Alachua

Formed February 29, 1824 (7^th county)

Alachua County (278,475), Gainesville (141,079)

The 1978 courthouse is a tan brick and masonry Modern style building.  It is located on Florida State Highway 329 on Main Avenue between 1^st and 3^rd streets.  Craig, Balley and Associates are the designers.  There were 1885 and 1958 versions of the courthouse.  There is a 2004 Justice Center in Gainesville.  Veteran memorials are in the middle of the city.  St. Augustine and Newnansville were earlier county seats.  Gainesville became the county seat in 1854.  The county was founded on February 29, 1824 from parts of Duval and St. Johns counties as the 7^th county.  The county is Native American for “grassy” or “sinkhole.”  Gainesville is named for General Edmund Pendleton Gaines. 

Alachua County government consists of a manager, sheriff, and appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twelve Circuit Court Judges serve Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy, and Union counties and Five County Court Judges, clerk, and county attorney serve Alachua County (judicial.) The county is situated in north central Florida southwest of Jacksonville, Florida and northeast of Tampa, Florida.  The center of the county is 5.8 miles Northwest of Gainesville.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Bradford, Union, Putnam, Marion, Levy, Gilchrist, and Columbia counties. 

The area of the county is 874 square miles.  It is 22 out of 67 counties in the state.  It ranks 23 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 318.6 persons per square mile making it 23 out of 67 in the state.  Alachua County has 60.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 crosses north to south from Columbia County to Marion County.  United States Highway 27 crosses the west part of the county north to south, Columbia County to Levy County.  United States Highway 41 is joined with United States Highway 27 from Columbia County to Levy County.  United States Highway 301 goes north to south in the eastern part of the county, Bradford County to Marion County.  United States Highway 441 parallels Interstate Highway 75 from Columbia County to Marion County.  The county is overall shaped like a bowl of popcorn to two feet on the bottom of the bowl.  Gainesville is near the center of county.  Gainesville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 50.7% of the county population.  The county is pronounced AL-A-CHAW.  This county is in the Gainesville Metropolitan Statistical Area.