Editing Micanopy, Florida (section)

==History==
A historical marker in the area notes that [[Spanish people|Spanish]] explorer [[Hernando de Soto]] recorded finding a village of the [[Timucua]] portion of the [[Potano]] tribe located near by in 1539.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Alachua - Preservation - Florida Division of Historical Resources |url=https://apps.flheritage.com/markers/markers.cfm?county=alachua |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231201034811/https://apps.flheritage.com/markers/markers.cfm?county=alachua |archive-date=December 1, 2023 |access-date=December 1, 2023 |website=Florida Historical Markers Programs}}</ref> In 1774, the American naturalist [[William Bartram]] recorded his impressions of a proto-[[Seminole]] village named "''Cuscowilla''".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=September 28, 1983 |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/421fddbb-ced3-4c90-89f7-b8e9fc674006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608175441/https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/421fddbb-ced3-4c90-89f7-b8e9fc674006/ |archive-date=June 8, 2021 |access-date=December 1, 2023 |website=National Park Service |at= |format=PDF}}</ref>

By the time [[Spain]] ceded its Florida provinces to the U.S. in 1821, the newly constructed hamlet of Micanopy became the first distinct United States town in the [[Florida Territory]]. One of the early settlers of the area was [[Moses Elias Levy]], a wealthy [[Jews|Jewish]] businessman and philanthropist who was involved in [[West Indies]] shipping and other interests. He immigrated to the United States in 1820 and founded "''Pilgrimage''", the first Jewish communal settlement in the United States located two miles from town.<ref name=":0">[https://books.google.com/books?id=zYPnXzambCIC&q=Moses+Levy+of+Florida:+Jewish+Utopian+and+Antebellum+Reformer C. S. Monaco, ''Moses Levy of Florida: Jewish Utopian and Antebellum Reformer''], Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2005), 9</ref>

The village of Micanopy was built under the auspices of the Florida Association of [[New York (state)|New York]] (the earliest Florida development corporation, headquartered in [[Manhattan]]).<ref name=":0" /> [[Micanopy|Chief Micanopy]] lived about {{convert|60|mi}} south in present-day [[Sumter County, Florida|Sumter County]]. In 1821, when the territorial village was developed, a faction of [[Miccosukee]] Indians lived in the immediate area. The historian C. S. Monaco has suggested that the town was named after Micanopy "to appease the chief and acknowledge his original authority over the land."<ref name=":0" /> In the early days, the frontier village was sometimes referred to as "''Wantons''", after one of the original settlers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Micanopy Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=54271 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20231201042840/https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=54271 |archive-date=December 1, 2023 |access-date=December 1, 2023 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Micanopy street and trees.jpg|thumb|left|One of the several unpaved streets in Micanopy]] 
Both Fort Defiance (1835–1836) and Fort Micanopy (1837–1843) were located here during the [[Second Seminole War]].<ref name=":1" /> Some of the bloodiest battles of that war took place along the road southwest from Fort Micanopy to Fort Wacahoota, just inside modern [[Alachua County, Florida|Alachua County]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Monaco |first=C. S. |date=2012 |title=Alachua Settlers and the Second Seminole War |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23264821 |journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly |volume=91 |issue=1 |pages=1–32 |jstor=23264821 |issn=0015-4113}}</ref> A recent archaeological study has verified both forts as well as the location of two battlefields within the town limits: the Battle of Micanopy and the Battle of Welika Pond (1836).

The '''Town of Micanopy''' was officially incorporated as a municipality in 1837.<ref name=MicSet/><ref name=MicInc/>

[[File:Micanopy - first Black home.jpg|thumb|right|The oldest home in Micanopy that was built by Black people for Black people; now sits abandoned]]
Prior to the 1880s, produce from Micanopy, including [[citrus]], was carried to the southern shore of [[Paynes Prairie|Lake Alachua]] and taken by boat to the northern shore, which was served by branch lines from the [[Florida Railroad|Transit Railroad]]. In 1883, the [[Florida Southern Railway]] built a branch line to Micanopy from its line running from [[Rochelle, Florida|Rochelle]] (southeast of Gainesville) to [[Ocala, Florida|Ocala]]. In 1895, a rail line was laid from Micanopy by the Gainesville and Gulf Railroad, and by 1889, reached to [[Irvine, Florida|Irvine]] and [[Fairfield, Florida|Fairfield]] in [[Marion County, Florida|Marion County]], and [[Sampson City, Florida|Sampson City]] in [[Bradford County, Florida|Bradford County]], where it connected to the [[Atlantic, Suwannee River and Gulf Railway]] and the [[Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Watkins|first=Caroline|date=April 1975|title=Some Early Railroads in Alachua County|journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly|volume=53|issue=4|pages=452–453, 456|jstor=30150300}}</ref> The railroads spurred farming in the surrounding area. It had a population of over 600 in 1880. In the 1920s, cars crossed [[Paynes Prairie]] on the Micanopy Causeway.<ref name="historicalachua">{{Cite book|title=Historic Alachua County and old Gainesville : a tour guide to the past|last=Pickard|first=John B.|date=2001|publisher=Alachua Press|isbn=978-0967278865|location=Gainesville, FL|oclc=50765140}}</ref>