Route #14 Ocala - Belleview - Wildwood - Coleman - Sumterville

This route crosses north-central Florida, connecting historic communities that emerged around agriculture, the railroad, and the early inland transportation routes of the state. The journey begins in Ocala, one of the oldest cities in the region, and continues toward Belleview, Wildwood, Coleman, and Sumterville.

Ocala was an important commercial and cattle-ranching center from the nineteenth century onward, while Belleview and Wildwood grew as strategic railroad stops that fueled the area’s agricultural development. Coleman and Sumterville, smaller and less well known, retain a strong rural character and reflect the role these communities played as local hubs for trade and supply.

The landscape alternates between open fields, pine forests, and agricultural land, with secondary roads that follow historic alignments. The route offers a view of an interior Florida where urban growth has been more restrained and where the territorial structure inherited from the past remains clearly visible.

The complete route and its historical context are included in Discovering Florida – Volume 1.