Chiefland is a city in
Levy County
Levy County is a county located on the Gulf coast and in the northern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,915. Its county seat is Bronson.
History
Levy County was created in 1845, after the Seminol ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, United States. The population was 2,316 at the 2020 census.
Chiefland calls itself the "Gem of the Suwannee Valley" and was incorporated in 1929.
History
A village of the
Timucua
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The v ...
people was once located south of the present city and at Manatee Springs. The area's economy is traditionally based on agriculture, primarily farming (
peanut
The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...
s,
watermelon
Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...
s,
hay
Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...
); ranching (cattle, hogs); dairy (milk); timber (
pulpwood,
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
,
turpentine
Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a spec ...
) and
aquaculture (fishing, oystering, crabbing).
In July 1927, a Black man named
Albert Williams was murdered by a mob. He had allegedly assaulted a white turpentine operator over a debt he owed the white man, and "was shot to death by a mob".
Attractions
Manatee Springs State Park
Manatee Springs State Park is a Florida State Park located six miles west of Chiefland on SR 320, off US 19. Manatee Spring is a first magnitude spring that flows directly into the Suwannee River by way of a short run (though it is the longe ...
is located west of town; the crystal-clear water is a "first-magnitude"
spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
that flows directly into the
Suwannee River. The park offers a full slate of activities, including camping.
Manatee
Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living speci ...
s can be seen in the spring year-round, but especially in late fall and winter, where the constant temperature of the spring is much warmer than river water.
The Annual Watermelon Festival is the largest event of the year and dates back to 1954. It is held each year on the first Saturday of June and is maintained by the Chiefland Women's Club.
The Levy County Quilt Museum, founded by the Log Cabin Quilters club, is the only registered quilting museum in the state of Florida. Twice a year quilters organize a Quilt Show for local quilters to exhibit their work at the museum. The museum is open throughout the year and the collection contains unique items like a quilt made from the ties of two former Presidents,
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
and
Gerald Ford. Open on Tuesday—Saturday, the museum is free to enter and is located just off of Highway Alt 27 on CR134.
Chief Theatre, home to the Suwannee Valley Players, is located off of Main Street and E, Park Avenue in downtown Chiefland. The theatre was built in 1948 as a movie theater till 1984. In 1998, the building was purchased and reopened as a Playhouse due to a historic preservation grant. The Suwannee Valley Players, the oldest community theater troupe in Levy and its adjacent counties, has performed at Chief Theatre for over 37 years. The local theater group presents a new play around every 3 months, these plays include well known titles such as ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' and ''Into the Woods'' to original plays written by local writers.
Commerce
Chiefland is located in the northwest corner of the county, where Levy,
Dixie
Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas shift over the years), or the extent of the area it cover ...
and
Gilchrist counties adjoin (known as the "Tri-County area"). As growth in north Florida increased during the last quarter of the twentieth century, Chiefland became a local center for shopping. A
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
Supercenter was opened in 1995, and increased traffic along US 19/98 support a variety of national
fast food franchises plus
Best Western
Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...
and
Days Inn
Days Inn is a hotel chain headquartered in the United States. It was founded in 1970 by Cecil B. Day, who opened the first location in Tybee Island, Georgia. The brand is now a part of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Parsippany ...
motels.
Georgia-Pacific was a large employer, operating a mill in Chiefland from 1955 to 1978. Agriculture is still a major factor in the local economy, but there has been a big shift to a service economy. There are three
incarceration facilities in the area: Cross City Correctional Institution & Work Camp; Lancaster Correctional Institution & Work Camp; and Levy Forestry Camp. They provide a total of over 800 jobs.
Demographics
As of the
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
of 2020, there were 1,993 people, 905 households, and 511 families residing in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
was 509.5 inhabitants per square mile (196.8/km
2). There were 931 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 60.36%
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
, 34.27%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.65%
Native American, 1.66%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.10%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.65% from
other races
Other often refers to:
* Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy
Other or The Other may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack
* ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 2.31% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
or
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
of any race were 2.76% of the population.
