When you arrive in downtown Alachua you'll feel as though you've stepped back in time. Small family-owned shops, restaurants, and a café are nestled along a picturesque Main Street that looks like a scene set in small town America of the 1950’s.
Days Open: Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday
Highlights:
• Shopping and dining along Main Street
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Mill Creek Retirement Home for Horses open to visitors Saturday 11a-3p year round (386) 462.1001
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Ristorante Deneno’s 4960 NW 141st Street, (386) 418.1066, reservations suggested on weekends.
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Conestogas 14920 Main Street, (386) 462.1295 or (386) 462.1295. Open Monday-Saturday.
• The Ivy House 14603 Main Street, (386) 418.1155. Open 7 days 7a-9p, except Sundays they close at 3p.
• New Raman Reti Hari Krishna temple and community (386) 462.2017
Alachua takes its name from an Indian word meaning "sinkhole". A sinkhole in this context is a spring without an effluent stream; the water instead going directly back into the ground. Long-term residents pronounce the city’s name as "auh-LATCH-choo-WAY." Alachua County, which contains Alachua and Gainesville, is pronounced "auh-LATCH-choo-WAH."
The Spanish were the first Europeans to explore the area. They were looking for, and found, land suitable for cattle ranching, but they passed the area by, leaving it to be settled and ranched by Americans migrating south into North Florida in the 1830's.
Alongside Alachua's mid-20th-century Americana ambience is, perhaps surprisingly, the largest Hare Krishna community in the Western Hemisphere. Visitors are invited to New Raman Reti to learn more about this form of Hinduism.
Alachua features three destination restaurants: Ristorante Deneno’s, which serves gourmet Italian food, Conestogas, which serves traditional American fare, and The Ivy House, which features traditional southern cooking with a gift shop and full service coffee bar in a beautiful old southern home.
The area is a cave diving mecca drawing scuba divers from around the world. Within minutes of Alachua are the world’s largest fresh water natural springs. Blue Springs, Poe Springs, and Ginnie Springs are renowned cave diving centers whose crystal clear waters stay at a refreshing 72 degrees all year. For more information, see our listing for the city of High Springs.
Mill Creek Farm Retirement Home for Horses provides a home for 80 horses who wander the quiet countryside and rolling emerald hills of Mill Creek Farm.
Alachua is a pretty town surrounded by rolling hills and horse farms, and it's only 16 miles from the University of Florida, making it an attractive location for high tech startups looking for a place to set up shop. Alachua is home to 21 companies working in biotechnology, genetics, agricultural engineering, environmental engineering, electronics, and software development.
Alachua is 16 miles northwest from Gainesville.
