Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
James Henry Roper came to Gaineville in 1856 and built and served as the first principal of the Gaineville Academy, which was established in 1858. It was located on NE 1st St. By 1866, it grew to an enrollment of 65 with three teachers, and during that year it merged with the East Florida Seminary. That institution had ben founded in 1852 by Gilbert Dennis Kingsbury, and moved here from Ocala. State support for the seminary began on January 6, 1853.
The school consisted of a single building, which burned in 1883. It was replaced by a new $13,000 two-story brick building which was constructed for use as classrooms and administration offices, named Epworth Hall. At the north end of the park was a large wooden dormitory. This park served as the Seminary's parade grounds. Seminary students were prohibited from going into town at will, or from hanging around the post office, railroad station, or the hotels. They were not allowed to use malt or liquor, play pool or billiards, possess firearms, read unapproved books or papers, use profane language, gamble, or use tobacco.
The Seminary merged into the University of Florida and Epworth Hall was sold in 1911 to the First Methodist Church. They moved it to another location. Soon after, the dormitory burned down.
This board and batten siding house was built in about 1880 on the site of the Gracy house, and moved here in about 1900. It was the home of W.W. Hampton, Jr.
In 1876, Republican L.G. Dennis had a home office here. He is reputed to have stuffed the ballot box for the presidential election either here or near Archer, turning a total of 316 votes for both candidates into 399 for the Republican candidate alone. Despite challenges, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel Tilden, with the late reported results from Florida providing the slim margin needed by Hayes.
Dennis also had a two-story business block, a portion of which was occupied by the East Florida Seminary after its first major fire in early 1883. The city council and mayor's court was also located there.
This building was constructed here in 1886 for Kavanaugh Memorial Church. It was an outgrowth of the Methodist Society which had been organized in 1854, and was later renamed First Methodist Church. The first church building had been erected in 1859 on a lot bought from the county for $5.00, and another was built in 1875. Services were conducted in this building until 1942.
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, this land was the camp of a company of soldiers from the United States Colored Troops. They were replaced by white occupation troops by the end of 1865.
This building was erected in 1884 in the Renaissance Revival style. It was the home of the East Florida Seminary until it merged with the University of Florida. The university held its first class in this building in 1906.
In 1911, it was purchased by the Methodist church. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It was the second brick building in Gainesville, with only the local jail being older.
This house was built in about 1903 in the Colonial Revival style. Typical for its period, it has small lap siding.
After the Civil War, many black soldiers remained in Gainesville, including the all-black 3rd Regiment. This, along with newly-freed slaves who moved here, gave the town a black majority. One area that they migrated to is now known as the Pleasant Street Historic District, bounded by NW 1st St., 8th Ave., 6th St. and 1st Ave.
They organized the church in 1867, making this the oldest black congregation in Gainesville. A wooden church building was erected in 1887. It burned down in 1903 and in 1904 it was replaced by the present structure. It follows a Romanesque Revival style.
This is the site of Union Academy, which was established by the Freedmen's Bureau in 1866. The building opened in 1867 for 120 black students in grades 1-10. It was supported by the George Peabody Fund, then by the Board of Public Instruction. After it was in operation for a decade, it also added black teachers.
It grew to 500 students by 1898, and many local teachers received their training here. Its last principal, A. Quinn Jones, served from 1921 until 1925, when it was converted to a recreational center. It was later torn down.
This is a Bungalow built in 1913. When the house was restored in later years, the original leaded glass windows were preserved.
This Queen Anne style home was built in 1895. In 1905, it was purchased by Col. Caleb R. Layton, a banker who served as mayor and as a member of the school board. In 1981, it was restored as three apartments.
Judge John DaCosta had this Colonial Revival home built in 1887. For a time, it was the home of the Martha Manson Academy, and was later restored as law offices.
This Frame Vernacular house was built in 1909 for the Waldo family. Two church organists lived here, Myrtle Waldo who played for the Methodist Church for 40 years, and her daughter-in-law, Tommy Ruth Waldo, who played for the First Baptist Church for over 20 years. Later, it was restored as a combination residence and law office.
