Getting Here and Getting Around: GNV's Business of Transport

5 Locations | Curated by Catherine Hill

Trains, planes, automobiles, and buses have been part of Gainesville’s business community since its establishment in 1856. While the industries overlap, it is interesting to see how new innovations in transportation competed and displaced each other, unmistakably reflected in Gainesville’s Downtown structure and city layout.

Some reports suggest parts of the Depot were first constructed during the Civil War in the 1860s. The Old Gainesville Depot formerly known as both the Seaboard Air Line Depot and Baird's Warehouse was officially constructed in 1907, according to the National Register of Historic Places. It…
View Story | Show on Map

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) operated in Gainesville from 1902 to the last passenger train running through Gainesville in 1971. The first depot was located at the corner of W Main Street N and Mechanic Street, as referenced in a local guide of Gainesville 1937. The railroad ran through W…
View Story | Show on Map

Over the years Star Garage served as home to several businesses and underwent many renovations in response to several fires and the changing downtown business district. In 1903, the Crawford and Davis Livery Stable (horse) stable was built on the future site of the Star Garage, following a fire of…
View Story | Show on Map

John Brasington started Brasington Oldsmobile Agency in 1935, later acquiring Cadallic in 1938. Brasington Cadallic-Oldsmobile operated as a family business from its establishment in 1935 to 2008, when John Brasington’s retired and they decided to shut down operations. For 35 years, Brasington sold…
View Story | Show on Map

From 1932-1940. Gainesville had a small private airport where Carl Stengel ran his flight school. During this period the area served only as an emergency airport, the airstrip was located at present-day Bulter Plaza.  In 1940, construction as part of a Local Works Progress Administration Project…
View Story | Show on Map