Gadsden County, Florida: A Local Guide for Home Buyers and Homeowners

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Gadsden County covers about 516 square miles between the Apalachicola River on the west and Lake Talquin on the Leon County line, with Quincy as its seat and Interstate 10 crossing the county east to west. About 44,000 people live here.

We put this page together for anyone buying a first house in Quincy, looking at Midway or Havana for the shorter drive to Tallahassee, or refinancing a home you’ve owned for years. You’ll find how the loan limits work, the county’s SHIP program, how property taxes and homestead work here, the storms and tornadoes that have crossed the county, and the phone numbers you’ll need after closing.

Every source for this guide is listed at the bottom of the page.

County seatQuincy
Founded1823
PopulationAbout 44,000
Land area516 sq mi
Big lakesTalquin and Seminole
FHA limit, 1 unit$541,287 in 2026
Conventional limit, 1 unit$832,750 in 2026
School districtGadsden County School District

Cities and areas
Homes and loan limits
Down payment help
Property taxes
Storms and insurance
Jobs, schools, commute
Parks and local favorites
Moving checklist
Buying or refinancing

Quincy, Havana, Chattahoochee and the rest of Gadsden

Gadsden has six incorporated municipalities: Quincy, Havana, Chattahoochee, Gretna, Greensboro and Midway. Plenty of addresses sit outside all of them, in places like Lake Tallavana, Concord, Mount Pleasant, St. Hebron, Hinson and Scotland, and that changes who supplies your water and which government handles your permits.

The county was created on June 24, 1823, and named for James Gadsden of South Carolina, who served as Andrew Jackson’s aide-de-camp in Florida in 1818. Shade-grown cigar wrapper tobacco shaped its economy until the last crop came in 1977. The Gadsden County Courthouse and the Victory Bridge at Chattahoochee are the landmarks people point to.

Quincy

Quincy, established in 1828, sits on US 90, which runs through town as Jefferson Street, 24 miles northwest of Tallahassee and 19 miles southeast of Chattahoochee. I-10 passes about 3 miles south of downtown, and City Hall is at 404 West Jefferson Street.

Most of the city’s National Register sites fall inside the Quincy Historic District, including the Quincy Library, the Stockton-Curry House and the Gadsden Arts Center. Quincy was named an All-America City in 1996.

Havana

Havana grew up around the Georgia, Florida and Alabama Railroad, was platted in 1902 and incorporated on December 5, 1906. US 27 runs straight through the center, about 16 miles from Tallahassee and 25 miles from Bainbridge, Georgia, and SR 12 runs 12 miles west to Quincy.

The town is known for antiques shops, art galleries and specialty stores, and the name itself came from cigars rolled here that people compared to the ones from Havana, Cuba.

Chattahoochee

Chattahoochee holds the northwest corner of the county, with the Apalachicola River as its western edge and the Georgia line as its northern one. The Apalachicola and Victory bridges carry traffic across the river to Sneads in Jackson County.

The town was incorporated on January 22, 1834. Florida State Hospital opened here in 1876, and its Administration Building was adapted from the 1839 officers’ quarters of the old Apalachicola Arsenal. State troops seized that arsenal on January 6, 1861, the first Civil War engagement in Florida.

Midway

Midway sits 12 miles from Tallahassee on I-10, with Exit 192 at US 90 right in town and Quincy 11 miles the other way. The Legislature incorporated it by special act in 1986, which makes it the county’s youngest town.

Gretna and Greensboro

Gretna was settled in 1897, platted in 1905 and incorporated in 1909, and US 90 serves as its Main Street. Greensboro, incorporated in 1911 and named for J.W. Green, sits on SR 12 about 3 miles west of I-10 Exit 174, the same exit Gretna uses.

Lake Tallavana and the county roads

Lake Tallavana, Concord, Mount Pleasant and St. Hebron are among the named communities outside town limits. From Quincy, SR 12 heads to Havana, SR 267 runs north to the Georgia line and SR 268 goes to Midway, and SR 65 and SR 159 fill in the rest of the map.

Buying a Gadsden home and how the loan limits work

The address decides a lot here. Inside Quincy, the city runs its own utilities department. Outside town limits, Talquin Electric Cooperative often supplies the electric, water and wastewater service. Homes near the Ochlockonee, Lake Talquin or the Apalachicola need a flood-zone check, and wooded lots need a plan for falling trees in a storm.