In 1908, this was built for the Beemun family. It was bought in 1910 by James Vidal, who designed the Duck Pond area. It was later restored as law offices.
M.M. Parish, Sr. built this house in 1929. This was the residence of Dr. John J. Tigert, who served as president of the University of Florida from 1928 to 1947. Later president Dr. J. Hillis Miller also lived here until the new president's house was completed on campus.
Originally, this was part of the dairy barn of the Thomas family. It was cut in half during the 1920s to make room for the construction of the Hotel Thomas.
In what was the surrounding pasture, Sweetwater Branch was a meandering stream. That pasture was later converted to the Boulevard (originally named Highland Park) and the Duck Pond area (known for years as Vidal's Lake), one of Gainesville's first planned public green spaces.
This was the other half of the Thomas dairy barn, moved here from the grounds of the present Thomas Center. This portion was transformed into a Colonial Revival style house in 1924.
C.W. Chase, the manager of the Dutton Phosphate Company, began construction of the south section of this complex in 1906. It was completed in 1910 as the residence of Maj. William Reuben Thomas. Thomas was involved in the move of the University of Florida to Gainesville.
The hotel portion was designed by William A. Edwards, and was constructed in 1926-28. It became the social and political gathering place of the community. The earlier portion which had been a residence became a restaurant, which closed in 1968.
This is built in the French Classical style with Mediterranean elements, including a stuccoed exterior, festoons over the doorways, arches, and a red clay tile roof. It also featured two lounges, a turtle fountain in an indoor courtyard, and multiple fireplaces.
It served for a short time as a campus of the Santa Fe Community College. In 1972, Historic Gainesville, Inc. was formed to preserve the hotel, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1973. The city acquired the property in April of 1974 and restored it in 1976-78 as a cultural center and city offices.
William R. Steckert, vice president of the Gainesville National Bank, built this home in 1903. In 1949, it was converted to a duplex, and alterations at that time included a reduction of the size of the porch.
Built in 1912, this was originally the home of J.H. Holder, whose businesses were turpentine and lumber. He sold it to Albert A. Murphree, president of the University of Florida from 1909 to 1927. The house was built in the Greek Revival style with Ionic columns and leaded glass windows.
This simple Victorian style cottage was typical of homes in 1880, when it was built here. A subsequent owner, Sam Gowan, was the first president of Historic Gainesville, Inc., and instrumental in the preservation of the Hotel Thomas.
Henry Landon Phifer and his wife, Mary Ridenhour built this Queen Anne style home in 1897, with a wagon wheel motif and sunburst design in the gables. Phifer and his brothers established Phifer State Bank and Phifer Bros. Department Store, which later became Wilson's Department Store.
In 1903, this Colonial Revival house was built by W.B. Phifer, a prominent civic leader and businessman, and brother of Henry Phifer. Solid cypress was used for the porch columns.
This brick house was built in the Colonial Revival style in 1932 for physician Dr. William C. Thomas. He lived here from 1932 until he died in 1974.
This structure was built as a house in 1904 and soon converted to apartments, run by Carrie Padgett. It was restored in 1980 to its original appearance.
This home was built in 1904, and was the residence of H.E. Taylor, who served as president of the First National Bank. The English garden was added by a later owner.
This brick home was built in 1937 by Hattie Roebuck as a duplex. It was bought in 1942 by Myrtle Geiger, the owner of a women's clothing store. The home is Georgian Revival in style, and was converted into a single family home in 1989.
This 1939 home designed by Sanford Goin shows a Cape Cod style, with exterior molding showing youths playing musical instruments and maidens picking flowers. It was the home of Clara Gehan, the first female graduate of the University of Florida Law School.
City fire chief A.J. McArthur built this shingle house in 1897. During the 1920s, castellation was added by University of Florida business manager Klein Graham, who bought it in 1917. It was restored in 1972 by a new owner.
This cottage, built in 1884, features a steeply gabled roof and Victorian style ornamental trim. It has recently been owned by Sinclair and Ruth Eaton.
In 1898, Capt. W.B. Denham and his wife, Carrie, built this Queen Anne style house. Maj. W.R. Thomas and his wife, Katy, lived here from 1900 to 1909 before moving to what is now the Thomas Center. It was later owned by the Webb family. The low stone wall and carriage block are original.
