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.
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