During the
Third Seminole War, a company of infantry of the Special Battalion of Florida Volunteers was mustered in at Bayard in September 1856. The area was further developed in 1884 when it was platted as a midpoint between Jacksonville and
St. Augustine. The area soon became very busy. With easy access to transportation provided by railroad and waterways and with close proximity to
sawmills and
turpentine distilleries, it was a convenient depot town. Tourists also used it as a rest stop, both before and after the 1934 completion of
U.S. Route 1. Locals indicate instead that the community is named for Bayard Clinch, who was the son of
Duncan Lamont Clinch, an assertion that dates back at least to 1939. Bayard's commercial development through its early years reflects its use as a stopping point, with gift shops, restaurants and places for travelers to stay. A proposal to designate the building, then known as the Bayard Country Store, as an historical landmark failed in December, 2001, when the owner wished to sell the building and protested its designation. In order to pass the building under owner protest, Jacksonville's Historic Preservation Commission would have had to find that the building sufficiently met the city's criterion, but it did not, although it did find that the building was a "significant reminder" of the city's heritage and was worthy of preservation. The Bayard Inn was demolished in 2005, but other historically significant buildings—including the public school reserved for use by black children—still remain. ==Bayard Community Plan==