Paying rent in Quincy or Midway? Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll price out a purchase against what your landlord charges.

The FHA and Conventional limits for Gadsden County are in the table below. HUD and FHFA reset them every January, and the table updates itself from HUD’s figures, so it always matches the year you buy in.

Loan limits in Gadsden County for 2026	Maximum loan
FHA, single-family home	$541,287
FHA, two-unit home	$693,050
FHA, three-unit home	$837,700
FHA, four-unit home	$1,041,125
Conventional, single-family home	$832,750

HUD sets the FHA limits and FHFA sets the Conventional limits for every county, and both change each January. This table refreshes itself from HUD's published figures.

As an example with a round number, not a Gadsden price: on a $200,000 purchase, FHA’s 3.5% minimum down payment is $7,000, and the SHIP money described below can cover some or all of it. Text the address of the house you’re watching to 954-816-8820 and we’ll send back a payment and cash-to-close estimate.

Down payment help for Gadsden County buyers

Gadsden runs its own SHIP program with state money, and Florida Housing’s statewide programs are open to buyers here as well. County purchase help goes out first-qualified, first-served, so having your loan approval in hand early matters.

Gadsden County SHIP purchase assistance

Gadsden County’s SHIP plan offers purchase assistance as a 0% deferred loan, with tiers for very low, low and moderate income buyers. On new construction the loan is forgiven over its term as long as you live in the home. The sales price has to stay under the plan’s cap, and you’ll need a homebuyer education certificate from the Gadsden County Extension office.

The county runs this program itself, and its purchase money and award amounts shift with each year’s SHIP allocation. Before you sign a contract in Quincy or Havana, call 888-601-8344 and we’ll find out from the county what the Gadsden SHIP loan pays and whether purchase files are being funded.

Gadsden SHIP plan (PDF)

Gadsden County Housing Program

The county housing program runs housing sessions and home tours in Quincy, with topics like housing resources and property protection, and you register for them at GadsdenCountyFL.gov. The same SHIP plan funds emergency repairs, owner-occupied rehabilitation or replacement, foreclosure prevention and disaster relief after a declared disaster.

If you’re weighing county repair help and a cash-out refinance on a home you already own, text us at 954-816-8820. We’ll check what the Gadsden housing program can do for that property and lay both options side by side.

Gadsden County government

Florida Hometown Heroes (statewide)

Hometown Heroes gives qualified buyers a 30-year fixed first mortgage through Florida Housing plus a 0% second mortgage for down payment and closing costs. Nothing is due monthly on the second, and it’s deferred, not forgiven: you pay it back when you sell, refinance or pay off the house, or when you stop living there.

One buyer needs a full-time job with a Florida-based employer in health care, K-12 schools, first response, public safety, the courts or licensed child care. That covers a nurse in Quincy, a teacher with the school district or a deputy. Active-duty military qualify with any employer, and veterans, Reserve and National Guard members qualify with full-time work for any Florida-based employer. It pairs with FHA, VA, USDA and Conventional loans.

Florida Housing assistance is once in a lifetime, and you can apply only through a participating lender or broker. Use it on the right Gadsden home with the right lender, and call us first at 888-601-8344.

Official program page

FL Assist, FL HLP and HFA Preferred (statewide)

FL Assist is a Florida Housing second at 0%, deferred with no monthly payment, and repaid when you sell, refinance, transfer the home or move out. It works behind a Florida Housing first mortgage: FHA, VA, USDA, or Conventional through HFA Preferred or HFA Advantage. FL HLP is a second you pay down monthly over 30 years, and HFA Advantage PLUS adds a second that’s forgiven over 5 years while you live in the home.

Florida Housing funds these one reservation at a time. Call or text us at 954-816-8820 and we’ll tell you which ones are open for your Midway or Havana purchase and which one stacks best with a Gadsden SHIP loan.

Official program page

With FHA 100% financing, the 96.5% FHA first mortgage sits on top of a down payment assistance second, so a Gadsden buyer can close without putting the down payment in from savings. Assistance funding comes and goes during the year, so call 888-601-8344 before you sign a contract and we’ll confirm which programs have money and how they line up with your loan.

Gadsden property taxes and the homestead exemption

Live in the home as your permanent residence and Florida’s homestead exemption can take as much as $50,000 off its taxable value. In Gadsden, the first $25,000 counts against all property taxes, while the additional exemption counts only against non-school taxes. Homestead also brings Save Our Homes, which holds yearly increases in your assessed value to 3% or the change in CPI, whichever is lower, and when you move to another Florida homestead you can carry some or all of that saved difference with you.

