Alachua

Alachua
	County and state location
Basic data
Foundation :	1884
State :	United States
State :	Florida
County :	Alachua County
Coordinates :	29 ° 47 ′ N , 82 ° 29 ′ W Coordinates: 29 ° 47 ′ N , 82 ° 29 ′ W
Time zone :	Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 )
Inhabitants : ; - Metropolitan Area :	9,059 (as of 2010); 243,985
Population density :	120.5 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	75.2 km 2 (about 29 mi 2 )
Height :	28 m
Postcodes :	32615, 32616
Area code :	+1 001386
FIPS :	12-00375
GNIS ID :	0307629
Website :	www.cityofalachua.com
Mayor :	Give Coerper

Alachua is a city in Alachua County in the US state of Florida with 9059 inhabitants (as of 2010).

geography

Alachua is bordered by the towns of Gainesville and High Springs . The city is about 100 km southwest of Jacksonville .

history

Alachua is an Indian word and means "the basin". It referred to the landscape of the place as it used to be: under huge oaks, magnolias, cedars and hickory trees. The story of Alachua cannot be told without also telling the story of another small town nearby, Newnansville . The two settlements were closely linked in earlier history. By 1800 Alachua County was a wild country, inhabited and ruled by the Seminole Indians . Indian raids were almost normal in the area. In 1818 a settlement known today as Newnansville was established.

In 1824 a treaty was signed that induced the Seminoles to move further south and vacate the country. In early 1826 the first post office was established, roads were built, shops and warehouses were created, and populated land began to exist. This area was then called "Dell's Post". A historical document also refers to “Dell's courthouse”. In 1814 a land grant office was set up offering land to the early colonists, provided they promised to live off the land and the farm and keep the Indians off. The name "Dell's Post" or "Dell's Courthouse" was changed and officially registered by the state legislature to "Newnansville" in honor of the patriot and war hero, Daniel Newnan. Alachua was one of the largest counties at the time. The area has lost a considerable amount of size over time.

Newnansville was a transportation hub for several major roads through early Florida. During the Second Seminole War (1835–1842) hundreds of dispersed colonists were protected there and at Fort Gilleland . There were eight forts in Alachua County for the protection of whites against the Indians between 1835 and 1855, but since Alachua County was much larger at the time, these were far too few. When the war ended, Newnansville became a trading center for an area that was beginning to grow, largely due to large numbers of refugee colonists. Newnansville and the surrounding area were the most populous area in Alachua County in fifty years. More than a third of the electorate lived in Newnansville in 1857, which was a county seat until 1854, when the railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key was built and bypassed the place to the east without being connected to the railroad. To use the rail link, the US land office was moved to Gainesville, as was the county administration. The city of Newnansville was no longer a center and fell into insignificance over the next 30 years.

In 1884, when the Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad moved their railroad about 2 km to the south, the former colonists also moved their businesses closer to the new town of Alachua, which was established as a supply base for the railroad. Newnansville was slowly becoming a city of the past and being forgotten. In March 1885 it was thanks to FE Williams that the new town received a permanent railway depot and thus a train station and a post office, which began work on April 30, 1887. A hotel and several shops followed, as well as a flour mill. Even then, a reporter for the "Advocate" wrote: "... Alachua will completely devour the Newansville trade ...". His prediction came true.

Another railway line was built in 1899 by the Jacksonville and Southwestern Railway from Jacksonville via Alachua to Newberry .

On April 12, 1905, the place Alachua was officially added with a population of 526 people. In 1912 the place had three hotels: the "Sheffield Hotel", the "Transient House" and a second "Transient House". In 1914, Alachua had two banks, three hotels, several warehouses and shops, a well-stocked department store, an ice cream factory, an electricity company, a waterworks, two cotton processing plants, two mills and a beverage company that bottled their products. In 1913 the supply of electrical light began and the waterworks went into operation. Electricity was $ 1 per month for the first 300 watts and $ 1.25 for 300–500 watts. The cost of the water supply was $ 1 a month for the main connection and 25 cents for each additional connection.

In 1915 the new congregation of Alachua had two churches, one for Baptist and one for Methodist. The local Presbyterians held their own services in the Baptist Church. The school building stood on a hill in the northeast of the city. At first there were seven teachers for the school, which at first only consisted of one class with two boys and one girl. But the school grew and in 1924 the "Alachua basketball team" won the tournament over "Duval High School" in Jacksonville , and in nearby Gainesville people became aware that the "Florida Gators" were like them from now on would attract national attention. In 1925 Alachua already had 1,100 inhabitants, two banks and all three religions now had their own church. Recently there was also a hand-switched telephone connection to the outside world. In the years that followed, the cityscape changed radically when the first cars, the Ford T-models , rolled into town.

In the 1930s, like the rest of the country, the Great Depression struck and banks closed or went bankrupt. But since the rural type of the place remained and he had a good relationship with the farmers in the area, there was always enough to eat and the need was limited. After the Great Depression, Alachua continued to grow. In 1950 there were 1116, 1960 1974 and 1970 2252 inhabitants. In 1990 the population had already risen to 4,529.

Religions

In Alachua there are currently 13 different churches with 5 different denominations, of which the Baptist congregation is most strongly represented with 8 churches (status: 2004).

Demographic data

According to the 2010 census, the then 9,059 inhabitants were distributed to 4,037 households. The population density was 120.5 inh / km². 72.0% of the population identified themselves as whites , 21.4% as African-Americans , 0.4% as Indians and 2.2% as Asian Americans . 1.8% said they belonged to another ethnic group and 2.2% to several ethnic groups. 6.9% of the population was made up of Hispanics or Latinos .

In 2010 children under the age of 18 lived in 33.5% of all households and persons aged 65 or over lived in 24.6% of all households. 70.1% of the households were family households (consisting of married couples with or without offspring or one parent with offspring). The average household size was 2.50 people and the average family size was 2.97 people.

26.8% of the population were younger than 20 years, 23.9% were 20 to 39 years old, 28.7% were 40 to 59 years old, and 20.4% were at least 60 years old. The mean age was 40 years. 46.7% of the population were male and 53.3% were female.

The median annual income was $ 62,730, with 13.4% of the population living below the poverty line.

In 2000, English was the first language of 96.88% of the population and 3.13% spoke Spanish .

Attractions

The City of Alachua Downtown Historic District and Newnansville Town Site are listed on the National Register of Historic Places .

economy

There is no industry worth mentioning. The main branches of employment are: education, health and social affairs: (16.6%), trade / retail: (15.6%), finance, insurance and real estate: (3.0%), construction: (10.1%) .

schools

Alachua Elementary School
W. w. Irby Elementary School
A. l. Mebane Middle School
Santa Fe High School, approximately 1200 students

education

There are no further educational opportunities in the village itself. The following institutes, within a radius of 150 km, are available:

Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville, 15 km away, approximately 7,900 students
University of Florida at Gainesville, 15 km away, approximately 41,500 students
Saint Johns River Community College in Ocala , 75 km away, approximately 2500 students
Florida Community College in Jacksonville , 110 km away, approximately 10,500 students
University of Nort Florida at Jacksonville, 110 km away, approximately 9200 students
Vladosta State University in Vladosta , about 150 km away, about 7100 students.

Clinics

The city itself does not have a clinic. For medical treatments that require an outpatient or inpatient stay, residents must visit one of the surrounding clinics:

Shands Hospital at the University of Florida at Gainesville , approximately 9 miles away
North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville, 11 miles away
Ramadan Hand Institute in Lake Butler , approximately 25 km away.