Arredondo, Florida
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Arredondo, Florida is an unincorporated community in
Alachua County Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida. History Prehistory and ear ...
, about seven miles southwest of Gainesville on the highway from Gainesville to
Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...
. It was established as a shipping station on the
Florida Railroad The Florida Railroad was the first railroad to connect the east and west coasts of Florida, running from Original Town of Fernandina Historic Site, Fernandina to Cedar Key, Florida, Cedar Key. The line later became part of the Seaboard Air Line R ...
that ran from Fernandina through Gainesville to
Cedar Key Cedar Key is a city in Levy County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 687, down from 702 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Cedar Keys are a cluster of ...
, largely absorbing an earlier community called Kanapaha. The Florida Railroad later became part of the
Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...
, which abandoned the line from
Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...
to Cedar Key in 1932. The tracks were removed in the 1970s. The name of the community comes from the Arredondo Grant, a Spanish land grant that includes much of Alachua County and parts of
Levy Levy, Lévy or Levies may refer to: People * Levy (surname), people with the surname Levy or Lévy * Levy Adcock (born 1988), American football player * Levy Barent Cohen (1747–1808), Dutch-born British financier and community worker * Levy ...
and
Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...
counties. A post office opened in Arredondo in 1873 and remained in service until 1925. The area around Arredondo was used to raise cattle in the middle of the 19th century, and some cattle-raising continued into the 1880s. In the 1850s, cotton growers from South Carolina established plantations, including the
Haile Homestead The Historic Haile Homestead, also known as Haile Plantation House or Kanapaha, is a historic site and museum in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is located at 8500 SW Archer Rd. SR 24. On May 2, 1986, the plantation house was added t ...
, in the area, which was then called Kanapaha. The soil around Arredondo is fertile, with underlying deposits of
phosphate rock Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non- detrital sedimentary rock that contains high amounts of phosphate minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite (or grade of phosphate rock) varies greatly, from 4% to 20% phosphorus pentox ...
contributing to the fertility. After the Civil War, the cotton planters and newcomers to the area turned to vegetable, fruit and tree-nut production. In the 1883 season, 80,000 crates of vegetables were shipped from the Arredondo station. Strawberries shipped to New York in early February sold for $3.00 a
quart The quart (symbol: qt) is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon. Three kinds of quarts are currently used: the liquid quart and dry quart of the US customary system and the of the British imperial system. All are roughly equal ...
. Farmers began experimenting with the commercial production of tomatoes in the area of Arredondo in 1870. In 1872, were planted to tomatoes, and Arredondo became the center of tomato-growing in Florida. Tomatoes were a profitable crop. In 1882, Florida tomatoes sold for $4.00 to $4.50 per
bushel A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an Imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agriculture, agricultural pr ...
crate in Chicago. As railroads extended further south in Florida, tomato-growing also moved south, permitting an earlier harvest for shipment to the north. Commercial tomato growing, and commercial vegetable growing in general, had ceased in the area around Arredondo by 1900.


See also

* Tomato production in Florida


References


External links

* {{coord, 29, 36, 18, N, 82, 24, 33, W, type:city_region:US-FL, display=title Unincorporated communities in Alachua County, Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida