Newberry to the
yellow building.

Newberry at a glance

• County: Alachua County
• Population: about 8,326 as of 2024
• Distance to the shop: 20.5 miles, about 28 minutes
• The way in: US 27 / US 41

Newberry was hard-rock phosphate country in the late 1880s, with fourteen mines working by 1896, and it turned to farming and watermelons after the trade collapsed in 1914. It has grown almost 13 percent since 2020. It shares the US 27 and US 41 run into Williston with Archer.

Newberry has two main ways out. US 27 / US 41 heads south to Williston, and SR 26, Newberry Road, runs east toward Gainesville past Dudley Farm Historic State Park, a family farm with 21 historic buildings about seven miles west of I-75. For anyone who works in Gainesville, SR 26 is the direct way in and back out every working day.

That mix of highway miles and city stops is steady wear on tires, suspension and brakes, and a lifted truck feels it sooner than a stock one. Wheels, tires and lifts are one of the main things this shop does, and parts come off the shelf in the same building. When a Newberry truck comes down US 27 for new tires, they are mounted and balanced on the same visit instead of a second trip.

Dudley Farm is worth the stop on the way past. Its buildings date from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s and show how Alachua County actually farmed, which fits a town that turned from phosphate to watermelons.

Newberry questions

Do you check the truck over after a lift?

Yes. Steering and suspension parts are checked and torqued before the truck leaves the shop.

Can you handle an insurance claim repair?

Yes. Insurance claims and warranty jobs are handled here by the same techs who do everything else.

Why people drive it

Fifteen things are painted on the front of this building and all of them happen inside it. A truck that comes in for brakes can leave with the lift and the wheels done on the same visit, and the parts and audio counter is in the same room as the bays, so nothing gets sent across town for the next part. For anyone coming from Newberry, that is usually what decides it.