Waldo, Florida, United States

🇺🇸 Waldo is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States.

History The first major U.S. federal highway in early territorial Florida, Bellamy Road, was constructed in the 1820s–1830s and passed through Waldo from around Lake Santa Fe to the east and on towards the Santa Fe River in the west, where it passed over the river on a natural land bridge at modern O'Leno State Park. In 1853, the Florida Legislature chartered the Florida Railroad to build a line from Fernandina Beach to Tampa, with a branch running to Cedar Key. U.S. Senator David Levy Yulee, president and chief stockholder of the Florida Railroad, made the decision to build the Cedar Key branch first. The section up to Gainesville was completed by 1859, with the intersection of Bellamy Road and the Florida Railroad named Waldo Station, after Senator Yulee's friend Benjamin Waldo, a doctor and politician. In 1876, the railroad branch from Waldo to Ocala was completed.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.6 km²), of which 0.015 square miles (0.04 km²), or 0.74%, is water.

Lake Alto is a freshwater lake east of Waldo.

Education Waldo is served by the School Board of Alachua County. Upon closure of Waldo Community School in 2016, elementary students are now zoned for Chester Shell Elementary in Hawthorne. Students in sixth through twelfth grade attend Hawthorne Middle/High School in nearby Hawthorne. The Alachua County Library District operates a branch library in the city.