City of Ocala history

When the United States purchased Florida from Spain in 1821, the many settlers relocating to the area found the new territory inhabited by Seminole Indians, which included Indians and runaway slaves from Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.

The city’s name was derived from Ocali, the Timucua Indian name for the province through which Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto passed in 1539; its literal meaning is unknown. It developed around Fort King (established in 1827), an important post during the Seminole Wars.

After the Second Seminole War in 1842, the Armed Occupation Act encouraged settlers to move into Florida by offering 160 acres of free land.

An agricultural community formed around the former site of Fort King, and in 1869, the town of Ocala was established.

Rail service reached Ocala in 1881, completing a connection with river boat transportation, and drove economic development in the county.

1885 – The City of Ocala was incorporated on this date.

An ever-resilient community found this to be a blessing in disguise and wooden buildings were replaced by brick structures, labeling Ocala as the “Brick City” when reconstruction was completed in 1888.

In 1890 the Farmers Alliance held a national convention in the city and issued the Ocala Demands, summarizing their political stance.

Phosphate was discovered in 1891 when a farmer found large deposits of rock and fossils on his land, in the area now known as Dunnellon, and sparked a mining boom unrivaled in Florida history.

When Carl G. Rose came to Florida in 1916 to oversee the first asphalt road constructed in Florida, the company ran into problems with the asphalt due to the sandy nature of the area soil.

Rose knew that limestone is a good source of nutrition for raising horses so he bought land along State Road 200 in 1935 and soon after, Rosemere Farm became the first Thoroughbred farm in Marion County.

In 1956, this virtually unknown 3-year-old thoroughbred, named Needles, won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, and Marion County became a focus for the racing world.