I get it that some folks down at City Hall don’t understand why GNV’s official logo has a little choo-choo on it.
What’s that all about? We don’t got no stinkin railroads. We deserve a logo that’s hip, up to date….relevant.
How’s this for relevancy?
Turns out that high mucky-muck state politicians messing with little ole GNV is not a recent phenomenon. Indeed, it’s practically a Florida tradition.
And if not for a little choo-choo that could, GNV might look like Micanopy today. And Micanopy could well be Florida’s flagship university city.
Talk about a twist of fate worth memorializing, logo wise.
I take today’s text from Gregg M. Turner’s fascinating book “A Journey Into Florida Railroad History.
Turner takes us back to that fateful summer of 1858, when tycoon David Yulee was getting ready to run his railway across the state from Fernandina to Cedar Key.
“About this time, Gov. Madison Starke Perry departed from his plantation near Micanopy to meet with Yulee and his directors in Fernandina.”
“…After pleasantries were exchanged, the state’s chief magistrate demanded that Yulee’s firm alter its route between Waldo and Cedar Key so it would pass through Micanopy and not Gainesville.”
“…Yulee was dumbfounded by the request and it devolved upon his fellow directors to explain to Perry why it was impossible at this late date.”
Perry was neither understanding nor gracious.
He proceeded to the Legislature, where he “accused the Florida Railroad of numerous irregularities, such as issuing illegal bonds, building a poorly-constructed bridge from Fernandina to the mainland using state funds…” and such.
Legislators did what it does best. It formed a committee and spent months investigating. Only to conclude that most of the Guv’s charges were baseless, exaggerated or caused “no irreparable harm.”
Yulee proceeded to follow his preferred route, through GNV, “which no doubt infuriated Perry.”
And certainly delighted the good folks of GNV.
Listen, if not for Yulee’s willingness to stand up to a slave-owning politician, GNV today might be stuck with an antique shop economy while making a few bucks on the side standing-in as the occasional setting for an authentic Florida period movie.
And we might be cheering on the Gators in a stadium overlooking Tuscawilla Lake.
So maybe GNV has good reason to remember, and celebrate, Yulee’s little choo-choo for laying the groundwork that made this city what it is today.
Not that there’s anything wrong with Micanopy, mind you.
It’s a great place to visit, eat some ice cream and shop for antiques. But I wouldn’t want to live there.
(P.S.) Not to forget that GNV is today the county seat because the railroads bypassed Newnansville and turned it into a ghost town.)
Heck, given the way Gator football has been doing, I gotta wonder if UF has the wrong mascot. Maybe have more luck with the little choo-choo that could.
