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Ocala

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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(a Seminole word for green or fertile land), a city and the county-seat of Marion county, Florida, U.S.A., in the N. central part of the state, about roo m. S.W. of Jacksonville. Pop. (1900) 33 80, (1905) 4493, of whom 2467 were negroes (1910) 437 0 It is served by the Seabord Air Line and the Atlantic Coast Line railways. About 6 m. E. is Silver Spring, the largest and best known of the springs of Florida. Its basin is circular, about 600 ft. in diameter; it is about 65 ft. in depth, and its waters are remarkable for their transparency and refractive powers. According to the estimate of Dr D. G. Brinton, the spring discharges more than 300,000,000 gallons of water daily, its outflow forming what is known as Silver Spring Run, 9 m. long, emptying into the Oklawaha river and navigable by small river steamers. For the drainage and sewerage of the city a subterranean river whose source and mouth are unknown is utilized. The city is the seat of the Emerson Memorial and Industrial Home (Methodist Episcopal) for negro girls. Ocala was settled in 1845, but its development dates from 1880, when it was first chartered as a city. In December 1890 it was the meeting-place of the National Convention of the Farmers' Alliance, which promulgated a statement of political principles generally known as the "Ocala Platform." (See FARMERS' MOVEMENT.)