Hialeah to Gainseville: what's in a name? - Orlando / Florida Guide
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And here are some more of the origin of Florida place names
Lets start with Hialeah in Hillsborough County. Again this has its origins in Muskogee and it translates thus; haiyakpo is a prairie and hili means pretty so there we are, pretty prairie.
Fernandina Beach in Nassau Counts gets your tongue in a twist. It' s origins lay in Cuba which of course was once known as Fernandina. It is one of the oldest cities in the United States.
Fenholloway in Taylor County means we have to once more brush up on our Muskogee. finalui means footlog and halwi is simply high thereforte making high footlog.
Altamonte Springs is in Seminole County and Altamonte in Spanish means High Hill.
Bithio is in Orange County Bithio is from the Muskogee word pilo which means canoe. A most important element for the hunting, fishing Native Americans.
Arcadai is in De Soto County and was named to honour Arcadia Albritton. She was the daughter of an early settler and she baked a cake for rev James Hendry who enjoyed it so much he promptly named the town for her.
Fort Myers is simply named to honour an officer in the U. S. army. Fort Myers is in Lee County.
Blounstown is in Calhoun County and was named to honour a Native American John Blount. Does not sound very Native American does it?
Cedar Key is in Levy County and is so named because it was once smothered in cedar trees. Simple, no unpicking needed.
Cape Canaveral is in Brevard Countyu. Canaveral is the Spanish word for a place of cane. Again, a simple one to solve (if you know your old Spanish)
The locals put up a good fight to restore the name to Canaveral and won the day.
Groveland is in Lake County. It was originally called Taylorville but the amount of citrus that grew here meant that the name change was an obvious choice.
De Funiak Springs is in Walton County and rather disappoiningly is named after Col Fred Defuniak who was a prominent staff member of the railroad.
Gainesville is in Alachula County and is named to honour Gen Edmund Pendelton for it was he who captured Aaron Burr. Aaron Burr had had a distinguished career as a lawyer and poitician but he killed a rival in a duel.
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