Gainesville, the cultural, economic, and educational center for the north-central Florida area, is a city with a rich history. A community proud of its heritage and history, Gainesville is a great city to serve in the green industry.
While the list of cool and exciting things about Gainesville could stretch miles, we are going to cover just a few of the most fascinating facts.
History Lesson
We’ll start the story of Gainesville with the place where every good story starts – the beginning. Evidence found in the area suggests that over 12,000 years ago – too far? Ok.
About 30 years after the United States took possession of Florida, the little town of Gainesville was given a name in 1854. Where did the name “Gainesville” come from, anyway?
Edmund Gaines, a highly decorated Army Major General, played a significant role while the Army was just getting its start. For all you Hamilton fans out there, this General was the one who detained Aaron Burr after his treasonous act and provided testimony at his trial. While there are many places throughout the country named for Gaines, our Florida Gainesville is the most known.
The process of becoming a major city like Gainesville is not a fast one. It took over 50 years from its inception to become an actual city in 1907. What started as a small town, bordered by the vast and wild Paynes Prairie, is now a metropolis around the same size as Houston, TX.
Gainesville is in a fantastic centralized location to many other major metropolises like Jacksonville, Orlando, Tallahassee – it’s even not too terribly far from places like Atlanta or Miami!
Welcome to the (Sub)Tropical Weather
Florida’s humid. That’s it, that’s the section. Just kidding – there are some really neat weather and topography facts about Gainesville.
Gainesville is technically described as a humid subtropical area. What makes this somewhat unique is that Gainesville is not on an island. It’s strictly inland. That makes a subtropical climate a little unusual.
Our warmer season mirrors the majority of Florida in being very hot and humid. For a solid six months of the year, we get temperatures mainly in the 80s and 90s, and it’s wet, like, all the time. Our afternoons are often spent undercover as severe thunder, and lightning storms ravage our area for a couple of hours.
Our “colder” months are where we tend to differentiate ourselves from most of the rest of the state. The Gainesville temps are a decent bit lower than the rest of the state – we have many nights spent at freezing temperatures.
We even have what Northerners call “freezes,” which can do a bit of a number on our plant life. These freezes mean we have a little more prep work on your landscaping during our fall months to prepare for winter than the rest of the state.
Top of the Lists
Gainesville does maintain some notoriety with being near the tops of several lists in Florida and the United States on the whole.
When you’re outside, working on your landscape, beautifying your flower beds, enjoying your outdoor living space, you’re bound to get thirsty in the harsh Florida sun and humidity. Simply drinking water may not be enough, as those electrolytes may need to be replenished as well. Great news! You can crack open a refreshing Gatorade, knowing it wouldn’t be available without having been invented in Gainesville!
While Arbor Day may not be a day recognized as a major holiday around the states, it’s pretty popular in “Tree City, USA” – otherwise known as Gainesville. Tree City is an excellent nickname considering the canopy all the great variety of trees enjoy around the city.
Since Florida is the Sunshine State, Gainesville smartly capitalized on this, harnessing the strength of the sun by becoming a leader in solar power. Feed-in tariffs on solar have become commonplace throughout the country, and Gainesville was the first to implement it. Solar energy has been such a cornerstone of Gainesville that it is the 5th in the entire world for solar installs!
Getting Educated
Although surrounded by a wee bit of controversy, the University of Florida has the distinction of being the oldest university in the entire state of Florida. The University of Florida started its humble beginnings in Ocala as the East Florida Seminary in 1853.
Relocated to Gainesville in the early 1900s, the University of Florida has gone through several metamorphoses, including types of studies and names. Throughout its changes, the university has evolved into the largest source of economy for the city. Home to one of the finest hospitals in the state, Shands, University of Florida has a robust education program. In fact, it ranks as one of the best education programs in the country.
In terms of excellence in education, Gainesville is also home to the 11th best community college in the United States: Santa Fe College. While Santa Fe does offer some art programs, it’s most notable for its Technology and Applied Sciences programs.
Notable Folks and Events
Since Gainesville has the distinction of being ranked as the best place to live in the United States, it only makes sense that several people have garnered some fame from the area and some important events here.
You may be freefalling if you live in Gainesville – Tom Petty sure was when he was born in Gainesville. Phoenix is also pretty popular here in Gainesville, and no, we aren’t talking about Arizona. The Phoenix family of actors – notably River and Joaquin – hail from Gainesville.
In the 60s, during a height of civil unrest, the University of Florida was a hub of the south for activism.
We are fortunate to be able to serve such a culturally diverse community like Gainesville, as well as Alachua, High Springs, Newberry, and Fort White, with superior green services. Premier Lawn Care is committed to the highest quality lawn maintenance, treatments, irrigation, mulching, and much more. Our clients in this fantastic community deserve only the best, so call today for your free estimate!
