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===19th century=== Built along the [[Pensacola & Georgia Railroad]] in or prior to 1861, Live Oak was named for a [[southern live oak]] tree under which railroad workers rested and ate lunch.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} When a railroad [[Union Depot and Atlantic Coast Line Freight Station (Live Oak, Florida)|depot]] was built nearby, the small community that sprang up around it was called “Live Oak Station” (first mentioned in records in 1861). The tree was at the site of the present-day Pepe's Mexican Grocery on U.S. 90.<ref name=":0">[http://seenorthflorida.com/destinations/liveoak.php "Live Oak, Florida"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221091403/http://seenorthflorida.com/destinations/liveoak.php |date=2013-02-21 }}, See North Florida website</ref> [[Image:LiveOakFL15.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Florida Railway engine #3 at the Seaboard yards in Live Oak circa 1915]] During the Civil War, the Pensacola & Georgia Railroad served as a vital route for parts of [[North Florida]]. Defensive earthworks were built where it crossed the Suwannee River west of Live Oak, to deter Union attacks. These earthworks still exist as part of the [[Suwannee River State Park]], one of Florida's first State parks. To ease supply problems to other parts of the Confederacy, the Confederate government decided to create a north–south railroad link into Georgia through Live Oak. The railroad junction was completed in early 1865. It was too late to help the Confederacy, but it opened up the interior of the county to settlement in the postwar period.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} An infamous resident of the town was [[Lewis Powell (conspirator)|Lewis Powell]], one of [[John Wilkes Booth]]'s co-conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. At the age of 13, he had moved with his family from Alabama to Live Oak. He lived there until the age of 17, when he lied about his age to enlist with the [[2nd Florida Infantry Regiment]] in the Confederate army.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Prior |first1=Leon O. |title=Lewis Payne, Pawn of John Wilkes Booth |journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly |date=July 1964 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=1–3 |url=http://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/ucf%3A22398 |access-date=7 July 2023}}</ref> In 1868 the legislature designated Live Oak as the county seat of Suwannee County. An election held the following year confirmed Live Oak as the county seat, and it has continued in this role. Live Oak was incorporated as a town in 1878. In 1903, it was incorporated as a city and was the largest community in Suwannee County. It served as a minor railroad hub for the region. During [[Reconstruction era|Reconstruction]], Live Oak suffered extensive violence by [[white supremacy|white supremacists]] against Black citizens. They attacked and assaulted Blacks to discourage their voting, to maintain dominance, and to expel Blacks from the community.<ref>{{cite book |title=I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction |first=Kidada E. |last=Williams |date=January 17, 2023 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=New York |pages=33, 80, 153 |isbn=9781635576634}}</ref>
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