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B−History
History · Alachua

Alachua dates to 1884, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #78 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 102 buildings. Most of Alachua was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1996. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1966 on, and the census since 1910.

1884founded
2on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alachua’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alachua began

When was Alachua founded?

1884

Alachua dates its founding to 1884 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 610 in 19102020 census: 10,574142 years

How historic is Alachua?

B−

More historic than 48% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1837.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Alachua’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Alachua is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #78 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Alachua’s overall grade.
Founding era1884, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19401.7% of homes (±1.7) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 103 historic buildings, 95.9 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 48%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 88%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Alachua’s 95.9 sits above most of its state (94% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 103 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B+. The pre-1940 share (±1.7 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1884.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Alachua’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A historic districtThe City of Alachua Downtown Historic District takes in 102 historic buildings.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Alachua, and 5 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alachua’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alachua’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAlachua Main Street 1910: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

2 listings protect 103 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
103
each building in a district counts
first listed
2000
City of Alachua Downtown Historic District
City of Alachua Downtown Historic DistrictStephens House, built 1900
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Frame Vernacular1
Late Victorian1
Queen Anne1
Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Colonial Revival1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century Movements1
City of Alachua Downtown Historic DistrictFrame Vernacular
Stephens HouseBuilt 1900

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Alachua’s post office has been open since 1887. Another post office, Newnansville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Newnansville
1837–1895
Alachua
1887–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Autumn Leaves Mobile Home ParkBonners Mobile Home ParkBurnetts LakeNewnansvilleSpring Hill
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Alachua
CathcartOld Thomas

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Alachua came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alachua.

Read it all →

Evidence of habitation by pre-historic Paleo-Indians exists in several documented locations within the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park. In the historic era, the primary town for the Potano tribe that lived throughout North Central Florida also was within San Felasco. This town became the site of the first Spanish doctrina (mission with a resident priest) in the Florida interior in 1606, Mission San Francisco de Potano, and it was the last to be abandoned by the Spanish in the early 1700s due to raids instigated by the British. Nearby to the north along the Santa Fe River was another mission, Santa Fe de Toloca, which was part of the mission chain stretching from St. Augustine to Pensacola.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alachua, 1837 to 1966

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Newnansville post office opens
  3. 1884
    FoundingAlachua is established
  4. 1887Post officeThe Alachua post office opens
  5. 1895Post officeThe Newnansville post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1900BuiltStephens House is built
  8. 1910In the archiveAlachua Main Street 1910
  9. 1966On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alachua, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Alachua Main Street 1910c. 1910Alachua Main Street 1910
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Cropped-Main-St-5-2016-3-scaled-1-1536x4802016Cropped-Main-St-5-2016-3-scaled-1-1536x480City of Alachua historical marker2016City of Alachua historical markerWater Tower2014Water TowerAerial of Progress Corporate Park2009Aerial of Progress Corporate ParkFLMap-doton-Alachua2004FLMap-doton-Alachua
On the map

Alachua on the map, 1966 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alachua. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alachua on the 1966 USGS mapAlachua on the 1981 USGS mapAlachua on the 1993 USGS map1966Alachua sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alachua.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Alachua Main Street 1910
Retake this viewAlachua Main Street 1910, c. 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Alachua’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Alachua, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00019201940196019802000202010,574

Grew from 610 people in 1910 to 10,574 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alachua’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

High Springs1 historic placeBGainesville44 historic placesB−

Questions about Alachua’s history

What year was Alachua founded?

In 1884, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Alachua’s post office opened in 1837, and the census of 1910 counted 610 people here.

How does Alachua rank for history?

Alachua is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #78 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Alachua?

Two places: the City of Alachua Downtown Historic District (listed 2000) and the Stephens House (2017).

How old are the homes in Alachua?

2% of Alachua’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.7 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1996.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.