Who is gainesville fl named after

Originally part of the Arredondo Grant, Alachua County was created in as a massive county, extending from the Georgia border to Tampa Bay. Constant partitioning and the Second Seminole War slowed the county's development, but the coming of the Florida Railroad opened up the interior for both settlement and trading.

By , Alachua County had over 8, inhabitants, while Gainesville, its main city, had some residents. During the Civil War, Gainesville served as a major Confederate Commissary and was the site of two battles.

Reconstruction brought martial law, Republican rule, the immigration of freed slaves, and an economic prosperity. By the end of Reconstruction, Alachua County had a population of over 18,, while Gainesville with 1, residents was a mercantile center for cotton and vegetable crops. During the next 25 years, the county continued to prosper as the citrus and phosphate industries gave Alachua a secure economic base.

After two major fires in the s, Gainesville rebuilt with all brick structures and constructed an imposing new red brick courthouse to signalize its growth from town to city. Gainesville's central location brought two more railroad connections, and with a population approaching 3,, the city was one of the state's largest. The town now had an opera house, paved streets, city water, telephones and electric lights. East Florida Seminary expanded, becoming a military school, and a new public school was erected.

Merchants like Dutton, Miller, and Baird built fine new homes near the downtown area to create fashionable districts in the southeast and along what is now University Avenue.

New towns like Archer, High Springs, Melrose and Hawthorne, spawned by the railroad expansion and the citrus and phosphate boom, welcomed tourists, investors, and speculators. Although severe freezes in the s blighted much of this prosperity, Alachua County entered the 20th century with a population of some 32, people, and a growing economy centered in the phosphate, cotton and vegetable industries. After the Civil War, Jewish settlers began moving to Alachua County in greater numbers, including Moses Endel, who opened a dry goods store on the courthouse square in Gainesville.

The University of Florida worked to encourage and support these communities with the establishment of the first Hillel in Florida in , the creation of the Institute of Black Culture in , and the dedication of the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures in The Gainesville Academy, a private school founded in by James Henry Roper, served both male and female students.

After becoming a state senator, Roper offered the buildings and land to the state if the East Florida Seminary, founded in Ocala in , would move to Gainesville. In , the East Florida Seminary moved and was open to white students. It became the premier school for African American students in the county and eventually included a normal school to train teachers. Its last principal was A. Quinn Jones. After Union Academy closed in , Jones became the principal of its replacement, Lincoln High School, which closed with desegregation in It only allowed female boarders but both boys and girls were enrolled in the day school.

The Protestant Episcopal Church Diocese of Florida named it the official diocesan school for girls in but it closed in Robert Robb and his wife, Dr. Sarah Robb, moved to Gainesville in to give Robert a chance to recover from tuberculosis. It served patients until it merged with Shands Healthcare in and eventually closed in North Florida Regional Medical Center opened in They will perform traditional drum music and songs of southeastern Native American nations.

The rest of the programming includes presentations about the challenges Native American communities are currently facing. Conley hopes through the events on Monday to bring some awareness to the Native American cultures here in the Southeast and elsewhere. Ginessa Mahar, American Indian and Indigenous Studies program liaison and anthropology librarian, will give a presentation at the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program event.

Mahar said that land acknowledgment statements are a way to honor the Native Americans who were living and creating this landscape before colonization and recognize the historical realities of the occupation of Native American lands. Mahar said she hopes her presentation can be an open-ended conversation with Indigenous members of the community to spark tangible change on how the university libraries can better support them.

Nesberg manages a project to create plaques around the county to commemorate local Indigenous history. Her goal is to continue working toward highlighting Indigenous communities beyond just this holiday. Arlette Garcia.