I am coming up with older memorable pictures not yet in my blog or very little mention and they should be more , me think, After all, this blog is my life’s history, Nostalgia sets in and I came up with a wonderful town of my youth heydays with memories forever, I am remembering my fav places in my dear Florida USA, a State I lived for 18 yrs of my life, in addition to 4 years of University studies, Let me tell you a bit more about Gainesville !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The City of Gainesville is the seat of the Alachua county in Florida, The City is about two hours’ driving time from either Jacksonville or Orlando, three hours from Tampa, and six hours from either Atlanta or Miami. You have great roads as always by car here, The I-75 runs across the western edge of the city, with interchanges at SR 121/SR 331 (exit 382), SR 24 (exit 384), SR 26 (exit 387), and SR 222 (Exit 390), the US 441 is the main local north–south road through the city. It runs on the eastern edge of the University of Florida. It is known to locals as 13th Street,oh yes party area in my days there ! The one I took from Ormond Beach was the SR 17 , This run was done even at nights after dancing away from the US 1 to SR 100 at Bunnell to Palatka on SR17 and then the SR 20 to Gainesville at University Ave.
There is archeological evidence, from about 12,000 years ago, of the presence of Paleo Indians in the Gainesville area, A Deptford culture campsite existed in Gainesville and was estimated to have been used between 500 BC and 100 AC, The Deptford people moved south into Paynes Prairie and Orange Lake during the 1C and evolved into the Cades Pond culture. They deplaced by the 7C and these migrants evolved into the Alachua culture and they built their burial mound on top of the Deptford culture campsite. When Europeans made first contact in the area, the Potano lived in the area. They were descendants of the Alachua culture people Spanish colonists began cattle ranching in the Paynes Prairie area in the 18C. The Spanish ceded Florida to the USA in 1821.Gainesville was established in 1854 and named after Edmund P. Gaines (a Major General brevet of the US army) The town of Gainesville was incorporated in 1869 and chartered as a city in 1907, In the late 19C, Gainesville prospered as a shipping center for citrus fruits, strawberries, phosphate, and lumber. Today, most of its activities are based on the University of Florida.
Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, the fourth largest in the nation, and Santa Fe College, another major university. Another fact is that Tom Petty, singer and guitarist was born here 10/20/50. He passed away in October 2017, of a heart attack, He was famous with his group the Heartbreakers , The City is very artsy as with a huge university , you have annual festivals like the Downtown Festival & Art Show, Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, Spring Arts Festival, and The Festivals draw visitors from across the country and around the world.
The weekend trips to the Nichols Alley at 231 W University Ave disco/bar in 1976 later urban cowboy bar, and then gone by 1983, There was great escapades with lots of fun. I have an anecdote because I used to come here for more than football/soccer and met a girl from Michigan named N that was going to school there, We hit it off and dated for a while until if faded away as most did for me at that time, no commitments, I, also, played football/soccer against UF at Florida Field the Gator teams stadium ,tying except one time we won 2×1, I went back in my visit to the State in 2009 and took my family back there for the memories of always, the pics are the ticket office and main bldg entrance of old Florida Field !
I like to note in this post some of the spots that were or would be nice to see while in Gainesville.
The Stephen C. O’Connell Center, also known as the O’Dome, is a 10,500-seat] multi-purpose arena located on the University of Florida campus is the home arena of several of the university’s Florida Gators intercollegiate sports teams,
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (in full Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium), popularly known as “The Swamp”, is the American football stadium on the campus of the University of Florida, and the home field of the Florida Gators football team. It was originally known as Florida Field (as I knew it played in) when it opened as a 22,000-seat facility in 1930, and it has been expanded and renovated many times over the ensuing decades
The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens (62 acres, 25 hectares) is a botanical garden operated by the North Florida Botanical Society. The name for the garden comes from the nearby 250-acre Lake Kanapaha. “Kanapaha” originating from two Timucua words for “palmetto leaves” and “house”, The gardens were established in 1978 and opened to the public in 1986. The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens contain Florida’s largest public bamboo gardens and the largest herb garden in the Southeast USA.
The Hippodrome Theatre or The Hipp is a regional professional theatre in downtown Gainesville, It was founded in 1973 by local actors, The Gainesville Raceway is a quarter-mile dragstrip just outside the city. It opened in 1969 and is most famous for hosting the NHRA‘s prestigious Gatornationals event since 1970.
The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art is an art museum at the University of Florida in Gainesville It is in the UF Cultural Plaza area in the southwest part of campus.The Harn is a 112,800-square-foot facility, making it one of the largest university art museums in the South. This includes 40,400 square feet of exhibition space, 5 garden spaces, a 250-seat auditorium, a museum store, a study center, a café, and classroom spaces. The museum has a permanent collection and an array of temporary exhibitions. The Harn’s permanent collection totals more than 11,300 objects, which are focused on Asian, African, modern and contemporary art, as well as photography.
The Baughman Center consists of two buildings located along Lake Alice on the University of Florida campus. The main building is a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) nondenominational chapel or pavilion, while the other one is an 1,000-square-foot (93 m2) administrative building. The chapel has seating for 96 people and is used for silent meditation, private contemplation, weddings, funerals and memorial services as well as a venue for small musical or performing arts events
The Historic Haile Homestead, also known as Haile Plantation House or Kanapaha, is a historic site and museum It is located at 8500 SW Archer Rd. SR 24. The Homestead is unique in the Nation for its “Talking Walls.” For a reason lost to time the Haile family and friends wrote over 12,500 words on the walls, dating back to the 1850s.
The Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) is Florida‘s official state-sponsored and chartered natural-history museum. Its main facilities are located at 3215 Hull Road on the campus of the University of Florida The main public exhibit facility, Powell Hall and the attached McGuire Center, is located in the Cultural Plaza, which it shares with the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art and the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The main research facility and former public exhibits building, Dickinson Hall, is located on the east side of campus at the corner of Museum Road and Newell Drive
The Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention is a museum that has a mission “to transform communities by inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries.] The museum is named after Robert Cade, the lead inventor of Gatorade, and reflects his view of combining science and art in a manner of “purposeful creativity
The Thomas Center, formerly known as Hotel Thomas and Sunkist Villa, is an historic building built starting in 1910 in the Classical Revival style
The Gainesville tourist office on its heritage : https://www.visitgainesville.com/explore/arts-culture/
The City of Gainesville on its heritage : https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Community-Pages/Community/About-Gainesville
There you go folks, even if pictures are few as in those days were not onto picture taking more important the memories lingered forever, This is my youthful life in Gainesville, Florida. It seems far away now as my last visit was in 2009 to visit my Aunt and cousins who lives there ! Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 