Homestead goes by who owns and lives in the home on January 1, and the application is due March 1 of the following year. A buyer who closes in Quincy or Havana any month of the year files by the next March 1.

Tax collectors usually mail bills in November. Paying in November takes four percent off, December three percent, January two percent and February one percent, and unpaid taxes go delinquent on April 1. If your loan has an escrow account, your servicer pays the Gadsden bill out of it.

Gadsden County Property Appraiser

Phone: (850) 627-7168

Homestead and property records: gadsdenpa.com

Tax bills and payments: Gadsden County Tax Collector, 16 S. Calhoun St., Quincy, (850) 875-6793

Storms, tornadoes and insurance in Gadsden

The storms on Gadsden’s record brought wind, falling trees and a tornado. When Hurricane Michael came ashore near Tyndall Air Force Base in 2018 as a Category 5, the National Hurricane Center recorded a death from a falling tree in Quincy, one of two such inland deaths in Florida.

A tornado in 2024 touched down one May morning near Spooner Road in eastern Gadsden, snapping and uprooting trees across the county before it crossed the Ochlockonee River into Leon County. Its track ran 19.58 miles, up to 900 yards wide, and it was rated EF-2 with peak winds of 115 mph on the Leon side.

Hurricane Idalia in 2023 was lighter here: 129 customers lost power, and crews cleared debris from I-10 near mile marker 167 and past Exit 192.

Pull up the flood zone for any address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center before you offer. Give extra attention to homes near the Ochlockonee, Lake Talquin or the Apalachicola. A high-risk zone, one starting with A or V, makes flood insurance mandatory on an FHA, VA or other federally backed mortgage.
Ask for a wind mitigation inspection along with the home inspection. With wind and falling trees behind most of the damage here, that report can bring your homeowners premium down.
Check your evacuation zone with Florida’s Know Your Zone lookup. Gadsden also keeps a Local Mitigation Strategy, its countywide hazard plan.

Work, schools and the drive to Tallahassee

Shade tobacco shaped Gadsden’s economy for well over a century. Governor William P. Duval brought Cuban tobacco here in 1828, shade growing began around 1829, local growers crossed Cuban and Virginia tobacco to create the Florida Wrapper leaf, and the last shade-grown crop was harvested in 1977.

Talquin Electric Cooperative has its headquarters at 1640 West Jefferson Street in Quincy, and Florida State Hospital is in Chattahoochee. The University of Florida’s North Florida Research and Education Center at 155 Research Rd. in Quincy runs beef and forage, row-crop, specialty crop and natural resources research and is home base for the Florida Peanut Team.

Schools

Public schools are run by the Gadsden County School District, with its office at 35 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Quincy, 850-627-9651. Gadsden County High School is the county’s public high school.

Florida A&M University operates a Research and Extension Center in the St. John community.

Getting around

I-10 crosses the county with interchanges at CR 270A, SR 12, SR 267 and US 90. Before I-10 was built in the late 1960s, US 90 was the main east-west road, and it still links Gretna, Quincy and Midway. US 27 handles the northeast corner through Havana.

A CSX rail bridge crosses the Ochlockonee River in the county, and SR 12, SR 65, SR 159 and SR 267 are the other main routes.

Lakes, rivers and Gadsden favorites

Lake Talquin

Lake Talquin formed on the Ochlockonee River after the Jackson Bluff Dam went up in 1927 and covers about 10,000 acres along the Leon County line. Visit Gadsden lists it as a fishing spot.

Lake Seminole and the Apalachicola

The Jim Woodruff Dam near Chattahoochee was completed in 1957 and holds back Lake Seminole on the Georgia border, about 58.6 square miles of water. Just below it the Apalachicola River begins, and Visit Gadsden lists it as a paddling trip.

Gadsden Arts Center and the Leaf Theater

The Gadsden Arts Center, an accredited art museum, fills a renovated 1912 hardware store in downtown Quincy. Quincy also has the historic Leaf Theater, a cinema that’s also called the Quincy Music Theatre.

Havana PumpkinFest and Havana Market

Havana holds its PumpkinFest downtown each October, and the Havana Market fills the streets on a regular monthly schedule. The Havana History and Heritage Museum doubles as an event venue.

