Melrose, Florida

Melrose is an unincorporated community in Alachua, Bradford, Clay, and Putnam counties in the U.S. state of Florida. It lies on State Road 26, approximately 30km east of Gainesville and approximately 80km southwest of Jacksonville. The town lies on Lake Santa Fe and the Santa Fe River.HistoryMelrose was settled in the second half of the 19th century at the crossing of the Bellamy Road and the Starke-Orange Springs Road, near the Eliam Church and Shakerag race course, and about one mile from the older settlement of Banana. The new town was named Melrose after Melrose Abbey in Melrose, Scotland. It was reported that the ladies of the town did not want it to be known as Shakerag. The town of Melrose included part of the Shakerag race course, but there was no settlement at the Shakerag race course before Melrose was settled, and Tolles states that "o say Melrose used to be called Shake Rag is poetic license."