History · Riverview

Riverview’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Riverview. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

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The story

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Riverview was founded in 1885 on the Alafia River's north shore. However, in the 1830s settlers arrived on the south side of the river at an area formerly known as Peru (pronounced "Pe-Roo") because Peru was an indigenous name for "straight part of the river". Peru existed for nearly 100 years and was one of the oldest settlements in central Florida. It wasn't until the 1940s that Riverview absorbed Peru, and now claims the south side of the Alafia River. The Peruvian Mining Company, which mined phosphate from the Alafia, took its name from the settlement. The term "Alafia" is translated as "River of Fire" due to the phosphorus on the early riverbottom glowing at night.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
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Then & now

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Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01