Big Bend Rodeo

The Big Bend Rodeo comes to the Gadsden Horsemen’s Association Arena in Quincy each August.

Quilts, brews and Final Fridays

The PieceMakers Quilt Group holds an annual show and sale in Greensboro. Burned Beard Brewing in Quincy runs a craft brewery and taproom, and downtown Chattahoochee holds Final Friday events.

Quincy has a Coca-Cola story. Local banker Mark W. “Mr. Pat” Munroe encouraged people around town to buy early Coca-Cola stock, and the stock splits that followed made a lot of Gadsden households wealthy.

Moving to Gadsden County: what to set up first

Electric, water and sewer: Talquin Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Quincy, provides electric, water and wastewater service across its territory. The City of Quincy runs its own utilities department, publishes annual water quality reports and handles leaks and outages for city customers, so confirm your provider by address before closing.
Driver license and tag: the Gadsden County Tax Collector at 16 S. Calhoun St. in Quincy handles both. Driver license service runs 8:30 to 4:00 by appointment, with walk-ins if space allows, and all testing requires an appointment. Call (850) 875-6797.
Homestead: once you’ve moved in, apply with the Gadsden Property Appraiser, (850) 627-7168, before March 1.
Library card: the county library has three branches: the William A. McGill Library in Quincy, the Havana Branch and the Chattahoochee Branch.
County government: commission meetings, permits and housing program sign-ups are on gadsdencountyfl.gov. Quincy City Hall is at (850) 618-0020.
Hurricane prep: look up your zone at Know Your Zone and keep a plan for downed trees and long outages.

Buying or refinancing in Gadsden County with AAA Capital Funding

Buying a home

Most Gadsden buyers we work with go FHA: 3.5% down, flexible credit guidelines, and it works with the county’s SHIP loan. Eligible veterans can buy with a VA loan and nothing down, and we also close Conventional loans, Hometown Heroes and FHA 100% financing.

AAA Capital Funding has been a licensed Florida mortgage broker since 1997 and lends statewide in all 67 Florida counties, from Chattahoochee to Key West. We send your file to multiple wholesale lenders, and you’ll know your price range before you tour homes in Quincy or Havana.

Refinancing the home you have

Owners use a refinance to lower the monthly payment, pull cash out for a roof or storm repairs, pay off high-interest debt, or buy a relative’s share of an inherited home off the title.

Call 888-601-8344 and we’ll show you the new payment, the cash in hand and the closing costs on one page for your Gadsden home.

Gadsden County questions we hear a lot

What is the FHA loan limit in Gadsden County, Florida?

The loan limit table on this page has the answer. It shows the FHA limits for one to four units and the one-unit Conventional limit for Gadsden, and it refreshes every January when HUD and FHFA publish the new year’s figures.

Does Gadsden County have down payment assistance?

Yes. The county’s SHIP plan offers a 0% deferred purchase loan, first-qualified, first-served, and statewide programs like Hometown Heroes and FL Assist work here too. Award amounts and funding change during the year, so ask us to confirm before you sign a contract.

Which towns in Gadsden County are incorporated?

Quincy, Havana, Chattahoochee, Gretna, Greensboro and Midway. Lake Tallavana, Concord, Mount Pleasant and St. Hebron are outside town limits.

When do I file for homestead in Gadsden County?

File with the Gadsden County Property Appraiser by March 1 of the year after you buy. You have to own and live in the home on January 1 of the year you’re filing for.

Do tornadoes and hurricanes reach Gadsden?

Yes. Hurricane Michael brought down trees in Quincy in 2018, and an EF-2 tornado started near Spooner Road in 2024. Ask for a wind mitigation inspection, and check the FEMA flood map for homes near the rivers and Lake Talquin, since a high-risk zone requires flood insurance on federally backed loans.

Sources for this guide (32)

AAA Capital Funding, Inc. NMLS #374739. Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700. Licensed Florida mortgage broker serving Gadsden County and all 67 Florida counties since 1997. Equal Housing Opportunity.

You work with the same person from start to finish, in every county in Florida.

We've been closing Florida loans since 1997, in all 67 counties. If you want to know what's possible in Gadsden County, call 888-601-8344 or text 954-816-8820. One call, under ten minutes. No application needed to start.

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AAA Capital Funding, Inc. · NMLS #374739 · Jason J. Sarji, NMLS #374700