Neptune Beach is a city in Duval County, Florida, United States. When the majority of communities in Duval County consolidated with Jacksonville, Florida in 1968, Neptune Beach, along with Jacksonville Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Baldwin, Florida, remained quasi-independent. Like the other towns, it maintains its own municipal government but its residents vote in the Jacksonville mayoral election and have representation on the Jacksonville city council. The population was 7,270 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 7,120. Neptune Beach was part of Jacksonville Beach until 1931 when residents voted to secede and incorporate as their own town. The name "Neptune Beach" was first applied to the area in 1922 when one of the few residents built his own train station, "Neptune", requiring the train to stop and take him to Mayport each day. Neptune Beach is part of the Jacksonville Beaches community.