My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, although really I shouldn’t have — they had me at the front cover. I have lived in Gainesville for 32 years and have seen so many changes just in that time, so I love a good history book on my town that isn’t just about the University of Florida. There is a great history and culture in our area of Florida, and I’m glad to say that this author captured a good portion of that. In addition, this book (as the title implies) is stuffed to the gills with photographs, which I loved. One thing that makes me sad about Florida is the dampness that rots the buildings that house our history, so I loved being able to see the photos gathered in this book that showed buildings that have burned down, been torn down, or otherwise been lost to time.
The book starts with just the briefest early history of Florida, and picks up with Gainesville in the middle 1800′s. The captions below each photo do more than explain what you’re seeing; they tell a story of the times. I loved looking at photos of Main Street, before it was paved and when horses and wagons had to wind themselves around the trees that hadn’t yet been cut down. I enjoyed reading about boarding houses, railroads, our contributions to the Civil War, and the many changing faces of the downtown area. And in all this history the author gives, he never once makes it sound as if he is lecturing or teaching.
I’ve read a number of history books on our area, and this one by far is the most conversational, and the one I’ve taken the most away from.
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Tags: Gainesville, history
Interesting… I’d love to learn more about Gainesville. I’ll have to see if this is in my library.