Sumter County was created by an act of the Florida Legislature on January 8, 1853, from the southern part of Marion County and included a large segment of what is now Lake County. Adamsville was selected as the first county seat. In 1858 the county seat moved to Sumterville, where it remained until 1868, when an act of the state legislature directed that the seat be moved to Leesburg. In 1879 the state legislature directed that an election be held to determine a permanent county seat. In the election held on October 10, 1881, Sumterville was selected, but legal questions arose concerning the validity of the election, and the legislative session in 1883 finally recognized the election and fixed the permanent county seat as Sumterville. On January 30, 1909, the courthouse burned, and a movement immediately arose to locate the county seat in another part of the county. Numerous elections were held, and Bushnell was finally declared the seat on March 20, 1912, and all county offices were moved there.