Your Guide to Buying a Home in Archer, FL

Buying a Home in Archer, Florida

(Charles E. Pearson House)

Archer is located in Alachua County

Archer is located in southwest Alachua County and was originally called Deer Hammock. The town was laid out in 1853 by the Florida Railroad responsible for building the railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key. The town was renamed by U.S. Senator and town resident, David Levy Yulee, around 1855 in memory of his friend, James T. Archer, Florida's first Secretary of State. The town of Archer enjoys a special notoriety in American history. At the end of the Civil War part of Confederate treasury was hidden on the Cottonwood Plantation, Yulee's home. The funds were seized later while being transported from Cottonwood to the train station at Waldo. Archer's second claim to infamy was a political scandal in 1876 when Democratic voters overwhelmingly and suspiciously voted for U.S. Presidential candidate Rutherford B. Hayes, sealing the victory of the Ohio Republican. The unlikely Archer vote was challenged, but a board of seven Republicans and six Democrats ruled 7 to 6 in favor of there having been no tampering a judgment that still raises eyebrows in Florida.

Today Maddox Foundry, once a manufacturer of locomotives for the Florida Railroad, still operates a plant in town, although they no longer produce the iron horses that helped forge Florida's history. Other industry includes Monterey Boat Manufacturing. Archer hosts Yulee Day in midsummer, and the African Fall Harvest in November. Of particular interest is T. Gilbert Pearson Day, honoring Archer resident and one of the founders of the Audubon Society. This event is hosted in November and is enjoyed by recreational birdwatchers and scholars alike.