History of Micanopy
Micanopy is the oldest inland town in Florida. Timucuan Indians were the first inhabitants. A Seminole Indian village named Cuscowilla was located on the site when the naturalist William Bartram visited in 1774. The town was included in a land grant made by the King of Spain in 1817 to Don Fernando del la Maza Arredondo of Havana and St. August-ine. Edward M. Wanton was hired to promote settlement in the area and not long after Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821 he established a trading post at the Indian town. Wanton was the name of the first post office established in Alachua County in 1826; but the town was simultaneously referred to as "Micanope" after the Seminole Indian chief (ca., 1785- 1847). A fort established there about 1831 to protect settlers from hostile Indians remained until after the Second Seminole War (1835-42). The town's historic district was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1983.