Fort Clarke was an unincorporated community in central Alachua County. The fort established was by the US Army during the Second Seminole War. A historical marker commemorates the fort, which was abandoned by the US Army in 1840. In 1841, 16 citizens voted at Fort Clarke on adopting a proposed constitution for Florida. In May 1845, the community was a precinct at which seven residents voted in the election of the state governor and legislators, and the representative to the US House of Representatives, after Florida was admitted to the union as a state. A post office was established in 1846 and closed in 1858. In 1883, John Bevill, who was described as the model farmer of Alachua County, had over 1,000 acres (400 ha) in cultivation at Fort Clarke. Two churches, the Fort Clarke United Methodist Church and the Greater Fort Clarke Missionary Baptist Church, are currently located in the vicinity of the former site of the fort. The site is now part of the urbanized area west of Gainesville.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
References
edit- ^ "Fort Clarke Marker, Gainesville, Florida". University of Florida Digital Commons. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
- ^ Dibble, Earnest F. (Fall 1999). "Giveaway Forts: Territorial Forts and the Settlement of Florida". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 78 (2): 220. JSTOR 30149384.
- ^ "Fort Clark (Alachua County)". Florida Memory: State Library and Archives of Florida. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Bradbury, Alford G.; Hallock, E. Story (1962). A chronology of Florida post offices. Florida Federation of Stamp Clubs. p. 30.
- ^ Webber, Carl (1883). The Eden of the South. New York. p. 91.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Feature query results for Fort Clarke". USGS GNIS. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
29°39′35″N 82°26′22″W / 29.65974722°N 82.43949167°W