This Colonial Revival home was built in 1887, and has been enlarged by successive owners. From 1920 to 1968, it was owned by Dr. Wilmon Newell, an entomologist who was involved with the eradication of the Mediterranean fruit fly from the United States.
This is a Classic Revival house, built in 1904 by Luther C. Gracy, using a design drawn up by the architectural firm of Barber & Kluttz of Knoxville, Tennessee. Gracy was a civic leader, lumberman and turpentine dealer. An ardent abolitionist, it was said that he entertained Cary Nation at this home.
This was the site of a home built in the 1890s by Louis A. Barnes, the register of the only U.S. Land Office in Florida. He lined the street with trees and paved the road. It was bought in 1896 by William Wade Hampton, the attorney who handled the transfer of the University of Florida to Gainesville. The house was torn down in 1977.
This house was built in 1897 in the Greek Revival style. It was the home of Birkett Jordan.
This Queen Anne style house was built in 1899 and was the home of Gen. Albert H. Blanding, after whom the military installation Camp Blanding was named. In 1936, he was appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt as the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. He was instrumental in the creation of the Everglades National Park, and is one of only two Floridians to attain the rank of general. This house was later converted to apartments.
These mirror image houses were built here in about 1905. Since then, the porch on the southern one has been enclosed.
This Queen Anne style house was built in 1895, and two years later was acquired by Benjamin Richards and Clara Jordan, the brother of Birket Jordan who lived across the street. Clara was instrumental in the establishment of the Kirby Smith School. This was referred to as the "spool house" for its extensive turned wood decoration.
This house was built in 1897 by druggist James Strange Bodiford to mirror the house on the southeast corner of this intersection. It is constructed in the Queen Anne style. To protect it from demolition, it was purchased by Historic Gainesville, Inc., which in turn sold it with protective restrictive covenants. It was later converted to apartments.
Local druggist James W. McCollum built this home shortly after 1900. Its Queen Anne style features lapboard siding and a turret roof atop a gazebo style porch. Later, it was the residence of his widow, "Aunt" Carrie McCollum Palmer.
The federal government in September of 1942 offered to build a $45,000 building for recreation, provided the city would provide the site and operate the center. This location was chosen, and was used for the recreation of men stationed at the Alachua Army Airbase, where there was a flight school. This center was formally opened on July 23, 1943, and the airbase was returned to the city in 1946. It later became the Thelma A. Boltin Activity Center.
Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Allison built this home in about 1914. It folllows the Colonial Revival style, and has an unusual roofline.
This was the home of Dr. William Seigler, a local dentist. It was built in the Italianate style in 1883.
In 1887, this home was built at 116 NE 1st St., and in 1901 was rebuilt by physician Dr. J.H. Hodges. Later, it was owned by the Holy Trinity Church, who used it as a Sunday school and offices. The house was moved here to make room for a garden, and in 1979 was restored as apartments.
Lumber and turpentine businessman T.S. Swearingen built this house in 1903. Beginning in 1957, it was the residence of ornithologist Dr. Oliver Austin, Jr. During the 1980s, it was restored as apartments.
In 1903, this Victorian style house was built by the Shands family, and in 1921 became the property of the Enwall family.
Lumberman J. Dudley Williams built this house in about 1885, and in 1896 sold it to Emmett Baird, who operated several sawmills and a crate company. It shows a Victorian style with an eight-foot wide central hallway, mahogany staircase, pine floors and ten fireplaces. It was restored as the Magnolia Plantation, a bed and breakfast establishment.
This Victorian cottage was built in about 1899 at 521 E. University Ave. The Julian Niblack family lived there for many years. In 1982, it was moved here to avoid demolition, and has been restored as apartments.
In about 1882, James Doig built this home with an Italianate style. In the late 1860s, he had another home here, the one furthest east on what is now University Ave. He is known for having started the Doig Foundry and Machine Works in 1859, and for being the first man in Florida to build a complete locomotive. In 1982, this home was restored as a professional office.
