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~ Newnansville ~

Newnansville was originally settled by the Dell brothers and called Dell's Post Office about 1818. The town became the county seat and renamed Newnansville in 1824, after Daniel Newnan, a Patriot War hero, and became the biggest metropolis in range to St. Augustine. They constructed a post office on the Bellamy Avenue in 1826, called Dell's, which became the nucleus of the new settlemen. There was a Methodist Church, school, hotel, courthouse, and Fort Gilleland. At one time the nearly the entire voting population of Alachua County, which was much larger then, could be found in Newnansville. Michael N. Garrison, one of the surveyors that laid out the City lots of Newnansville, is buried in the Newnansville. Newnansville was once a thriving town that was founded approximately two years after the founding of Alachua County itself. The city’s key spot on the Bellamy road, Federal Land Office and U.S. Army Fort Gilliland kept the area developing for many years.When the railroad came through from Fernandina to Cedar Key it stopped in a small area called "Hog Town". This would later become Gainesville, home of the University of Florida. The courthouse was moved to Gainesville. Eventually a RR spur would come near but not near enough and create the town of Alachua. The remaining businesses moved near the RR and shortly Newnansville would be a ghost town, 1890. There were some homes remaining from the original town but are gone now. The cemetery still bears the name of Newnansville and the graves carry the names of those early residents who lived and died there. There is also a Black Cemetery in the rear. A Historical Marker marks the original spot of the town. Submitted in part by: Mike Woodfin

Newnansville_Alachua County Map_1880

Old Bellamy Road

After Florida was ceded to the United States by Spain, the need for an improved road connecting the two early cities quickly became apparent. Congress appropriated money for the project and placed the work under the supervision of the U.S. Army.Captain Daniel Burch, the officer assigned to direct the project, decided to contract out the section east of the Apalachicola River, while the army itself built the stretch west of the river.On December 18, 1824, John Bellamy entered a bid to build the section of the new road between the St. John's River near St. Augusting and the Ochlockonee River near the new territorial capital of Tallahassee. He could complete the project, he believed, for $13,500.The bid was accepted and in early 1825 work began on laying out, clearing and building the road Construction moved forward quickly and by June Captain Burch was able to report that Bellamy (who also spelled his name "Bellame") had made significant progress: Before the construction of the road, Indian trails were used for travel, but those were often narrow and overgrown with nature since they were meant for pedestrians, not horses and wagons. Congress required that the road be 25 feet wide — wide enough for two wagons to pass each other — and have a strip of grass in the middle for horses and oxen to graze.

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Eli Futch's Newnansville home built prior to December 1861 as James T. Futch was born here on December 21, 1861

Eli Futch

Fort Gilliland - The Territory of Florida

Fort Gilliland, Newnansville 1837-1838, Alachua. An Army post, Alachua County, Florida. April 1, 1838 to a Dr. Isaac Garrarone. The receipt is in reference to the hiring of a wagon team and driver to transport goods between forts for the 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment in operation against the Seminole Indians from April 1 to September 1, 1838.

Fort Newnansville (1835 - unknown), Newnansville (now Alachua). A refugee settlers' fort. Probably the fortified county courthouse, along with the county jail, which was converted into a blockhouse.

Newnansville Cemetery

Joe Hancock, president of the Alachua Chamber of Commerce, comes to the cemetery often. His interest in history led him to spend afternoons poring over the tombstones. The cemetery is full of hidden gems, Hancock said. The cemetery especially holds much of Florida's war history, as many Union and Confederate soldiers are buried at the site, grouped in families with the oldest families towards the back of the cemetery. "A curved top (of the tombstone) means a Union soldier, pointed means Confederate," Hancock said.