GAINESVILLE FLORIDA
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Gainesville Florida is home to the University of Florida. It is a comfortable family town with the rolling terrain and large oak trees typical of north central Florida.
Like many smaller college towns, the population is seasonal. Summers are very quiet in Gainesville when most of the students are gone. Starting in September, the school year is a beehive of activity until June.
In addition to having an excellent academic reputation, the Gators also have nationally ranked football, basketball and baseball teams.
HISTORY OF GAINESVILLE FLORIDA
The area around Gainesville was at one time a Timucuan Indian village. The Timucuans were an indigenous tribe that occupied Florida long before the Seminoles came down from Georgia and the Carolinas.
Back in 1817, when Spain owned Florida, the King of Spain gave a massive land grant in the area to Don Fernando de la Maza Arredondo.
After Florida became part of the United States, planters and farmers moved into what is now Alachua County and helped Florida become a state in 1845. The area near the future Gainesville was known as Hogtown, the name of a nearby creek.
The first county seat was Newnansville. When David Levy Yulee built his railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key, the tracks bypassed Newnansville and the citizens created a new town on the railroad named Gainesville. It was named after General Edmund Gaines, a veteran of the Seminole Wars, and became the county seat.
Florida was a Confederate state, and the Civil War slowed growth in Gainesville. There were even a couple of small skirmishes between Confederate and Union troops.
After the Civil War, Gainesville began to flourish as a center for cotton processing and shipping. Citrus and vegetables also became major economic forces, followed later by phosphate and lumber operations.
The town's future was assured when the University of Florida located there in 1906. Gainesville history is closely tied to University of Florida history. Northeast Gainesville became an upper class neighborhood in the areas Duck Pond and the Highlands. In the early years of the twentieth century, four presidents of the University of Florida lived in these neighborhoods.
Gainesville residents have done a good job of restoring and preserving these neighborhoods.
They have also revived the downtown area by creating a historic district to showcase and preserve Gainesville's past in many of it's older buildings like the Thomas Center, which used to be a hotel, and the Hippodrome, which used to be a post office.
GAINESVILLE FLORIDA RESTAURANTS
- Liquid Ginger. 101 SE 2nd Pl, Gainesville FL 32601. 352-371-2323. A local favorite. Fine Asian fusion dining. Fair prices and the best spring rolls. Most everything is superb, as is the service, location and ambience.
- Satchel's Pizza. 1800 Northeast 23rd Avenue, Gainesville FL 32609. Amazing pizza and a fun, junk shop atmosphere. Live music is common, and they offer indoor and outdoor seating...you can even choose to sit in the antique van outside if it's available (it rarely is). They don't take reservations and you'll likely have to wait as it's a popular spot, but there's plenty here to keep you entertained.
GAINESVILLE FLORIDA ATTRACTIONS
- Hippodrome State Theatre.25 SE 2nd Pl, Gainesville FL. 352-375-HIPP. Architectural masterpiece located in historic downtown, this former Post Office is the Hope Diamond of Gainesville's modern restoration movement. Offers award winning plays, a visual arts gallery, a cinema with art and foreign films, as well as a full service bar which makes it all that much more enjoyable. Cheers!
- Florida Museum of Natural History. Museum Road, Gainesville, Florida 32611. 352-392-1721. Oodles of fossil displays, traveling exhibits and stuff for the kids. Admission is free, but you'll have to pay a fee if you want to hang with the butterflies in their garden. Donations are very welcome, and I encourage you to give a few dollars to this fine museum so future generations can enjoy it.
- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park 18700 S. CR 325, Cross Creek, Florida 32640. 352-466-3672. Docent volunteers take you on a relaxed tour of the famous authors house and environs. It's a very pleasant place, and I'd recommend spending some time there to see why it was such a great place to write for Rawlings. The Yearling Restaurant in Cross Creek is also not to be missed. Great gator tail!
- Magnolia Plantation , 309 SE 7th St, Gainesville FL 32601. Tel: 352-375-6653. This is an 1885 French Second Empire Victorian home lovingly restored by owners Joe and Cindy Montalto. All interior woodwork is original. Joe's father, a Landscape Architect, designed the gardens, pond and waterfalls. Breakfast is wonderful, and you are near all Gainesville attractions, museums, shops and bike trails.
- Paramount Plaza Hotel & Suites 2900 SW 13 Street, Gainesville, Florida 32608. 352-377-4000. Great rates at around $57 a night, with a beautiful lakefront view and convenient location.
- North Central Florida Art Festivals
North Central Florida Day Trips
North Central Florida Heritage Sites
North Central Florida Tourist Attractions
HOW TO FIND GAINESVILLE FLORIDA
Gainesville is in North Central Florida at I-75 and State Roads 24 and 26. It is also on US-441, a major north-south highway that predates I-75.
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