This congregation organized in 1897 and met in a building at the corner of NE 6th Ave. and 1st St. Their second home was at 313 E. University Ave., and on June 1, 1955, moved to this location. It later became the home of the Salvation Army.
This Victorian style home was built in 1885. Later, it was restored as a bed and breakfast establishment.
This school was built here in 1900 for $30,000 and named the Gainesville Graded and High School, and had 12 classrooms, a large auditorium and an office for the principal. It was expanded several times. In 1923, it was renamed as Eastside Elementary School. It was remodeled in 1939 and renamed after Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, the last survivor of the full generals of the Confederacy. In 1977, this facility was converted into an adult education center.
This elaborate Queen Anne style home has shingle and horizontal siding, a polygonal tower, and a projecting gable at the main entry door. It is 2 1/2 stories with an attached one-story gazebo. It was built in about 1895 by John Lambeth, and in 1925 became the residence of Mary Phifer McKenzie and her family. In 1980, it was adapted for use by a tourist agency. On April 26, 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
This home was built in 1904 for B.R. Colson, who in 1901 had joined the Alachua County Abstract Company. In 1977, it was converted to law offices.
This structure was completed on November 11, 1932, as the home of the Haisley Lynch Post No. 16 of the American Legion. On November 11, 1993, it became the city archives and museum.
This congregation, with Pastor H.J. Biddlecum, built this church as the Gainesville Gospel Tabernacle in 1935. It was later converted to a restaurant.
Alachua County's first public school built here in 1885 replaced the one previously operating on the site of the Opera House. It sat just west of Sweetwater Branch, over which was built a wooden bridge. Later, Col. Ada Burton used the two-story building as a home for indigents.
This home was built in 1867 by prominent merchant James Douglas Matheson. He also served as the country treasurer and a member of the county commission. It was also the home of Chris Matheson, who served eight terms as mayor of Gainseville.
The frame house is constructed of heart pine on brick piers, with six free-standing wooden columns carried all the way to the ground on the front porch. The unusual gambrel roof accommodates three standard narrow dormers topped with low pitched gables. This style is referred to as Dutch Colonial. It is the second-oldest surviving house in Gainesville and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 4, 1973.
This facility opened in 1965, and was built for a cost of $2,090,000.
Benson and Roux ran a blacksmith shop and carriage factory here during the 1880s. Later, this was the site of Nells Benson's blacksmith shop.
This was the site of the 1890s Plaza Hotel, which faced west from this location. It burned some time after 1900. It was not a part of the later Plaza Hotel located on Main St.
This was the site of Oak Hall, once the home of Tillman Ingram, an early planner and builder. He had an extensive plantation in Hogtown, located northwest of Gainesville. Oak Hall was later used as a public building, the hospital of the Atlantic Coast Line Railway, and the U.S. Land Office. It was purchased in 1903 for use by the federal government.
Oak Hall was moved to SE 1st St. to make room for Gainesville's first federal building. It later became the headquarters for the local chapter of Woodmen of the World.
Architects Thayer Ryerson and James Knox Taylor designed this yellow brick structure, which was built in 1909-11 for $50,000. It is built with a Beaux-Arts Classical style with some innovations that were modern for its time, including an elevator and steam heat. The exterior features a monumental portico with six Corinthian columns, plus carved limestone and granite details.
The post office moved to the new Federal Building in 1964. In 1980, the interior of this building was substantially modified for use as the state Hippodrome Theatre. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 10, 1979.
A building was erected here in 1926 for W.M. Pepper, whose Pepper Printing Company published the Gainesville Daily Sun. The Pepper family had been involved in the printing business before coming to Gainesville from Pennsylvania in 1904. W.M.'s father printed an interdenominational paper, religious song books, and the Christian Standard for the Northern Methodist Church.
In the late 1880s, S.O. Weaver ran a laundry at approximately this site. By the end of World War I, this was the location of one of Gainesville's earliest moving picture threaters, the Lyric. The Jim Hope Electric Company later occupied this building.
In 1860, a wooden church was built here for $1,200 by the First Presbyterian Church, under the supervision of Rev. W.J. McCormick. For a time, the building was used by all denominations.
