Hawthorne is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States, incorporated in 1881. Indigenous peoples of the Americas had been thriving in the Place since on the order of 100 CE; Hawthorne grew a propos their trading trails. Throughout its history, Hawthorne has been known for its agriculture, railroad, and rural lifestyle. Hawthorne’s population was 1,478 at the 2020 census, with an Place of 7.38 sq mi (19.1 km).

People have been vibrant in the Hawthorne area since the mid-Woodland period; a Cades Pond culture (100–600 CE) mound is near the city, and an Alachua culture (600–1700 CE) campsite was found in Hawthorne next aboriginal ceramics and lithics. Timucua-speaking natives were lively in North Florida similar to the Spanish arrived during the 16th century. Natives in Alachua County were associated with Chief Potano, and those in Palatka were associated with Chief Utina. In 1774, William Bartram traveled amid western Alachua County and the Palatka Place on what he called an “old Spanish highway”, an “old Indian and trading trail” which passed through the Hawthorne area. Hawthorne’s history is tied to its crossroads.

A road along with Micanopy and Palatka via the Hawthorne Place appears on an 1837 map. During the 1840s, a mill was constructed on Little Orange Creek, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the middle of present-day Hawthorne. The Pleasant Grove Baptist Church was founded at this time, and a publicize office opened at the mill in 1854. In 1869, the area’s first speculative opened in a log cabin.

Phosphate was discovered close Hawthorne during the late 1870s. Near the similar time, the first subdivision, the Town of Hawthorn, was platted. The area had been previously known as Jamestown—named after James M. Hawthorn. A second subdivision, Waits Crossing, was platted in 1881. The subdivisions provided north–south and east–west rights-of-way, which brought rail service. Track was first laid by the Peninsula Railroad in Hawthorne in 1879 for a north–south line expected to attach Waldo and Ocala. Near the similar time, track laid by the Florida Southern Railroad reached Hawthorne; its east–west parentage was intended to affix Palatka and Gainesville. Each railroad company had a depot in the Hawthorne area, about a half-mile apart. A Hawthorn make known office was received in 1880, and its spelling was distorted to Hawthorne in 1950.