Alachua County residents used to have beach access. Back then, Alachua County stretched north to Georgia, west to the Gulf of Mexico and south past Tampa. Florida had only been a territory for three years when Alachua County formed on Dec. 28, 1824, as the seventh county. Now, Alachua County enters its 200th year a fraction of its original size. It’s the matriarch of 14 other counties, mostly sliced off to accommodate Florida’s growing population and organization as a state.