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Florida State...
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Florida Counties
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Florida Counties
In 1821, there were only two counties in Florida: Escambia to the west and St. Johns to the
east. From these two counties were formed 67 today. In 1968, the electors
of Florida granted local voters the power to adopt charters to govern their counties. Charters are formal
written documents that confer powers, duties, or privileges on the county.
To date, there are 19 charter counties in Florida. Collectively these
counties are home to more than 75 percent of Florida's residents.
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Gadsden County, Florida
Gadsden County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: Quincy
Year Organized: 1823
Square Miles: 516 |
Court House: P.O. Box 1799
County Courthouse
Quincy, FL 32351-1799
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
James Gadsden of South Carolina, aide-de-camp of Jackson in
Florida campaign of 1818.
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick
Facts
History
Gadsden County was created in 1823. It was named for James Gadsden of South Carolina, who served as Andrew Jackson's
aide-de-camp in Florida in 1818.
When Florida became a territory in 1821, Andrew Jackson was appointed Governor and among his first duties, he subdivided
the state into two counties East Florida and West Florida. After several other divisions had taken place, on June 24,
1823, a fifth county generally spoken of as Middle Florida was established. Boundaries for the new county were the
Suwannee on the east and the Apalachicola River on the west and it was named Gadsden in honor of James Gadsden,
aide-de-camp to General Andrew Jackson in the Florida Campaign of 1818.
Pensacola was the scene for the first Legislative Council and Jacksonville, the site for the second. These two sessions,
two years and miles apart in hardship and distance, convinced the Council of the need for a central location. Two
commissioners, Dr. William Hayne Simmons and John Lee Williams were selected to explore a possible site in Middle
Florida. By March 4, 1824, these two commissioners reported they had chosen an area in Gadsden County, "about a mile
southwest from the deserted fields of Tallahassee Indians Village about a mile south of the Oke-lock-o-ny and
Tallahassee trails".
Gadsden County citizens played important roles in the capital city building project. The temporary capital was erected
in April 1824 by Jonathan Robinson and Sherod McCall. Their building was actually one of three log buildings constructed
to accommodate the Legislative Council which met November 8 of that year. The capital remained in Gadsden County until
December 29, 1824 when one of the first legislative acts that year was to create a new county (Leon) by annexing all the
lands of East Gadsden between the Ocklochonee and Suwannee Rivers which, without moving the structures, moved the
capital to Leon County.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 528 square miles (1,369 kmē), of which, 516
square miles (1,337 kmē) of it is land and 12 square miles (32 kmē) of it (2.34%) is water.
Gadsden County is located in the northwestern part of Florida. Quincy, the county seat, is on U.S. Highway 90
about midway between Pensacola and Jacksonville. Much smaller in land mass than when it was created, the county is
approximately 32 miles long and 22 miles wide. The land area of 508 square miles is bounded on the east by the
Ochlocknee River, on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the southeast by Lake Talquin and on the north by the
State of Georgia. A humid temperature climate prevails, and rainfall is abundant and generally well distributed. The
county is one of the foremost agricultural counties in northwest Florida.
Four major geological formations, all sedimentary, occur in Gadsden County at or near the surface of the ground.
From the oldest to youngest, these formations are Tampa limestone, the Hawthorn formation, Duplin marl, and the
Citronelle formation. Elevations range from about 50 feet above mean sea level to more than 300 feet above mean seal
level. Gadsden County has hills!
Neighboring Counties:
- North: Decatur County, Ga.
- Northeast: Grady County, Ga.
- Southeast: Leon County
- Southwest: Liberty County; Calhoun County
- Northwest: Jackson County; Seminole County, Ga.
Cities and Towns:
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- Chattahoochee |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Greensboro |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Gretna |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Havana |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Midway |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Quincy
(County Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
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