Alachua is one of Florida’s older counties, dating to territorial times (1824). The name is of even older origin. It is Creek for "jug" or "sinkhole," in keeping with the area’s unique geology featuring numerous large sinkholes and caves including the famous "Devil’s Millhopper." The Alachua sink was in the vicinity of Payne’s Prairie, a vast open expanse south of Gainesville. In antebellum times this prairie was covered with water and plied by steamboats, but it drained when the sinkhole opened.
Among the earlier settlements in Alachua County was "Hog Town," which grew up in the early 1800's around a trading post. When Senator David Levy Yulee constructed a railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key, Hog Town residents felt a more euphonious name was in order and eventually decided upon Gainesville in honor of General Edmund P. Gaines, a veteran of the Seminole wars.

In 1853 Gainesville replaced Newnansville as the county seat. Until 1828 residents had attended superior court in St. Augustine, St. Johns County. Thereafter, Newnansville served as headquarters not only for Alachua but for several surrounding counties as well. Until boundaries were readjusted, Newnansville was briefly located in Columbia County.

 
The current courthouse was constructed in 1975

Home of Shands Hospital. A teaching and research hospital.

College- University of Florida