Page Contents for Archer, Florida

Statistics & Facts

Location

History & History-related items

Organizations, Churches, and Sports.

Miscellany

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Statistics & Facts

The Florida state capital is Tallahassee.
The population of Archer is approximately 1,288 (2005), 1118 (2010).
The approximate number of families is 607 (1990), 453 (2010).
The amount of land area in Archer is 5.884 sq. kilometers.
The amount of land area in Archer is 2.4 sq. miles.
The amount of surface water is 0 sq kilometers.
The distance from Archer to Washington DC is 724 miles.
The distance to the Florida state capital is 125 miles. (as the crow flies)
Archer is positioned 29.53 degrees north of the equator and 82.51 degrees west of the prime meridian.
Archer elevation is 88 feet above sea level.
Archer median income is $ 31,600 (2005).
The Archer median home price is $ 84,800 (2005).

Location

in west-central Florida about 16 miles from Gainesville and about 81 miles from Jacksonville. Other nearby communities include East Bronson, Newberry, Bronson, williston, East Williston, Williston Highlands and Micanopy.
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History & History Related Items

In the early 1850 "s a town called Deer hammock was established, probably in anticipation of the construction of the Florida Railroad from Fernandina(east coast of Florida) to Cedar Key (west coast of Florida). David Lee Yulee was granted a charter in 1855 to build the railroad. In 1858, the Florida Town Improvement Company, owned by the railroad company, laid out a town and named it ARCHER after James T. Archer, Florid;s first Sec. of State(1845-49) and an advocate of internal improvement. The first trains arrived in 1859. In the election of 1876, the ballots from the Archer precinct were challenged. They were allowed to stand by the Congress for the presidential election. That year Rutherford B. Hayes was victorious over Samuel J. Tilden. The voters for the governor were thrown out by the state. In 1880, Quakers from Ohio and Indiana organized a company which planted extensive orange groves using rows of oak trees as windbreaks. The freezes of 1894-95 destroyed the orange groves but the oak trees remained and at one time the city letterhead read "Archer, amid the oaks." The Maddox Foundry, established in 1905, by H. Maddox, continues to be the major industry and is still owned and operated by the Maddox family. Archer is still surrounded by agricultural, today it is mostly peanuts, cattle, hay and silviculture.

Archer has historical markers for COTTONWOOD PLANTATION (private property): CITY OF ARCHER, located at city hall on W. Main St.; DAVID LEE YULEE, located at the old Archer Depot on W. Main St. home of the Archer Historical Society,and the most recent T. GILBERT PEARSON, located on S. Hwy 41. Pearson grew up in Archer and went on to found the Audubon Society. Archer is the second oldest city in Alachua County, Florida. The first being Micanopy. The county seat is Gainesville, home of the University of Florida.
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Archer

Miscellany

The population of Archer was:
1990 - 1,372
2000 - 1,289
2005 - 1,288

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Median age:
2000 - 33.6 years

Median household income:
2000 - $ 27,875
2005 - $ 31,600

Median house value:
2000 - $ 56,100
2005 - $ 84,800