Home to over 400 thoroughbred farms and training centers, Ocala is considered the "Horse Capital of the World".

[12] The Spaniard Hernando de Soto's expedition recorded Ocale in 1539 during his exploration through what is today the southeastern United States.

The site of Ocale has not been found, but historians believe it was located in southwestern Marion County, near the Withlacoochee River.

After foreign colonial rule shifted between Spain and Great Britain and back again, in 1821 the United States acquired the territory of Florida.

After warfare to the north, in 1827 the U.S. Army built Fort King near the present site of Ocala as a buffer between the Seminole, who had long occupied the area, and white settlers moving into the region.

The fort was an important base during the Second Seminole War and later served in 1844 as the first courthouse for Marion County.

[22] Rail service reached Ocala in June 1881, encouraging economic development with greater access to markets for produce.

[1][2] In December 1890, the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union, a forerunner of the Populist Party, held its national convention in Ocala.

This platform included abolition of national banks, promoting low-interest government loans, free and unlimited coinage of silver, reclamation of excess railroad lands by the government, a graduated income tax, and direct election of United States senators.

[citation needed] In the last decades of the twentieth century, the greater Ocala area had one of the highest growth rates in the country for a city its size.

Ocala structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places include the Coca-Cola Building, the E. C. Smith House, East Hall, the Marion Hotel, Mount Zion A.M.E. Church, the Ritz Historic Inn, and Union Train Station.

[23] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 47.79 square miles (123.8 km2), all land.

[36] The first thoroughbred horse farm in Florida was developed in Marion County in 1943 by Carl G. Rose.

44,000 jobs are sustained by breeding, training, and related support of the equine industry, which generates over $2.2 billion in annual revenue.

The mayor sets policy but has few powers other than vetoing legislation passed by the council and tending to some duties involving the police department.

[42] In the 2008 presidential election, John McCain carried both the city and the county, the latter by a landslide, although Florida as a whole voted for Democrat Barack Obama by a narrow margin.

The college offers specialty programs in equine studies, agribusiness, and logistics and supply chain management.

[50] It also has one of 21 campuses of Rasmussen College, a Higher Learning Commission regionally accredited post secondary institution.

[51][52] Webster University offers on-site, regionally accredited graduate degree programs in business and counseling at their Ocala Metropolitan Campus.

One of the major hubs for Suntran is the former Ocala Union Station, which served Amtrak trains until November 2004.

Marion Transit is the complementary ADA paratransit service for SunTran the fixed route in the City of Ocala.