Florida Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee announced today that the City of Lake Butler has been accepted to the Certified Local Government (CLG) program following certification by the National Park Service.
“I am pleased to welcome Lake Butler as Florida’s 81st Certified Local Government,” said Secretary Laurel M. Lee. “The City will now partner with the Division of Historical Resources to preserve resources associated with its important agricultural past and role as the seat of Union County.”
Lake Butler joins a network of more than 2,000 Certified Local Governments in the United States. The town will now benefit from training and technical support provided by the Division of Historical Resources to enhance local historic preservation efforts of its unique historic and cultural resources. In order to become eligible for the Certified Local Government program, Lake Butler passed a local historic preservation ordinance and assembled a qualified historic preservation commission. The CLG program encourages decision making about historic preservation at the local level with input from citizens and local government.
The City of Lake Butler is the county seat of Union County, Florida. Incorporated in 1893, Lake Butler derives its namesake from Colonel Robert Butler, an American military officer and the first Surveyor General of the Florida Territory. The cattle, lumber, and sea island cotton industries provided a basis for early economic development of the community. Despite growth as a result of the railroad, Lake Butler retained its unique rural character. The city remains an agricultural community with historic resources associated with Florida’s early timber and agricultural industries. The certification of Lake Butler as a Certified Local Government solidifies its vision to protect and promote its historical, cultural and archaeological resources associated with Florida’s historically significant industries.
By joining the Certified Local Government program, Lake Butler will now receive support in the form of training, technical assistance and grant funding to support the town’s local historic preservation efforts. With this support, Lake Butler is seeking to conduct a survey of its historic resources.
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