Lake City is the county chair of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city’s population was 12,329. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is composed of Columbia County, and had a 2010 population of 67,531. Lake City is 60 miles west of Jacksonville.

Lake City began as the town of Alligator in 1821 close the Seminole agreement known as Alligator Village. Alligator became the seat of Columbia County in 1832 behind it was formed from Duval and Alachua counties. In 1858 Alligator was incorporated and renamed Lake City. The Battle of Olustee, the largest American Civil War fight in Florida, took place near Lake City in 1864. In 1884 the Florida Agricultural College was time-honored in Lake City as a land inherit college; it was relocated to Gainesville in 1905 to form part of the University of Florida. The city’s sesquicentennial was held in 2009.

Lake City is known as “The Gateway to Florida” because it is against the intersection of Interstate 75 and Interstate 10. The city is the site of Lake City Gateway Airport, formerly known as NAS Lake City. Florida Gateway College is located in Lake City.

In 1539 Hernando de Soto and his Spanish expedition arrived in Tampa Bay. The de Soto expedition proceeded north from Tampa Bay looking for gold. His expedition met a large Native American group called the northern Utina, possibly near present-day Lake City, who were allocation of the western Timucua people. Some northern Utina were led by powerful chiefs. In the 17th century Spanish missionaries standard missions in this area, west of the site of present-day Lake City. Called Santa Cruz de Tarihica, it was used by the Spanish to fabricate agriculture and bring Native Americans within their sphere.