Micanopy

Founded after Spain relinquished Florida to the United States in 1821, Micanopy became the first distinct American town founded in the new U.S. territory. Originally an Indian trading post, it was built under the auspices of the Florida Association of New York, with Moses E. Levy and Edward Wanton playing important roles. In 1822, a select group of settlers and skilled craftsmen sailed from New York to Florida, then, with the labor of 15 slaves, forged a 45-mile road with eight bridges from the banks of the St. Johns River at present-day Palatka to Micanopy, creating a vital pathway into the interior. The first settlers arrived on February 12, 1823, and lived in close contact with Seminole and Miccosukee Indians and with black descendants of runaway slaves who resided among them during an initial period of relative peace. Micanopy, meaning "head chief," was a title awarded to the leader of the Alachua Seminoles, and for a time the frontier hamlet was also known informally as "Wantons." The Second Seminole War, beginning in December 1835, brought devastation as nearby sugar plantations and homesteads were burned and families sought refuge in Micanopy, which had been barricaded with log pickets and renamed Fort Defiance by the military. During the summer of 1836, the Battle of Micanopy and the Battle of Welika Pond took place there, and on August 24, with most soldiers sick or wounded, the U.S. Army evacuated the fort and town and intentionally burned all buildings. Fort Micanopy was erected in 1837, and after the Seminole War the town was rebuilt, though few original inhabitants returned. Cotton replaced sugar cane as a staple crop, cattle production became more important, and after the Civil War and the coming of the railroad, the area became known as the leading orange and vegetable growing section of Florida. After a freeze in 1894-95 curtailed orange cultivation, farmers continued to prosper by growing winter vegetables for northern markets, though by the 1920s truck farming had largely given way to the lumber and turpentine industries. Many of the town's larger surviving homes reflect that earlier agricultural prosperity.

Micanopy, Florida · United States