Micanopy

Sherry and I visited Micanopy yesterday. Micanopy (pronounced Mick-can-oh'-pee) is a pretty little town near Gainesville, noted primarily for antique shops. It was the first inland settlement in Florida. Bailey White writes about driving 200 miles each year to visit the book store there. Mr. Brisky and his book store are still there. We poked around in the store for a while, looking but not buying. It was just as Baily White described it.

I had often wondered about the meaning of the name Micanopy. Then a few days ago I read an account of the Dade Massacre. This was the opening of the Second Seminole War, on December 28, 1835, in which Major Francis L. Dade (Miami-Dade county and Dade City, FL) was killed, along with most of his company of 110 soldiers. Major Dade was reportedly killed by the first shot, fired by a Seminole known as Micanopy.

It seemed strange that a town would be named for an enemy combatant. Especially one notorious for having personally killed an American military leader. A roadside plaque in Micanopy resolved the mystery.

Micanopy is not a name, but a title, meaning "Great Chief". The town, which has been continuously settled since 1821, was referred to both as "Wanton" and "Micanope" in its earliest days. The name was officially changed to "Micanopy" in 1834, prior to the Dade massacre.

The town was, in fact, named for the same Micanopy who later led the Seminoles in the Dade massacre, and has retained that name to this day.