Levy County History

NOTE: This week`s column covers a little brief history of one of our neighboring counties, Gilchrist County. Reprinted from the Gilchrist County Journal.

How did Trenton,Bell and Gilchrist County get their names?

Gilchrist County was named for Albert H. Gilchrist, who was governor of Florida from 1909 to 1913. Gilchrist County is the 67th Florida county and was established 04 December 1925. The name almost became Melon County because of the large acreage of watermelons produced each year. However, legislators informed that Governor Gilchrist was critically ill and on his death bed named the new county after him in tribute.

Trenton was named after Trenton, Tennessee, by Ben Boyd, who at the age of eighteen ran away from his home in Tennessee following a fist-fight at a racetrack. Boyd first settled in Lafayette County. He married a girl from near Mayo named Sarah Sapp and shortly thereafter they moved to what is now
Trenton, but then was known as Joppa. Boyd served in the Confederate Army and some time between 1875 and 1885, having established a sawmill at Joppa, he renamed the town after his Tennessee home. Trenton is the county seat of Gilchrist County.

The town of Bell was incorporated in 1903, shortly after a branch of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad had been built through that area. The name was selected by means of a beauty contest in which the winner`s name was to be given to the new station and post office. The one who received the most votes for queen was Bell Fletcher, daughter of Daniel E. Fletcher, a native of Florida and a successful farmer of Alachua County. She later marred G.W. Everett and lived in the Bell Community until her death in 1919.

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