There were 905 households, out of which 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.9% were
married couples living together, 46.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.05.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 22.8% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 71.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $17,331, and the median income for a family was $23,750. Males had a median income of $25,000 versus $19,792 for females. The
per capita income
Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.
Per capita i ...
for the city was $10,676. About 33.3% of families and 36.8% of the population were below the
poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 46.0% of those under the age of 18 and 24.4% of those aged 65 or over.
Education
![Chiefland Middle High School](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Chiefland_Middle_High_School.JPG)
Chiefland has two public schools:
Chiefland Middle High School
Chiefland Middle High School is a public high school in Chiefland, Florida. It is a part of the District School Board of Levy County.
History
The school was founded in 1922 with only ten students in grade nine, thus meeting the required minimu ...
, and Chiefland Elementary. The
School Board of Levy County
District School Board of Levy County or the School Board of Levy County (SBLC) is a school district headquartered in Bronson, Florida. It serves Levy County. Chris Cowart serves as Superintendent.
Schools
K-12:
* Cedar Key School
6-12:
* Bronson M ...
controls their operation and also supervises two
charter school
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
s: Nature Coast Middle School and Whispering Winds. Other schools under the board's jurisdiction are in the town of
Bronson, the city of
Williston, the city of
Cedar Key
Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. The population was 702 at the 2010 census. The Cedar Keys are a cluster of islands near the mainland. Most of the developed area of the city has been on Way Key since the end of the 19th ...
, and
Yankeetown.
The
College of Central Florida
The College of Central Florida (CF) is a public college with campuses in Marion, Citrus, and Levy counties. It is part of the Florida College System. Founded in 1957 as Central Florida Junior College, CF has grown to span three counties and incl ...
has plans for a $12 million permanent facility on of donated land by the Mann family. The location is north of the city. The college currently operates the Levy Center in downtown Chiefland. The new location has been designated the Jack Wilkinson Levy Campus in honor of the former high school math teacher's donation of $2.5 million to the campus.
Library
Levy County
Levy County is a county located on the Gulf coast and in the northern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 42,915. Its county seat is Bronson.
History
Levy County was created in 1845, after the Seminol ...
provides Chiefland with a local public library. The Luther Callaway Public Library is a depository library that receives publications from the State of Florida for public use. The library was dedicated in 1985 to Luther Callaway who was postmaster for almost 30 years and a school teacher. In November 2019, two vacant parcels of land were donated by Luther Callaway's family in hopes of expanding the library facilities. The library is also supported by the "Friends of the Luther Callaway Public Library (FLCPL) Board of Directors group. FLCPL supports the library through fundraising efforts in order to support library programs and resources.
Geography
Chiefland is located at (29.481801, –82.862097).
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the city has a total area of , all land.
Chiefland is at the junction of U.S. Highways
Alternate 27,
19, and
98.
US 129
U.S. Route 129 (US 129) is an auxiliary route of US 29, which it intersects in Athens, Georgia. US 129 currently runs for from an intersection with US 19/ US 27 ALT/ US 98 in Chiefland, Florida, to an interchange ...
was converted into a separate junction in the early 21st century. It is southwest of
Gainesville.
Climate
Healthcare
The State of Florida has approved a 28-bed hospital in Chiefland to serve the needs of western Levy County, Dixie County, and Gilchrist County. The Suwannee Valley Community Hospital is expected to cost $27 million, and Ameris Health Systems is leading the effort. The first drawing of the facility was rendered in March 2008.
See also
*
Fanning Springs, Florida
Fanning Springs is a city in Gilchrist and Levy counties in the U.S. state of Florida. The population was 764 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Fanning Springs is located at .
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area ...
References
External links
{{authority control
Cities in Levy County, Florida
Cities in Florida
1929 establishments in Florida
Populated places established in 1929