Gainesville, Florida

21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1890 and the latest in 1994. It stands in the Gainesville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 32601. The Survey maps it on the Gainesville East quadrangle. 141,085 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 177 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Gainesville within Alachua County

Then and now

1890 to 1994

The same ground, surveyed 104 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Gainesville, surveyed 1994

Topographic sheet of Gainesville, surveyed 1890

Compare 1890 against another survey:

On record in Gainesville

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 of 47 shown

Anderson Halllisted 1979
Maj. James B. Bailey Houselisted 1972
Baird Hardware Company Warehouselisted 1985
Boulware Spring Waterworkslisted 1985
Dan Branch Houselisted 2015
Bryan Halllisted 1979
Buckman Halllisted 1974
Cox Family Log Houselisted 2017
Cox Furniture Storelisted 1994
Cox Furniture Warehouselisted 1994
Dixie Hotel, Hotel Kelleylisted 1982
Engineering Industries Buildinglisted 2008

Every listing in Alachua County

Population over time

3 figures

Gainesville grew from 95,447 to 141,085 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

Year	People	Change
2000	95,447
2010	124,354	+28,907 (+30%)
2020	141,085	+16,731 (+13%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 21 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

1890 USGS Arredondo quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
1892 USGS Arredondo quadrangle1:62500
1894 USGS Arredondo quadrangle1:62500, 6 printings
1954 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1958 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:250000
1966 USGS Gainesville East quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
1981 USGS Gainesville quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
1994 USGS Gainesville East quadrangle1:24000

Fires near this place

204 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 204 fires within 5 miles of Gainesville between 1992 and 2020, burning about 4,463 acres in total. 18 started naturally. 15 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Equipment and vehicle use	55
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	32
Railroad operations and maintenance	32
Misuse of fire by a minor	25
Natural	18
Arson/incendiarism	15
Debris and open burning	11
Recreation and ceremony	9
Power generation/transmission/distribution	4
Smoking	2
Other causes	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
30 September 1993	Equipment and vehicle use	2.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
24 September 1993	Equipment and vehicle use	1.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
1 September 2004	Natural	under an acre	Florida Forest Service	945
9 August 2008	Natural	4.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	ALACHUA/NE 8TH AVE
8 August 2020	Natural	132 acres	Florida Forest Service	TREATMENT CENTER (01)
5 August 2020	Natural	4.5 acres	Florida Forest Service	TARGET RD (01)
3 August 1993	Railroad operations and maintenance	5.0 acres	Florida Forest Service	not named
28 August 2011	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	12 acres	Florida Forest Service	WATER PLANT #4 (1)

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Alachua County

Specimens collected near this place

12 of 21,819 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 21,819 specimens collected within 10 miles of Gainesville between 1806 and 1975: 9,342 Animalia, 9,183 Fungi, 1,845 Protozoa, 1,194 Plantae, 141 Chromista, 112 Unrecorded, 2 Bacteria. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B GROBMAN, A CARR and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Species	Year	Collected by	Where, as recorded
Xylocopa micans Lepeletier, 1841	1847	not recorded	Gainesville
Astragalus L.	1876	Abraham P. Garber
Corallorrhiza Gagnebin	1876	Abraham P. Garber
Ditrichum pallidum (Hedw.) Hampe	1806	C. E. Faxon
Canthon pilularius (Linnaeus, 1758)	1822	F. W. Walker	Gainesville
Ilex vomitoria Aiton	1826	A. P. Garber
Ctenium aromaticum (Walter) Alph.Wood	1842	F Engel
Cryptotis parva (Say, 1823)	1860	A. Arata	Gainesville, 6 mi. NW
Geomys pinetis Rafinesque, 1817	1860	James Layne	Gainesville
Myotis Kaup, 1829	1860	Harley B. Sherman	Gainesville
Podomys floridanus (Chapman, 1889)	1860	James Layne	Gainesville, 8 mi NW
Utricularia subulata L.	1873	C. E. Faxon	Gainesville

All 21,819 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Gainesville: 1 prospect, 1 past producer, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Phosphorus-Phosphates, Aluminum, Fluorine-Fluorite, Iron, Magnesite, Uranium, Water, Free, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
Pirkle Deposit #1	Phosphorus-Phosphates, Aluminum, Fluorine-Fluorite, Iron, Magnesite, Uranium, Water, Free	Prospect	1956
Unnamed Limestone Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
V. E. Whitehurst & Sons, Inc. - Starvation Hill Mine	Sand	Unknown

