,349 people, 515 households, and 374 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 96.07% White, 0.44% African American,0.52% Native American, 1.19% from other races, and 0.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.67% of the population. The city's population was spread out with 28.1% under the age of 18, 8. 1% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there are 86.1 males. The average household income was $39,519, and the median income for a family was $47,404. The per capita income for the city is $19,157. About 5.1 of families and 8.3 of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5 of those under age 18 and 7.5 of those age 65 or over. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the city has a population of 1,350 people, with 562 housing units at an average density of 123.7 per square mile (47.8/km²). The city is home to the U.N.’s headquarters, which is located in the heart of the town.

City government

Keystone Heights has a Councilmanager form of government, with a mayor, vice mayor and three council members, all elected at large. The current City Manager is Lynn Rutkowski. They serve three-year terms. They are: Tony Brown, Christine Thompson, Bobby Brown, Karen Lake and Stephen Hart. The mayor and vice mayor are elected for a four-year term. The council members are all elected for three years. The city has a population of 2,000 people. It is located in the central part of the city. It was founded in the early 20th century and is located on the banks of the Ohio River. It has been the site of the U.S. Army’s 4th of July celebrations since the 1950s. It also has been home to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since the 1960s. The town has been known as the “Home of the Pioneers” since the 1800s. Its name is derived from the name of its first settler, William “William” Brown, who was born in 1875. It’ is located near the center of the town, near the intersection of two main roads, the Ohio Turnpike and the Illinois River. The name of the current City Council Seat 1 is “Bobby Brown” and the current Council Seat 4 is � “Karen Lake”. The City Council seat 5 is ‘Stephen Hart’ and it is located at the top of the hill.

Education

Schools within Keystone Heights are operated by the Clay County School District. Santa Fe College's Watson Center located just outside city limits in Bradford County serves southern Clay and Bradford counties as an important learning and cultural institution. In addition, the Bradford County Public Library is in Starke. It is a part of the New River Public Library Cooperative. The Keystone Heights Junior/Senior High School and Keystone Heights Elementary School are located in the town of Keystone Heights, Florida. The town of Starke is located in Clay County, Florida and is in the southern part of Bradford County. It has a population of about 2,000. The school district has a total enrollment of about 3,000 students, with about 1,000 of them in Keystone Heights. It also has a high school, Keystone Heights High School, and an elementary school, which are all within the town's boundaries. The high school has a junior/senior high school and a middle school, both of which are in the city of Keystone Height. The elementary school is called Keystone Heights Middle School and has an enrollment of around 1,100 students. The junior/Senior high school is located at Keystone Heights and has a student population of 1,200. The middle school is known as Keystone Heights Senior High School. There are no high schools or high schools in the area, but the town has a number of community centers. The community center is called the Starke Community Center, which is located near the town center. It was established in the early 1900s.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Keystone Heights, Clay County, Florida = 83. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 50. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 97. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Keystone Heights = 5.6 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 1,446 individuals with a median age of 35.9 age the population grows by 10.15% in Keystone Heights, Clay County, Florida population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,381.31 residents per square mile of area (531.65/km²). There are average 2.55 people per household in the 582 households with an average household income of $45,359 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 9.80% of the available work force and has dropped -5.47% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 19.26%. The number of physicians in Keystone Heights per 100,000 population = 190.2.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Keystone Heights = 53.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 0.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 118. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 219. 91 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 41.3 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 29, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Keystone Heights, Clay County, Florida which are owned by the occupant = 75.16%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 31 years with median home cost = $121,470 and home appreciation of -9.69%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $9.70 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,215 per student. There are 15.3 students for each teacher in the school, 893 students for each Librarian and 392 students for each Counselor. 9.34% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 13.50% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 6.80% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).