Gainesvile's first fire station was located here, built in 1893. They received their first motorized equipment in 1912. The second floor was used for city council meetings and the municipal court until the city hall was completed in 1927.
This was the location of Miss Maggie Tebeau's Boarding and Day School, where beginning in 1873, young ladies were educated for more than 70 years. It was noted for large gardens with flowering shrubs. In 1909, it was declared as the Diocesan School for Girls of the Florida Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Tebeau died in September of 1924, and the operation of the school was taken over by her niece, Alice Thomas. The school closed in 1949.
This three-story structure was built in 1885 as the Alachua Hotel, facing both Main St. and the Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad track. Printing companies were located in it after 1900, and then became the Commercial Hotel in 1924. During the late 1970s, it was donated to the county and in 1981, it was rehabilitated for use as a county office building.
In 1904, this was the site of the Dell & Pound Livery Stable. Later, it became Johnson Seed & Feed Company.
After 1904, this was the site of the Pound Livery Stable, and much later, the Western Auto Store.
The Chitty Company was established here in 1902 and remained in business at this location for several decades. It was replaced by the Scruggs and Carmichael Building in 1973.
This building was constructed by Mr. Simonson in 1887 as an opera house, replacing a wooden one which burned in 1886. It was later known as Baird's Theatre, and had live entertainment and movies from 1888 until 1929. The town's first movie theater was located on the second floor of a building which stood diagonally across the intersection from here.
This building stood vacant during the Depression, and in 1939 became the home of the Cox Furniture Company. On the first floor were also the Dorsey Bakery and McCollum Drug Store. The building was restored during the 1990s.
This Masonry Vernacular brick building was erected in 1931, and housed one of the earliest automobile agencies in Gainesville. It contains elements of a livery stable located earlier on the site. In 1985, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, and then renovated for use as law offices.
The Twentieth Century Club was formed by local women in 1906, and they donated books to establish a library. After it went public, it was located on the south side of University Ave., between Main and SW 1st Sts. Just prior to World War I, the Carnegie Library Association provided financial help to construct a new library on the south side of University Ave. just west of Sweetwater Branch, opening in 1917.
This building was opened in 1968 for the Gainesville branch of the Santa Fe Regional Library.
The name of the town was selected by a vote of the Alachua County citizens who showed up at a barbecue at Boulware Springs. For a name, commissioner William R. Lewis proposed Lewisville. The county commission instead adopted the recommendation of William I. Turner, who wanted to name it after Gen. Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who captured Aaron Burr and briefly commanded Federal troops in the area during the Second Seminole War. The town was incorporated on April 15, 1869.
This was the site of the Baptist Church, most of which was torn down in 1952. Its tower remained until 1965, when it was taken down to make room for the Municipal Building and Library. This facility was built at a cost of $1,900,000 and dedicated on April 14, 1969.
The north-south streets bordering on each side of the square comprised the business district of early Gainesville. In August of 1865, George Savage and Edward Haile opened a large store selling dry goods, tinware, shoes, hardware, and other items.
The present courthouse sits in the Community Plaza, which was designed by university architect Harry Merritt and built for $250,000. It was dedicated as part of the Bicentennial observance on April 3, 1976.
A building here was the home of Baird Hardware Company beginning in 1890. The stores on this block comprised about half of the business district of Gainesville, with most of the rest on the other side of the square. The hardware store and its neighbors were removed during the 1970s to make room for the plaza and courthouse.
The second courthouse in Gainesville, constructed of brick in 1886, had a clock tower. Although the building was torn down in 1960, the clock was saved and in 1983 placed in a new tower, with a style similar to that of the original courthouse tower.
The Vidal Drug Company opened for business at this corner during the 1870s.
A department store business first opened at this location during the 1870s. In 1909, a group of local citizens incorporated and formed Wilson's. To the west was the office of Dr. James F. McKinstry, and on the other side of that was a store owned by Chris Matheson.
This site was chosen for the courthouse in 1854, after it was decided to move the county seat from Newnansville. That decision was made by an assembly who met in 1853 at Boulware Springs, the town's water supply located at 3400 SE 15th St.
