The Old Country
A Bit of History
1765 British map titled, “A New and Accurate Map of Florida” which is not very accurate, few of the rivers shown exist. The area highlighted is approximate location of The Old Country.
Micanopy, the oldest permanent settlement in the interior of Florida, was first settled in 1821, which was rather late considering that it is only eighty miles from the oldest settlement in the in United States, St. Augustine, which was settled 250 some years earlier in 1565. Flemington, or the Old Country as Dad called it, just a few miles southwest of Micanopy, was settled not long after Micanopy.
With the conclusion of the Seven Years War, in 1763 Spain transferred the Florida territory to the Great Britain in return Britain returned control of Havana, Cuba to Spain. By this time the Native Indians had markedly decreased, in large part due to diseases introduced by the White men. Under British control, most of the Spanish left Florida retreating to Cuba while the British, occupied with the northern colonies, established only a minimal presence in Florida, mainly at St. Augustine and a smaller presence in western Florida at Pensacola. The British largely left the interior of Florida to the native Indians which, for the most part, got along with the British. What remained of the Natives developed into the Seminole tribe which remained mostly in the center of Florida with concentrations in the Alachua Savana (now Paynes Prairie) area.