Spanish explorers traversed what is now Alachua County as early as 1529. Gainesville and the University had their separate beginnings in 1853, when the first state college (the East Florida Seminary) was founded in Ocala, and the Alachua County Commission decided to move the county seat and build a new one on the route to be taken by the Florida Railroad. The new city was named for General Edmund Gaines, captor of Aaron Burr and victorious commander in the Second Seminole War. The state college, after several moves, was merged with the Florida Agricultural College of Lake City to form the University of Florida, which moved to Gainesville the following year. The present urban population of the city is more than 85,000.

Economic ties between the University and the city and county are close. The University is the principal employer, and it is also involved in the most profitable business of the area - agriculture. At least since the sixteenth century, when the Spanish made the area the hub of their cattle ranching, Alachua County has been a main center for agriculture in Florida. Cattle and dairy products, poultry, vegetables, tobacco, corn, and timber produce the greatest revenue. Several state and federal agricultural agencies have headquarters in Gainesville, and the whole state is served by the University's Institute of Food and Agriculture Sciences through its research and education centers.

Many of the pleasures of living in the Gainesville area are water-related. The beaches of both coasts (quite different) are easily accessible. But it is not necessary to leave Alachua County to enjoy fishing, swimming, sailing, and similar sports. Of its 965 square miles, more than one in twenty is covered in water.

Many springs are within easy reach of Gainesville. These springs and the lakes and rivers they feed have exceptionally clear, cool water, and (usually) a white sandy floor. Some (such as Silver Springs at Ocala, about 40 miles south of Gainesville) have been developed into fullblown tourist attractions, with underwater viewing galleries for fish watchers, cruises in glass-bottomed boats, and water shows of various kinds. Other springs are virtually undiscovered. Many afford opportunities for camping, swimming, canoeing, and underwater exploration. It is not uncommon for divers to find fossils or Indian artifacts. Tubing (drifting downriver on an inner tube) can be enjoyed on the spring-fed Ichetucknee River. For naturalists the terrain is especially rich in interest.

There is a 280-acre wildlife sanctuary within Gainesville itself. The Morningside Nature Center has a permanent staff of naturalists and a varied program of activities, from natural history, farm, and folklore courses to nature walks, craft workshops, and special events such as an old-fashioned Fourth of July.

The 57 acre Bivens Arm Nature Park is also within the city limits. This preserve and Morningside Nature Center are managed by the Gainesville Department of Cultural and Nature Operations, which also coordinates outdoor and indoor activities at locations throughout the city.

Headquarters of this city department is the Thomas Center, a building of considerable interest to architects and historians; in its pattern of growth it has been described as a microcosm of Gainesville itself. A lively calendar of cultural events keeps the Thomas Center and its gardens busy year round.

Gainesville has a number of drama groups. The Acrosstown Repertory Theatre performs in the historic Baird Center, and the Constans Theatre on the UF campus is the home of the University's Florida Players. The Gainesville Community Playhouse is headquarters for community theater in Gainesville, and the Hippodrome, with a fine professional company, is one of Florida's three state theaters. This handsome, Beaux Artes style building, formerly the Gainesville post office, now contains a main theater, a smaller cinema theater, and gallery space for art exhibits. The new 1800 seat University of Florida Center for the Performing Arts, on the western edge of the campus, is the area's major concert and theater space for touring and local talent.

The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, adjacent to the Center for the Performing Arts, is a stunning new regional art center. Art galleries in Gainesville also include three in the Thomas Center, the University Gallery, and several other galleries and exhibition areas on campus. Santa Fe Community College has a Gallery of Art and sponsors the Spring Arts Festival in downtown Gainesville, one of the best of its kind in the Southeast. The Gainesville Fine Arts Association sponsors shows at the Thomas Center and in area shopping malls. There are several commercial galleries and the Artisans' Guild, a nonprofit cooperative for local artists and craftspersons.

There is plenty of opportunity for doing as well as looking. The county and the community college cooperate in offering noncredit courses, held in locations all over the city, many of them in the evening. There are a number of public golf courses and tennis and racquetball courts in Gainesville, as well as those on the UF campus. The city is well supplied with restaurants and movie theaters. The University provides Gainesville with major collegiate spectator sports, and the Gatornational drag races held each spring draw large crowds.

The City of Gainesville sponsors a guest artist series and music and performing arts series for local performers and companies at the Thomas Center. The University's Department of Music offers local musicians opportunities to participate in its performing groups, which range from the symphony orchestra to jazz combos. Touring professional performers and productions are brought to Gainesville by Student Government and other organizations. At the Reitz Union, Madrigal Dinners are given each December in conjunction with the Department of Music.>p> Gainesville is served by more than 15 radio stations, including WUFT-FM, a classical music station. There are two local commercial television channels, and WUFT is the University-owned public television channel. Cable television gives access to over 30 channels. The Gainesville Sun is the local newspaper, and there are several student newspapers, the main one being the Independent Florida Alligator.

Gainesville is the home of the Florida Museum of Natural History, a good starting place for those who want to know more about Alachua County and to explore beyond as well as within it. It is located on the University campus. The Matheson Historical Center serves as the Alachua county museum and archives. Paynes Prairie State Preserve, Devil's Millhopper State Geological Site, and San Felasco Hammock State Preserve afford opportunities to get close to nature without leaving the boundaries of the county.

Within a radius of about 100 miles of Gainesville there are places of interest of all kinds. Beginning with the Okefenokee Swamp (north of Gainesville) and going clockwise, one may visit Jacksonville (with its big-city amenities and beaches), St. Augustine (the oldest city in the United States, established by the Spanish in 1565), Marineland, the Kennedy Space Center, Disney World and EPCOT (surely the state's best-known tourist attraction), and Cedar Key, the picturesque fishing village that was the western terminus of the railroad to which Gainesville owes its existence. At Cross Creek, close to Gainesville, the home of author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings is preserved as a museum.

Because of its hospitals and the University, Gainesville is the state's main center for medical research and treatment. It has four hospitals: Shands Teaching Hospital, the Veterans Administration Hospital, Alachua General Hospital, and North Florida Regional Medical Center. There are also clinics and nursing homes, and over 450 physicians and surgeons and 100 dentists in private practice.

There are about 100 churches in Gainesville and 15 student chapels and religious centers near campus.

The largest educational institutions in Gainesville are the University, with an enrollment of 35,000, and Santa Fe Community College, with four campuses and an enrollment of more than 12,000. The Alachua County School Board is responsible for 23 elementary, 6 middle, and 6 high schools. There are also more than a dozen private schools and the P. K. Yonge Laboratory School (K-12), which operated in association with the University's College of Education.

Travel to and from Gainesville is easy. The main highways are Interstate 75, U.S. 441, and U.S. 301. The Gainesville Regional Airport is served by five airlines - Delta, USAir, USAir Express, Comair, and Atlantic Southeast. There is an Amtrack rail depot close by, at Waldo. Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound. Within the city a 10-route, half-hourly bus service operates on weekdays, with hourly service on Saturdays.

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