Baker County, Florida: A Local Guide for Home Buyers and Homeowners

Macclenny

Macclenny is the county seat, about 28 miles west of downtown Jacksonville and 6 miles south of the Georgia line. US 90, called Macclenny Avenue in town, runs through downtown, and I-10 has two exits here: 335 at SR 121 and 336 at SR 228.

It began as a timber and turpentine town first called Darbyville, then named for Carr Bowers McClenny. A postal rule against capital letters in the middle of a town name turned McClenny into Macclenny. The first post office opened in 1890, two years after a yellow fever epidemic hit the town in 1888.

Glen St. Mary

Glen St. Mary covers under half a square mile along US 90, which is Mount Vernon Avenue in town. It was settled in the 1800s as Cotton Field and incorporated in 1957, and I-10 reaches it at Exit 333 (CR 125).

Olustee and Sanderson

Olustee is the crossroads where US 90 meets the road to Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park, inside Osceola National Forest. Sanderson sits south of I-10 at CR 229, and the battlefield park’s mailing address is 5815 Battlefield Trail Road, Sanderson.

Baxter

Baxter is in the north county, where a Norfolk Southern rail line crosses the St. Marys River.

Baker County SHIP

Baker County’s SHIP program is run by the Baker County SHIP Administrator under the county’s Local Housing Assistance Plan, the document Florida Housing keeps on file for every county. Baker’s plan has centered on homeowners: owner-occupied rehabilitation, emergency repairs, demolition and replacement of failing homes, and disaster mitigation for income-qualified owners. The plan also encourages pre- and post-purchase counseling.

Each new Baker plan can add or drop strategies, including purchase help, so before you write an offer in Macclenny we ask the SHIP Administrator what the plan covers and whether it has money on hand. Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll make that check for you.

Local Housing Assistance Plan

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Florida Hometown Heroes is a Florida Housing purchase program that pairs a 30-year fixed first mortgage with a 0% down payment and closing cost second. There’s no monthly payment on the second; it’s repaid when you sell, refinance, pay off the first or stop living in the home, so it’s deferred, not forgiven. At least one buyer has to work full time for a Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care, which takes in plenty of Baker County School District staff.

Active-duty military qualify with any employer, and veterans, Reserve and National Guard members qualify working full time for any Florida-based employer. Remote jobs, part-time work and offer letters don’t count. A homebuyer education course is required, and you apply only through a participating lender or broker. Florida Housing help can be used once in a lifetime, which is a good reason to line up the right Baker house and the right lender before you use it. Call us first at 888-601-8344, and we’ll confirm the program is still reserving funds and what it pays on your purchase.

Official program page

FL Assist and HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage (statewide)

FL Assist is a Florida Housing down payment and closing cost second at 0%, with no monthly payment, repaid on sale, refinance, transfer or when you move out. It rides on a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA or Conventional HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage. HFA Advantage PLUS pairs a Freddie Mac Conventional first with a second that’s forgiven over 5 years while you live in the home, and FL HLP is a second with a small fixed monthly payment over 30 years.

These seconds are reserved loan by loan and can run out, and the amounts and income limits shift, so text us at 954-816-8820 with the Glen St. Mary or Macclenny address and we’ll tell you which one is funded and how it pairs with your loan.

Official program page

Schools

Public schools are run by the Baker County School District, at 392 South Blvd. East in Macclenny (904-259-6251).

Getting around

I-10 is the main road, with five Baker interchanges: US 90 at Olustee, CR 229 near Sanderson, CR 125 near Glen St. Mary, and SR 121 and SR 228 in Macclenny. Macclenny is about 28 miles from downtown Jacksonville and about 32 miles from Lake City. SR 121 runs north across the St. Marys River into Georgia, and SR 2 crosses the northwest county into Georgia too.

Jacksonville International is the nearest commercial airport. Freight moves on the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad, which took over the former CSX line to Baldwin in 2019, and on Norfolk Southern’s Valdosta District. No passenger trains have stopped here since Amtrak’s Sunset Limited ended service after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park

The Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864, put more than 10,000 troops in the field for about five hours and left 2,807 casualties. The site became Florida’s first state historic site in 1912, and the park sits at 5815 Battlefield Trail Road, with a Sanderson mailing address.

The Olustee reenactment

Every February the battle is reenacted on the same field, a tradition that draws reenactors and spectators from well beyond Baker County. Check the state park’s page for the dates before you plan a visit.

Osceola National Forest and Ocean Pond

Osceola National Forest covers about 190,932 acres across Baker, Columbia, Bradford and Hamilton counties and was set aside by proclamation in 1931. Ocean Pond, a 1,760-acre natural lake, has a 67-site campground and draws people for fishing and boating, and a 28-mile section of the Florida National Scenic Trail crosses the forest.

St. Marys River and the Okefenokee

The St. Marys River, a remote blackwater river that rises in southeast Georgia, forms the state line along the county’s north side. The far northern tip of Baker lies within the Okefenokee Swamp and its federally protected lands, and John M. Bethea State Forest covers part of the northwest.

Buying a home

FHA is the loan most of our Baker buyers use: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it pairs with Hometown Heroes and FL Assist. We also do VA loans with no down payment for eligible veterans, Conventional loans and FHA 100% financing.

We’ve been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997, and we lend statewide in all 67 Florida counties, so a Baker purchase and a move to Lake City or Jacksonville later both run through the same office. We shop your loan with multiple wholesale lenders and tell you what you qualify for before you make an offer in Macclenny or Glen St. Mary.

Refinancing the home you have

On a Baker home you already own, a refinance can lower the payment, pull cash out for a new roof or repairs, pay off higher-interest debt, or buy out a co-owner’s share.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll put the new payment, the cash in hand and the closing costs on one sheet for your Baker home, so the decision rests on real figures.