Fort Hogtown, Florida

Hogtown, Florida Historic Marker in Gainesville, Florida

Hogtown, Florida Historical Marker in Gainesville, Florida.

Hogtown, Florida, one of the earliest settlements in Alachua County, was originally a Seminole Indian village where residents raised hogs. The settlement was dubbed “Hogtown” by nearby white people who traded with the Indians. In the late 1820s, Hogtown became a white settlement as American pioneers occupied Indian land from which the terms of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek had removed the Seminole.

During the Second Seminole War (1835-42), a settler’s fort called Fort Hogtown was built at Hogtown, and men from the area organized a mounted rifle company. For several months, members of the Guards periodically paraded and patrolled the countryside to protect the inhabitants against Indians.

In 1854, the town of Gainesville was founded a few miles east of Hogtown.

Today, Hogtown is a part of Gainesville, Florida. There are no remains of the fort, but a historical marker designates the site of the settlement at NW 34th Street and 8th Avenue.

 

©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2025.

Also See:

Florida Forts

Forts Across America

Forts Photo Gallery

Seminole Wars

See Sources.