City Point Community Church

Known as City Point, this area was settled shortly after the Civil War by Confederate veterans, citrus grove workers, northern winter residents, and consumptives seeking a healthy climate. By early 1885, a board of trustees was formed consisting of William ...

Florida Department of State, R.A. Gray Building

The Florida Memory Project presents a selection of historical records that illustrate significant moments in Florida history, educational resources for students of all ages and archival collections for historical research. Among the collections are the Spanish Land Grants, the confirmed ...

Turpentine Industry

The naval stores industry was important to maritime powers worldwide. Pine tar and pitch were used to seal wooden ships and protect sails and rigging. When settlers came to America in Florida (1565), in Virginia (1607) and in Massachusetts (1620) ...

Thomas Gilbert Pearson

Thomas Gilbert Pearson was an ornithologist, college professor, and world leader of the bird preservation movement. Pearson grew up in Archer, where he collected bird skins and eggs and taught himself ornithology. To pay for his schooling at Guilford College ...

Spanish Cattle Ranching

Present-day Gainesville was the center of a large Spanish cattle ranching industry, founded on the labor of native Timuqua Indians, during the 1600s. LaChua, largest of the ranches, was a Spanish corruption of an Indian word, and in turn was ...

Roper Park - Old City Park

Roper Park is the original site of the parade grounds (in front of this site) and barracks (behind this site) for the East Florida Seminary, a non-sectarian educational institute and a forerunner of the University of Florida. James H. Roper ...

Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church

Mount Pleasant Methodist Episcopal Church was founded on July 16, 1867, with the Reverend Isaac Davis serving as the first pastor. The Board of Trustees of the oldest black congregation in Gainesville purchased the lot on which the present church ...

Madison Starke Perry

1814- 1865

Planter, Legislator, Governor, Soldier

(Front Text)

Madison Starke Perry, born in Lancaster County, S.C., moved to Alachua County, Florida and became a prosperous planter. His plantation was located about six miles east of Gainesville in the area of ...

Historic Haile Homestead At Kanapaha

One of the oldest houses in Alachua County, the Historic Haile Homestead was the home of Thomas Evans Haile, his wife Esther Serena Chesnut Haile, and 14 of their children. The Hailes came here from Camden, South Carolina in 1854 ...

High Springs, Florida

The northwest region of Alachua County was probably first settled on a permanent basis by English speaking people during the late 1830s. One of the earliest settlements in the vicinity was Crockett Springs, located about three miles east of present ...