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City of Quincy

404 West Jefferson Street
850-618-0030

City History:

Gadsden County is located in the northwestern part of Florida. Quincy, the county seat, is on U.S. Highway 90 about midway between Pensacola and Jacksonville. Much smaller in land mass than when it was created, the county is approximately 32 miles long and 22 miles wide. The land area of 508 square miles is bounded on the east by the Ochlocknee River, on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the southeast by Lake Talquin and on the north by the State of Georgia. A humid temperature climate prevails, and rainfall is abundant and generally well distributed. The county is one of the foremost agricultural counties in northwest Florida.

Four major geological formations, all sedimentary, occur in Gadsden County at or near the surface of the ground. From the oldest to youngest, these formations are Tampa limestone, the Hawthorn formation, Duplin marl, and the Citronelle formation. Elevations range from about 50 feet above mean sea level to more than 300 feet above mean seal level. Gadsden County has hills!

When Florida became a territory in 1821, Andrew Jackson was appointed Governor and among his first duties, he subdivided the state into two counties  East Florida and West Florida. After several other divisions had taken place, on June 24, 1823, a fifth county generally spoken of as Middle Florida was established. Boundaries for the new county were the Suwannee on the east and the Apalachicola River on the west and it was named Gadsden in honor of James Gadsden, aide-de-camp to General Andrew Jackson in the Florida Campaign of 1818.