Folks have speculated that Midway was derived from its location midway between Pensacola and Jacksonville or between Quincy and Tallahassee. In fact, in the 1800s, Midway was a bustling city named Salubrity. The early history of this intriguing city includes periods of Indian warfare and slavery. In 1835, Robert Meacham, the son of a slave and a Caucasian doctor in Salubrity, made what may be the first documented attempt to integrate public schools in Gadsden County. The attempt was unsuccessful, but his parents educated him at home, and he later made many contributions to the community. Meacham established many African Methodist Episcopal Churches in Florida, organized 2,000 freemen in Monticello, joined the Republican Party, and was elected to the Florida State Senate, where he was responsible for the passage of the Public Education Bill of 1869.

The Old Spanish Trail ran through Salubrity, and both stagecoaches and trains brought travelers to and from the town. By the 1900s, the town was known as Midway, home to a brickyard, a fuller’s earth mine, a prison camp, sawmills, lumber companies, a turpentine company, and various stores. Midway, as we know it today, was incorporated in 1986. Through the efforts of many, the community has come together to work towards preserving its historic integrity and developing clean industry within the city.