The county commissioners bought 63 1/3 acres from Maj. James Bailey and 40 acres from Nemiah Brush's estate. They platted a town with 40-foot wide streets except for those entering the courthouse square, which were 90 feet wide. Originally, the town went east to Sweetwater Branch, south to SE 2nd Pl., west to 2nd St., and north to 5th Ave.
The first courthouse erected here was a frame building in 1856 built by Tillman Ingram and W.L. and Mike Finger for $5,500. It was a box-like two-story structure with porches jutting out from doors on all four sides. It was made of white clapboard on rock pillars 2 1/2 feet tall, and opened on December 8, 1856. It was surrounded by a brick sidewalk, installed by John Varnum in 1882.
The original wooden courthouse was replaced by a red brick one in 1886 which cost $50,000. It was demolished in 1960. The third courthouse costing $1,100,000 was built on the other side of SE 1st St. in 1958, and expanded in 1962.
The next courthouse was built in 1976, and at that time the former one was converted to the County Administration Building.
In the 1880s, Dr. McMillan had a drug store here. Later, it was the site of Hoffman's Pharmacy.
On February 15, 1864, near this intersection, a Federal raiding party of about 50 men entered the city in an attempt to capture two trains. They were met here and repulsed by members of the Second Florida Cavalry. This was known as the First Battle of Gainesville.
In the early 1880s, this was the site of the three-story Arlington Hotel. Second floor verandas had a good view of the courthouse square. Just hours after the Varnum Hotel across the street caught on fire and the businesses on the west side of the square were burning, a fire started in the Arlington. Later that day, someone broke into a livery stable, let the horses out, and soaked the hay with turpentine. He was run off before he could light it. Some suspected that all three incidents were related.
This building was erected in 1884, and through the years has been occupied by a variety of business, including F.W. Woolworth, a bank, furniture stores, clothing stores, fruit stores, and beginning in 1980, Chestnut's Office Supply.
This was the site of the Varnum Hotel, in which a fire broke out before dawn in May of 1884. It destroyed every building on the west side of the square.
J.P. Bauknight bought a brick building here in the 1870s. Later, this was the site of the Belk Lindsey Department Store.
During the 1920s, this was the location of a blacksmith shop. The horse and mule shoes imbedded in the sidewalk were put there by C.C. Pedrick, who had a wagon and buggy shop at 20 SW 1st St. and a blacksmith shop at 103 SW 2nd Pl., both in the 1880s. Later, this was the site of Cherry's Dress Shop.
On December 18, 1913, The Phifer State Bank was established. It was located at 23 SE 1st St., and in 1946 was renamed the Florida Bank at Gainesville. Later, it became Florida National Bank.
Upstairs at this location in 1936, First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Mid-Florida opened. In 1939, it moved to two rooms at 307 W. University Ave., and six years later moved to 329 W. University Ave. In 1957, it moved to 249 W. University Ave.
In 1856, James Henry Roper arranged with W.L. and Mike Finger to have the town's first wooden schoolhouse built here. Later, this property was the home of Dr. Babcock, followed by the Dutton family.
In 1882 and 1883, the city attempted to drill an artesian well to provide water, but abandoned the project when the drill bit broke at 180 feet. At 176 feet, they had hit gold-bearing ore, confirmed by an assay report. The drilling equipment was moved to this location and the vein of gold-bearing quartz was reached at 190 feet. It was estimated that the ore would yield $4.16 of gold for every 2,000 pounds of ore. Unfortunately, this exceeded the cost of mining and the project was abandoned.
This church organized on March 23, 1867, as a branch of the Kanapaha Presbyterian Church, which itself had organized in April of 1859. The first sanctuary was opened on December 1, 1859, on SE 1st St., but the Civil War delayed the organization of the church itself.
The second sanctuary was dedicated in 1890 on the corner of University Ave. and NW 2nd St. In 1917, the Anderson Memorial was built for $14,000, named after pastor Dr. John G. Anderson. The first service in this new sanctuary was held in March of 1954.
Long before the Firestone Garage was built here, this was the site of the home of Walter Robinson, built in the 1860s.
F. Lloyd Preacher and Rudolph Weaver designed this building with a Mediterranean Revival style as the Kelley Hotel for W. McKee Kelley, and construction began in 1926. The plans called for a ten-story building costing $600,000. The projected opening date was January 1, 1927.
