Welcome to Ocala City Guide

In 1995, Ocala was named an All-America-City winner

Ocala was established in 1846 near the site of Fort King, a military outpost of the Seminole Wars. Ocala is a derivation of the Timucua word "Ocali" which is believed to mean the "Kingdom of the Sun." Hernando de Soto (explorer) passed through a Timucua village or province named Ocali or Ocale near the present site of Ocala during his famous expedition through what is today the southeastern United States in 1539. Greater Ocala and Marion County are still known as the "Kingdom of the Sun."

Rail service reached Ocala in June 1881, encouraging economic development. Several years later, much of the Ocala downtown area was destroyed by fire on Thanksgiving Day, 1883. Buildings were rebuilt with brick, granite, and steel rather than lumber. By 1888, Ocala was known state-wide as "The Brick City."

In December 1890, the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union, a forerunner of the Populist Party (United States) held its national convention in Ocala. At the convention, the Alliance adopted a platform that would become known as the "Ocala Demands." This platform included abolition of national banks, low interest government loans, free and unlimited coinage of silver, reclamation of excess railroad lands by the government, a graduated income tax, and direct election of United States Senators. Most of the "Ocala Demands" were to become part of the Populist Party platform.

Ocala was an important center of citrus production until the "Big Freeze" of 1894-1895.

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Volusia County Putnam Penny Savers practices censorship of business ads.