Springhill Methodist Church - Traxler, FL
N 29° 52.142 W 082° 32.301
17R E 351426 N 3305266
An old church on a dead end dirt road, yet so close to the highway.
Waymark Code: WM5FMA
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/01/2009
Views: 10
Traxler is a ghost town located in Alachua County, Florida, United States.
History
William H. Traxler, son of settlers from South Carolina, was born near the natural bridge in Columbia County in 1854. In the 1880s he acquired property in Alachua County on the Bellamy Road, opened a general store, and began farming. He married the daughter of Simeon Dell, Mary Lelia, in 1889. Prospering, he increased his holdings and enlarged the commissary. The post office, established in 1891 with Mr. Traxler as postmaster, was discontinued in 1906. At one time the community had a one-room school, a number of tenant farm homes, a cotton gin, grist mill, and church.
Link
Springhill Methodist Church
In December of 1860, five men, including Simeon Dell and Fernando Underwood, acquired land for the church. The church soon errected, using locally-sawed lumber, served the black slave and white community. The original building, although having suffered damage by the windstorm of September 1896, served until 1915 when it was replaced with this building. Graves of many pioneer families of the area are in the adjacent cemetery.