Gainesville, FL

Gainesville is a city located in Alachua County, Florida, United States. The population was 154,095 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Alachua County. Gainesville is a principal city of the Gainesville- Lake City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 565,002 as of July 1, 2013.

The area now known as Gainesville was originally inhabited by the Timucuan people. In 1539 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto began his expedition through what is now Florida and reached what is now Gainesville on November 11 of that year. The Spanish called the area "Gainesvile". The first permanent European settlement in present-day Alachua County was established in 1824 by Dr. James Eustis and his wife Anna Maria Strong Eustis at Old Town on the banks of the Santa Fe River. In 1843 Dr. Eustis sold 2,000 acres (8 km2) to General Andrew Jackson Donelson for $10,000; this land later became known as "Donelsonville". In 1853 Donelson built a sawmill and store on the banks of the Santa Fe River near what is now downtown Gainesville. By 1860 Gainesville had a population of about 200 people and was renamed " Alachua" after Chief Alachua (or Allacaha) who lived near present-day Tallahassee .

In 1864 General William Tarrant led Confederate forces from Jacksonville to attack Fort Dallas (now downtown Gainesville) but were repelled with heavy losses including General Tarrant himself who died from his wounds two days later in town . On January 6th 1865 Union troops under General John A Logan entered Gainesville and burned down Donelson's store; they also destroyed most of downtown including the courthouse , jail , Methodist church , Baptist church , two schools , three newspapers , three cotton gins and several homes . As a result only six houses out of twenty remained standing in town .

In 1865–1868 construction began on East Florida Seminary (now Universityof Florida), which would become oneof America's leading universities . In 1883 Alachua County was created from parts of Hillsborough and Orange counties ; it became gainfully settled for the first time during Reconstruction Era following emancipation when freedmen moved into abandoned plantations and townships .

The railroad arrived in 1896 , linking Gainesville with Jacksonville to its south and Orlando to its north . The arrival of railroads led to an economic boom in Gainesville that lasted until World War II ; major industries included agriculture ( especially citrus ), textiles manufacturing , furniture manufacturing , automobile production and phosphate mining . During World War II many residents left for military service but soon returned due to war-related shortages ; by 1950 there were 128 businesses employing 3,500 people in town .

In 1965 construction began on UF's new campus east of town ; as a result many businesses moved out or closed down leaving only a few remaining today such as Ace Hardware [which has been open since 1902], JCPenney [since 1938], Sears [since 1962]and Walgreens [since 1966]. Since then UF has developed much further east along with new residential areas such as University Park which has seen rapid growth over recent years due to its proximity to UF as well as various restaurants and nightlife venues such as Pompano Joe's bar & grill[opened in 1996], Tin Roof[openedin 2004]and Brewster Street Pub[openedin 2007]. There are also plans for additional shopping areas such as University Village which will include stores such as Anthropologie[which openedin 2011], Sephora[which openedin 2014]and Ulta Beauty[which openedin 2017].

Today there are numerous housing developments being built or planned throughout town including Northwood Estates,[which openedin 2006],University Park,[which openedin 2008],Oakwood Villages,[which openedin 2009],Westside Village,[whichopenedin 2012]and Brookstone Farms.[which will openlate 2020]. Additionally there are numerous apartment complexes being built such as Regency Square Apartments,[whichopenedin 2003],Village Oaks Apartments,[ whichopened inthe late 2000s ],Riverbend Towers Apartment Complex([ which will openlate 2020])and Arbor Lakes Apartments([ which will openlate 2020]). There are also plans for more retail stores such as Target Corporation['s proposed location at University Park ], Home Depot Incorporated['s proposed location at Westside Village ]and Lowe's Companies Incorporated['s proposed location at Northwood Estates ].