By the end of 1926, the superstructure of the building, also called the Dixie Hotel, was over nine stories high. However, Kelley ran out of money and it was not completed until 1937.
What made completion possible was the W.P.A. and a $20,000 contribution by Georgia Seagle, after whose brother the building was named. It was redesigned by the university's School of Architecture. The building was later donated to the state and was used from 1937 to 1979 by the University of Florida as offices and the Florida State Museum. During the 1940s, it was regarded as the tallest educational building in the Southeast. In 1982-83, it was adapted for condominiums, a social club, and retail and office space.
The lower floors are sheathed in stone and the upper ones are stuccoed. This was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
In the early days, Mr. Marshall had a log cabin here, built by 1850. Later, it was the site of a Sinclair filling station.
On August 14, 1870, Thomas C. Ellis chaired a group to organize a Missionary Baptist Church. As a result, the First Baptist Church of Gainesville was formed with 21 charter members.
Their first building was completed in June of 1875 at the southeast corner of Main St. and SE 2nd Ave. Another was built in 1896 at the northwest corner of University Ave. and NE 2nd St. In 1921, the congregation voted to purchase this property for the present sanctuary. It was designed by Newbald L. Goin and J.E. Green, and built in 1923-34 by J.L. Penny and F.H. Winston for a cost of $150,000.
A school building was erected here in 1923, and served as a high school until 1955. It then became the Buchholtz Junior High, named after Fritz W. Buchholtz, an Alachua County teacher, principal, scholar, coach, author and politician.
The school board had resolved that if the school here was ever abandoned, the Buchholtz name would be transferred to another school. That was done in 1972, when the new Buchholtz High School opened at 5510 NW 27th Ave.
Black students who completed the lower grades at Union Academy came here to go to high school. The two-story brick school was built in 1923 with 15 classrooms. Its auditorium sat 800. It was later replaced by the A. Quinn Jones Center, named after the principal of Union Academy.
In this building, erected in 1932, was located Walter's Blue Room, a popular place for black residents to dance. Later, it became the home of a church.
This was the site of an early theater for blacks.
In the early days, blacks were limited as to where they could buy land in Gainesville. This street, then known as Seminary St., is where most of the black commercial activity occurred.
This was the site of an early black store, which sold snacks.
In mid-1948, the Atlantic Coast Line moved from its Main St. location and opened a new station here.
This congregation was founded in 1871 and built a sanctuary here in 1933. It was rebuilt, producing the present building in 1953.
The Gainesville Police Department was originally located in the city hall basement, and used the county jail for their prisoners. This facility, including jail cells, offices, and a courtroom, was built in 1983. It was designed by Salley/Jackson/Reeger, Inc. and built by M.M. Parrish Construction Co.
This 1 1/2 story braced frame house was built between 1848-54 by slave labor for Maj. James Bailey, who sold a portion of his plantation land to the county for the courthouse site. It was constructed of long-leaf pine dressed in a Hogtown mill. The home shows a Frame Vernacular style with Greek Revival elements, and was in later years used as the Bailey Village retirement community, housing for the elderly. This is the oldest surviving house in Gainesville, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 5, 1972.
The first building of Holy Trinity Church was built in 1873 at the intersection of University Ave. and Main St. Later, it was moved here to serve as the St. Augustine Mission. It was bought in 1988 by the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, which had been founded on September 13, 1897, by Rev. W.G. Mayberry.
The Rising Sun Lodge #10, F.&A.M.P.H.A., was chartered in 1870 and built a meeting house in 1891. It and other fraternal organizations meet in the present lodge house, which was rebuilt in 1960.
Rev. R.E. Shivey founded this church, whose first building, erected in 1888, was destroyed by fire in 1911. It was replaced that year with the present concrete block Romanesque Revival sanctuary.
This was the site of the huge brick Ogletree Garage, which burned down on November 18, 1945.
Gainesville's first Seaboard Airline Station was located on SE 2nd St., and was replaced by the present one in 1949, located at 1120 E. University Ave. Atlantic Coast Line constructed its first station at the foot of Main St., then moved to this location. In 1948, ACL opened a new station to the west.
