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About Marion County |
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| When the US Government acquired Florida
in 1821, scouts were sent to survey the peninsula. They found that
there was a vast population of Seminole and Timucuan Indians. The
government wanted to populate the Florida peninsula with white
settlements, but the Seminole Indians were a major obstacle. In 1825,
the government created an agency to oversee the Seminoles, in what would
become Marion County. |
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Fort King |
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| Due to the animosity caused by
relocating the Seminoles out of north Florida, conflicts increased
between the whites and Seminoles. A military outpost was established by
the U.S. Army to protect the northern boundary of the Indian reservation
created by the U.S. Two companies of the U.S. Fourth Infantry under
Capt. James M. Glassell explored the area, and camped on a site near
present-day Fort King Street and Northeast 36th Avenue. The site was
called Cantonment King, or Camp King, in honor of the detachment's
former commander, Col. William King. Fort King was a central location
during the Second Seminole War. |
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Marion County Is Formed |
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| Pioneers in Marion County came to the area for free
land offered under the Armed Occupation Act during the 1840s. Six
military roads converged on Fort King, making it an obvious meeting
place. Soon a store, a post office, the county's first courthouse, and a
church sprang up near the fort. There were no homes, however, because a
provision of the Armed Occupation Act outlawed any personal dwellings
within two miles of the fort. As a result, log cabins were scattered
throughout the dense, uncleared woodlands. Between 1842 and 1844, the county was still a part of Alachua, Mosquito (Orange) and Hillsborough counties. The closest county seat was in Alachua, a difficult 50 miles from Fort King. As a result, early settlers began to get restless for a new county. Gabriel Priest, the first state senator from Marion, represented Alachua County when he introduced the bill to create the new county. The territorial legislative council authorized the formation of Marion County, and the law was signed by Richard Keith Call, the territorial governor, on March 25, 1844. The following are brief histories of the five incorporated cities of Marion County. |
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City of Ocala |
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| Families wanting the
protection of Fort King had settled around a nearby spring as early as
1837. Today the spring flows through culverts under the Ocala
Lincoln-Mercury parking lot just south of the downtown square. After Marion County was formed, efforts began to choose a new, permanent county seat to replace the temporary quarters in Fort King. The county commission passed a resolution on February 19, 1846, declaring that the "county seat of this county shall be known as Ocala " and designating the settlement around the spring. |
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City of Belleview |
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| The City of Belleview was named by John
P. Pelot for his daughter Belle. Pelot was an early settler who owned
most of the land in the area. Located in the southern end of Marion
County, it was incorporated as a city in 1885. Although Belleview is
less than two square miles in size, it is located in the hub of growth,
with the city of Ocala to the north and The Villages to the south.
Belleview is the county's second largest city with approximately 3,500
residents. |
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City of Dunnellon |
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| What began as seven small farming communities boomed in 1889 with the discovery of phosphate in the area. A period of prosperity followed and the town developed a railroad, school, post office, electric lights, connected water and a wooden bridge over the Withlacoochee River. Native vegetation and wildlife, scenic nature trails and tranquil gardens, Dunnellon has plenty of the natural beauty typical of the region. Surrounded by two beautiful rivers (the Withlacoochee and the Rainbow) and steeped in a proudly preserved history, Dunnellon embodies Old Florida character and charm. |
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City of McIntosh |
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| Twenty miles north of Ocala on U.S. 441
near the Alachua County border, is the city of McIntosh. This small town
(just over 400 residents) is a quaint, turn-of-the century village, and
is located on the shores of Orange Lake, so named for the grove of wild
oranges which sprang, some say, from seeds discarded by Spanish
explorers 400 years ago. |
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City of Reddick |
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| Several towns, including Reddick, were
developed along the Florida Southern railroad route in 1880. Reddick was
named after John M. Reddick, a planter who attracted the railroad with
an offer of land. North of Ocala on Route 25A, the city of Reddick is in
the northwest corner of the county and is known for its natural beauty
and surrounding horse farms. The noticeable growth in other areas of the
county seems to have touched Reddick lightly, much to the pleasure of
many residents. |
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Special thanks to Bettie Debary of the Marion County Museum of History
for her contributions. If you would like to learn more about Marion County's history then please visit the Marion County Museum of History located in the McPherson Complex. Call Bettie DeBary for tours and hours at 694-2529 |