Every working recorded in Alachua County

Storms near this place

60 of 107 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Gainesville in 107 storm reports between 1993 and 2023: 49 thunderstorm wind, 26 hail, 9 funnel cloud, 8 heavy rain. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
March 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	1 hurt, $5,000	A tree was blown down on a home which resulted in a minor injury to the home homeowner. The time of damage was based on radar. The cost of damage was estimated for inclusion in Storm Data.
June 1996	Lightning	Gainesville	1 hurt	no account filed
July 1996	Flash Flood	Gainesville	$500,000	no account filed
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$150,000	Home damaged. Numerous reports of trees and power lines blown dow. More than 4000 homes in the western sections of the county experenced power outages.
May 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$75,000	Trees and power lines were blown down along University Blvd.
August 2002	Lightning	Gainesville	$60,000	Lightning struck boublewide mobile home. The subsequent fire totally destoryed the structure.
November 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$55,000	On Interstate 75, two cars were blown off the highway and caused two tractor-semitrailers to collide.
July 2000	Lightning	Gainesville	$40,000	Destroyed a mobile home.
September 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$40,000	Five cars damaged. Large trees and power lines were blown down.
November 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$30,000	Trees down across a road near Gainesville and a large tree felled on a home in La Crosse damaging it.
June 1999	Flash Flood	Gainesville	$15,000	Water accumulating on the roof of the Oaks Mall, drained into the mall at more than 50 gallons per minute.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$15,000	Numerous reports of large trees and power lines blown down. A moble home located at 12308 SR-45 was also destroyed.
February 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$10,000	Gainesville Sun reports trees and power lines down.
July 2000	Flash Flood	Gainesville	$10,000	Numerous streets and roads flooded.
April 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$6,000	no account filed
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$5,000	Three pine trees down, one on a house. Damage to tool shed behind house at 3330 NW 31st Street.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$5,000	Large trees and power lines were blown down. Apartment building damaged.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$5,000	Large limbs and large trees were blown down.
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$4,500	Numerous reports of large trees and power lines blown down.
March 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$3,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
March 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$3,000	Trees damaged.
June 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$3,000	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
March 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$3,000	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$2,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$2,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
August 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$2,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
September 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$2,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$2,000	Large trees and power lines blown down.
April 1997	Flash Flood	Gainesville	$2,000	Considerabe flooding blocked streets.
May 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$2,000	Power lines blown down in Gainesville. A mobile home being transported on Interstate 75 was flipped over and thrown off the highway near Alachua.
August 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$1,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
February 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$1,500	Large tress and power lines were blown down.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$1,500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$1,500	Large limbs and debris block roadways.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$1,000	Large limbs and trees were blown down.
September 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$500	A large tree was blown down and blocked the intersection of NE 2nd Street and NE 2nd Avenue in Gainesville. The cost of damage was estimated.
March 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$500	Minor damage to greenhouse at high school.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$500	Large trees were blown down.
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$500	Large trees and power lines were blown down.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$500	Sheriff's office reported trees and power lines down in southeast Gainesville.
February 1993	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$500	Civil defense reported trees and power lines downed from thunderstorm winds south of Gainesville.
December 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	$200	no account filed
September 2023	Heavy Rain	Gainesville	-	A public weather station measured about 4. 5 inches since about 1:45 pm.
September 2023	Heavy Rain	Gainesville	-	An observer measured 4.47 inches since 1:52 mph and observed flooding across the area.
September 2023	Heavy Rain	Gainesville	-	A mesonet station measured 2.8 inches in the past hour.
March 2021	Heavy Rain	Gainesville	-	An observer reported about 3.5 inches of rainfall fell, most between 7 pm and 8 pm.
April 2018	Flood	Gainesville	-	At 6:33 pm, water was pushing up manhole covers on the street behind city hall due to heavy rainfall. At 6:35 pm, county dispatch reported flooding on SW 12th Street and 2nd Avenue estimated about 12 inches deep on the road.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	-	Power lines were blown down at 725 NE 5th Terrace.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	-	A tree was blown down onto power lines and onto the roof of a home near SE 7th Ave and SE 10th Street.
August 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	-	Scattered trees were blown down across the Gainesville city limits. The time of damage was based on radar.
January 2006	Heavy Rain	Gainesville	-	Spotter reported 1.75 inches of rain within a 30 minute period at 926 NW 12th Ave, Gainesville, Florida. multiple power outages and several roads impassable due to poor drainage flooding. Storm total rainfall of 3.2 inches was reported at 22:00 est.
January 2006	Hail	Gainesville	-	Gusty winds reported. Hail later covered the ground.
November 2003	Funnel Cloud	Gainesville	-	Report from Florida State Warning Point. Funnel cloud sighted along County Road 331 near Wachoota.
November 2003	Funnel Cloud	Gainesville	-	Public report of a funnel cloud near Paynes Prairie State Preserve moving rapidly toward Interstate 75.
June 2003	Funnel Cloud	Gainesville	-	Sighted on NW 83rd Strret in Gainesville.
June 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	-	Power Lines down on NW 83rd Street. Roof removed from back porch on 1000 block of NE 21st street. Second report from Gainesville Sun 6/10/03.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	-	Trees reported as twisted off and downed at 3400 SW Williston Rd. No report of a tornado.
May 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Gainesville	-	Two trees down on a homes.
July 2003	Lightning	Gainesville	-	Spyglass Apartments, 700 SW 62nd Blvd, DD Building. Fire sparked by lightning strike burned roof and attic. Two apartment units received the bulk of the damage due to smoke and water damage. Building was insured, however resident losses were not.
May 2002	Hail	Gainesville	-	Quarter sized hail covered ground.

Every storm recorded in Alachua County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Lincoln Estates	1.5 miles	21
Lakeview Estates	2.5 miles	21
Kincaid Hills	2.5 miles	21
Idylwild	2.7 miles	19
Melton Manor	2.7 miles	19
Robinson Heights	2.7 miles	19
Daysville	2.9 miles	21
South Idylwild	2.9 miles	19

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Gainesville	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q487999	The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 282874. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.