The city of Alachua has its roots in the 1818 pioneer town of Newnansville, which was built on the major trade route crossing Florida, Old Bellamy road. In 1854 when the railroad replaced the historic trails as the major route of transportation, Alachua was born. In 1995, the State of Florida awarded Alachua the honor of "Most Outstanding Rural Community" in the state. Today Alachua is a prosperous town, which is a wonderful mix of local folks who are direct descendants of the Newnansville founders, and transplanted folks who fell in love with the friendly small town atmosphere.

Alachua is wonderfully unique. It is a beautiful, rural area full of natural resources that also offers diverse employment and business opportunities to it's citizens. It is strategically located between 3 major routes of transportation, Interstate 75, US highway 441 and a CSX railroad line. Our close proximity to the University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College gives our town the wonderful position of pursuing clean, cutting-edge economic growth and allows the advantage of job training and a well educated employment base for our growing companies. Additionally, our citizens and government officials who value our small town atmosphere are determined to prevent our area from turning into another South Florida by planning and managing our new growth. Patrick Murphey, Alachua's mayor, defines Alachua's goal as "trying to achieve a delicate balance between business and the community, while maintaining a rural atmosphere and a down home friendly attitude", but Mayor Murphey is quick to point out that "Alachua is pro-growth" unlike many communities in Florida.

In 1987 our historic Main Street, with its quaint brick, 1900's architecture and grand old Victorian homes, was redeveloped. This revitalization has provided the perfect environment for our Main Street business to flourish. Through the continued support and efforts of our citizens in the downtown Redevelopment Committee, additional grants have been obtained to build a sitting garden park within the towering, antique brick walls of the old Main Street cinema. City beautification projects currently underway will extend redevelopment to other areas of our quaint downtown by providing additional parks, public restrooms and playground equipment. Today, our downtown business and employment opportunities continue to expand. Across from our ball park just west of Main Street, there will soon be a new post office and business center, and fronting Highway 441 there are plans for a new retail shopping area to include a new grocery store. A stroll down Main Street will reveal our prosperous downtown an exemplary environment for your business.

The Progress Corporate Park is located on the south side of Alachua on Highway 441. This park was founded on the desire of attracting businesses based on progressive new technologies to Alachua. The nearby University of Florida, a land grant institute world renowned for its medical and agricultural research, has attracted highly educated people to our area. Many of these folks are compelled by the potential of technology to branch out and provide additional research, beneficial resources and products. The Progress Corporate Park has provided the perfect location, with the required infrastructure already in place, for the creation and growth of many such businesses. Today with architectural and development codes in place, the vision of the park is expanding to include new corporate and business facilities as well as a hotel and convention center.

Alachua continues to plan for its future by providing for its citizens additional opportunities for gainful employment, including a new commercial distribution center and a 60,000 square foot state of Florida office building. Clearly, the Progress Corporate park and our diverse selection of home grown, successful and competitive business make Alachua a community rich in opportunity. For a listing of the business in Alachua contact the Alachua Chamber of Commerce, 386-462-3333 or www.alachua.com.