University of Florida Campus

The University of Florida campus is the defining fact of Gainesville, and it is worth spending a few hours walking through. The oldest section around Tigert Hall has some handsome early 20th-century collegiate architecture in red brick and limestone; the newer western end of campus has the Cultural Plaza with the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Harn Museum of Art.

The campus is large — it takes about 30 minutes to walk from the central plaza to the bat houses at Lake Alice. There are maps at the main entrance on University Avenue. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ("the Swamp"), home of the Florida Gators football team, is the largest stadium in Florida; on game days the population of Gainesville essentially doubles. The campus bookstore on University Avenue is a good place to pick up Gators gear.

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A story
The University of Florida was established in Gainesville in 1905 after decades of debate about where Florida should locate its main public university. Gainesville won over Tampa and Ocala largely because of its existing rail connections and the lobbying of local business interests. The campus was built on the site of a former Confederate military post, and some of the original 1906 brick buildings still stand at the historic core of what has grown into one of the largest universities in the United States.