On August 23, 1954, First National Bank moved to this site. It later became Atlantic First National Bank, and later, First Union.
The Masonic Lodge organized on January 15, 1857, and first met in a room above the fire station at the corner of SW 2nd Ave. and SW 1st St., then moved to the Dutton Bank on W. University Ave. There were strong ties between the local Freemasons and the Jewish community, and Jewish High Holy Days services were held there. The Freemasons bought this site in 1903 and built the present temple, which was dedicated on April 28, 1909. Its cost, including furnishings, was $16,500.
On June 1, 1888, First National Bank of Gainesville opened its doors for the first time at this location. In 1954, it moved across the street and a little to the north. For a time, the passenger station of the Atlantic Coast Line was located here, with tracks that went north and south on Main St.
This Gothic Revival church was built in 1903-07 of limestone masonry, replacing a wooden church at the corner of University Ave. and Main St. This land was donated to the church by Dr. Porter. A 1950s hurricane damaged some of the stained glass windows, which were restored through the efforts of the women of the church. It was rebuilt after a 1991 fire.
James B. Dell and family lived here in a house that was constructed before 1887. It was later donated to the Holy Trinity Church and, in the 1970s, it was demolished.
Gainesville's first, three-story city hall was located here, built in 1927 for $68,950. It was demolished in 1968.
The controversial ballot box from Archer in the 1876 presidential election spent the night here, at the home of Col. E.F.C. Sanchez. It had been brought here by Evans Haile and Col. I.E. Webster.
In 1871, one of Gainesville's five practicing doctors was Dr. T.F. Thomas. He and his family lived here, in a building later converted to the Thomas-Williams Funeral Home.
On this site was the home of the Bishop family, used as a dormitory of the East Florida Seminary, later remodeled into the White House Hotel. While the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad had its tracks in Main St., passengers stopped here for meals before the train continued to the station. John G. Martin managed it during the 1940s.
Citizens Bank opened on December 3, 1947, and had its first office at 110 E. University Ave. In 1953, it sold that property to the city and bought this site, tearing down the hotel in 1962. It erected the present building at a cost of $430,000 in 1964. It became the home of Sun Bank, later known as SunTrust.
A Guide to National Register Sites in Florida, (Florida Department of State 1984)
A History of Gainesville, Florida, by Charles Halsey Hildreth (University of Florida 1954)
African Americans in Florida, by Maxine D. Jones and Kevin M. McCarthy (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1993)
Alachua County: A Sesquicentennial Tribute, by John B. Opdyke (The Alachua County Historical Commission 1974)
Alachua County Bicentennial Diary (1976)
Black Florida, by Kevin M. McCarthy (Hippocrene Books 1995)
The Eden of the South, by Carl Webber (Micanopy Publishing Co. 1995 reprint of 1883 material)
The First Baptist Church, Gainesville, Florida 1870-1970, by George C. Osborn (Storter Printing Co., Inc. 1971)
Florida Bed & Breakfast Guide, by Valerie C. Bondy (Queen of Hearts Publications 1995)
Florida Historical Markers & Sites, by Floyd E. Boone (Gulf Publishing Company 1988)
Florida Jewish Heritage Trail, by Rachel B. Heimovics and Marcia Zervitz (Florida Department of State 2000)
Florida's Eden: The Illustrated History of Alachua County, by John B. Pickard (Maupin House 1994)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida, by Samuel Proctor and Wright Langley (South Star Publishing Company 1986)
Guide to Florida Historical Walking Tours, by Roberta Sandler (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1996)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Historic Gainesville ... A Walking and Windshield Tour, by Historic Gainesville, Inc. (1983)
Historic Walk Around Downtown Gainesville, by Helen Cubberly Ellerbe (1969)
History of Alachua County 1824-1969, by Jess G. Davis (Alachua County Historical Commission 1969)
History of Gainesville, Florida 1854-1979, by Charles H. Hildreth and Merlin G. Cox (Alachua County Historical Society 1981)
History of Gainesville, Florida With Biographical Sketches of Families, by Jess G. Davis (1966)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.