By Hazel Etheridge

1979
Sometimes, as I watch the almost steady stream of traffic passing through the busy intersection in front of Chiefland High School, I wonder what this place was like years ago and what it will be like many years from now.

How long has the city of Chiefland, located in Levy County in Northwest Central Florida (see map, page 1), been in existence, and what was it like in its early days? Who were the people who may have stood exactly where I am now standing, and what did they see as they looked around? If I could return in 100 years, would there be anything here that I would recognize? No one can answer with certainty my questions about the future of this small-but-growing community, but by researching books, maps, pictures and other records, I can partially satisfy my curiosity about Chiefland's past.

At the time of the arrival of the Spaniards in Florida in the 16th Century, marking the beginning of the historical era in this state, the inhabitants of this area were the Timucuan Indians, whose ancestors had migrated to this area from Asia by crossing the Bering Straits and the North American Continent. Relics of their culture have been found that prove they once had a settlement at Cedar Keys and apparently roamed through this area southward to Ocala. These people were tall, well-built and intelligent. Their homes were a circular arrangement of poles with palm-thatched roofs.

There is evidence that the Spanish explorers, Hernando de Soto, and his men passed through this area in 1539 capturing and massacring the Timucuans, who had a sizable village at Long Pond, just south of present-day Chiefland.

The Spaniards held Florida until 1763 when Spain gave Florida to Great Britain in exchange for Havana. The British held it until 1783 when Spain got it back. Over three years since 1539, the Timucuan natives disappeared from this area. They had been killed by thewhite man or his diseases, had been taken in slavery, or had migrated out of the area. Seminole Indians, "Runaway Creeks," moved into this area in the early 18th Century also during this time, records show that some white settlers of various national origins moved in. There was a settlement at or near present-day Chiefland where some Creek Chieftains and their tribesmen lived peaceably beside their white neighbors and engaged in farming. This is said to be the origin of the name "Chiefland" (Land of the Chiefs). But all was not destined to remain peaceful.

During the time of the second Spanish rule, General Andrew Jackson, accompanied by 1,000 men in 1818, invaded Spanish Florida and seized the Post at St. Marks. There Jackson learned that two men, Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert Armbrister, were believed to be supplying guns and ammunition to the Seminole Indians, who were becoming hostile to the United States. Both men were captured, tied and executed. General Jackson and his men marched to the east of the Suwannee River where Arbuthnot and Ambrister had a thriving trading post near an Indian village (present-day Clay Landing), a few miles from the present-day Chiefland. There he destroyed the post and massacred many Indians.

In l821 Spain ceded Florida to the United States. With the passage in 1842 of a law called the Armed Occupation Act, persons could obtain government-owned lands in Florida, and some people in this area took advantage of this opportunity. Records show the names of four people who obtained land in Levy County near "Charlie Emathla's Town." Was this the same Charley Emathla, Seminole Indian Chief, who was murdered in 1838 during the Wars of Indian Removal?

By the time Florida was admitted to the Union in 1845, the small settlement of present-day Chiefland was being served by two stage-coach routes. One ran from Lukens, near Cedar Key, through Vista, and at Clay Landing turned toward Long Pond, running east. It is well defined on a Plat, part of which was drawn in 1843. The other route, it is said, came from the east coast and continued on to the northern part of the state.

During this period, several plantations were developed in the area. Around 1860, Isaac P. Hardee, one of these slave-holding plantation owners, built the first home in this region to be made of boards, replacing his earlier plantation home, which was constructed of hand-hewn logs and chinked with clay. This wooden, two-story dwelling, still in use today, is within sight of the city limits of present-day Chiefland, and since the Hardee land holdings extended outward for miles, most of the land on which Chiefland is located must have been, at one time, part of this plantation. A settlement, call Hardeetown, developed on this plantation and was later incorporated into present-day Chiefland.

This area saw some military action during the Civil War (1861-1865). A small battle between the North and the South was fought at Clay Landing. Legend records that a Negro, Jerry Goldwire, leading a small contingent of Northern soldiers armed with small cannons, freed the slaves in this area after a smart skirmish. Thereafter, he married a former Hardee slave and remained in the area unharmed.

By 1889, Chiefland had a general store, post office, school house, grist mill and a sawmill. These were mostly in the area now known as Avenue (See Avenue on city map, page 8))* Isaac Roger and Bryan Smith were merchants here at that time. H. S. Roger was the first postmaster, and the post office was in northeast Chief land about where Mecca's Animal Hospital is now.

By 1900 an ever-increasing number of settlers were establishing homes in Chiefland. Mercantile establishments were coming into being. Several physicians and an attorney had opened offices here, as well as a barber and a surveyor. In 1913, it is recorded, two lots were purchased for $35 each, the site of a large store building. At this time, the post office shared space in another store building on the present location of the Chiefland Theater. Sills Weeks, a veteran of the Civil War, was a well-known storekeeper. His place of business was located about where Bad- cock's Furniture Store is now located on Main Street (south of the railroad tracks).

Chief land had two churches by 1913. The Methodist Church, which was located in the northwest section of present-day Chiefland (then called "Hardeetown"), had been organized in 1861 on the front doorsteps of Isaac P. Hardee's plantation home. The other church was the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, which stood near the east side of the present Chiefland Cemetery. This later became the First Baptist Church.

In 1913, the year it was surveyed, Chiefland obtained its charter. When it was incorporated in 1929, Etter Usher, Sr., served as the first mayor, with Graham Carter having served as Mayor before that time. Land was set aside in the center of town for a park and a city hall building by the Chiefland Development Company, which also subdivided a plat of 160 acres of land into lots for homes and businesses. Early officers of this company were Claude E. Rodgers (for whom Rodgers Park was named), Etter Usher, Sr., and Graham Carter.

Voting and other civic affairs were conducted in a small, octagonal structure that stood in the park. This odd, little building, built in 1921, was later made into an attractive public library.

The first school in Chiefland was built by Graham Carter about 1914 and housed about 30 pupils. "It was a small, wood-frame building in a field behind the present Carter home. The second school, built about 1915, was located where Orange Avenue is now. It faced north, between Clay and Boundary Streets. This school and one at Hardeetown later merged in 1931 to form the present-day Chiefland High School.

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which arrived in 1915 with its wood burning engine, was a big factor in the continuing development of the town of Chiefland. This railroad sealed the doom of Levyville, a thriving Levy County community of that era, resulting in the eventual moving of families and businesses from Levyville to Chiefland.

In the 1930s, when a survey was made by the Federal Government, Chiefland had a population of 421. It was described in the report as being a "a town of old frame buildings with tin roofs, shaded by water oaks and chinaberry trees," a shipping center for turpentine, rosin, livestock and peanuts.

Chiefland continued to grow over the years from a population of 421 in the Thirties to 1,459 in 1960. The 1970 census showed a population of 1,965.

Today Chiefland is a small, modern, progressive town. U. S. Highways 19, 27A and 98 pass through it, making the town truly a crossroads. In 1974, the population was estimated to be 2,245. Chiefland has progressed so much that very few of the "frame buildings with tin roofs" remain, and I do not know the location of a single chinaberry tree, so prevalent in the Thirties. The stores are modern and offer every service to be found in any town of similar size in the state. The annual Watermelon Festival, staged in June, brings thousands of visitors to the town." Well-lighted streets, attractive homes, a progressive newspaper, a fully accredited school, numerous churches -- all help make Chiefland the major community of Levy County.

This beautiful little town is what I see as I stand here at the busy crossroads today -- and I wonder who will some day stand in my footprints and what they will see?

Chiefland history provided by the Levy County Archives Committee, Donna Lindsey, president