Levy County History

150 years ago

02 February 1853 - The Florida General Assembly chartered the Florida Railroad to build a trans-state rail line from a port on the Atlantic to another port on the Gulf of Mexico. When Florida entered the Union in 1845, 500,000 acres of public land was transferred from federal to state ownership to be used to assist private corporations to construct needed improvements throughout the state, including railroads and canals. When the Internal Improvement Fund was created in 1855, those projects that met the approval of the trustees received state assistance. A railroad company could receive a 200-foot right-of-way through state lands and sections of land six miles deep on both side of the railroad. Construction proceeded rapidly on all railroad fronts. Work on the Florida Railroad got underway in 1855 and by the spring of 1858, Joseph Finegan and Company had graded almost seventy miles of track and were nearing Gainesville.

112 years ago

05 October 1891 - A number of citizens presented a petition to the Levy County Board of County Commissioners asking that the road from the Waterston Hammock to the point where the road intersects with the road leading from Levyville to Number Four be discontinued as a public road. After consideration the petition was granted. The road requested to be discontinued is the current day NW Camp Azalea Road which runs south out of Camp Azalea and connects with CR 347 north of Fowlers Bluff.

51 years ago

14 April 1952 - The State Road Department compensated the following parties for granting a right-of-way for State Road 339: Pine Grove Baptist Church; Clarence Faircloth; A.J. Stevens; Murry Read; E.L. Scott; S.B. Brock; W.E. Beasley; Orlando Faircloth; Fred Bailey; J.R. Kidd; Edd Brock; Ronald Layfield; Hugh Swilley; H. Vanden Hennell; J.L. Beck; W.E. Brock; Mack Cobb; Mrs. Mary J. Doke; W.R. Horne; R.C. Horne; and E.L. Perryman.

From the Archives & History Center
Levy County Clerk`s Office
Danny J. Shipp, Clerk of Court