Lake Butler, FL (City)

Lake Butler is the Union County seat, a north-central Florida city whose town grid began in 1859 when 40 acres were purchased and streets were laid out. The name came from an early surveyor, though local stories once tied it to a military hero who never existed. The city’s early economy ran through cattle, lumber, sea-island cotton, turpentine, and the railroad, while the business district grew around general stores and hardware merchants. A 1911 Townsend Brothers building on Main Street now holds a medical office, one reminder that the old commercial street is still part of the city’s map. Lake Butler is a county-seat town with a name, a lake, and a history that still shows up in its buildings.