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Gainesville Florida Bison Garment-Dyed Heavyweight Tee

Gainesville Florida Bison Garment-Dyed Heavyweight Tee

$36.00 USD
$36.00 USD
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There are wild bison in Florida — and they live just outside Gainesville. Paynes Prairie, the state's first preserve, keeps a herd on 21,000 acres of savanna where steamboats once crossed a vanished lake. This tee puts the prairie's most improbable resident at the center of a vintage Gainesville badge.

What's with the bison?

Wild American bison roam Paynes Prairie, Florida's first state preserve — 21,000 acres of savanna minutes from downtown Gainesville. The prairie has been improbable for centuries: William Bartram made the Great Alachua Savanna famous in 1774, and from 1871 to 1891 the whole basin turned into a lake deep enough for steamboat lines before draining away in days. Bison were returned to the preserve in the 1970s, and today they share the grass with wild-roaming horses — a scene most people cross the country to see, twenty minutes from a college town.

Crafted from soft heavyweight garment-dyed premium 6.1 oz ring-spun U.S. cotton, the tee pairs a soft, lived-in hand with enduring structure — relaxed straight silhouette, tubular knit body, double-needle hems, and a smooth, tag-free neckline. Finished with the classic city badge small on the front and the bison badge bold across the back, dyed after sewing so every colorway carries that sun-faded depth from day one. Merlin Classics makes vintage Gainesville tees and apparel.


  S M L XL 2XL 3XL
Width, in 18.25 20.25 22.00 24.00 26.00 27.75
Length, in 26.62 28.00 29.37 30.75 31.62 32.50
Sleeve length from center back, in 16.25 17.75 19.00 20.50 21.75 23.25
Size tolerance, in 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.50

QUICK FACTS — GAINESVILLE FL GARMENT-DYED HEAVYWEIGHT TEE

Town: Gainesville, Florida

Founded: 1854; incorporated 1869

Known for: Paynes Prairie Preserve, Florida’s first state preserve; the Devil’s Millhopper; the Duckpond historic district

Art: Gainesville vintage retro logo, original engraving (printed)

Wild bison roam Paynes Prairie, minutes from downtown Gainesville

Paynes Prairie became Florida's first state preserve in 1971

The prairie spans roughly 21,000 acres of wet savanna

William Bartram made the Great Alachua Savanna famous in 1774

From 1871 to 1891 the prairie was a lake crossed by steamboats

Blank: heavyweight garment-dyed tee, relaxed fit, tubular body

Made to order in the USA



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Wear Local. Feed Local. Stay Classic.

Product FAQs

How does your sizing work?

Every item is made to order, so please check the size chart on this page before you buy. Women's fitted tees run small; size up for a looser fit. Caps are one size with an adjustable strap.

How are items made and when will they arrive?

We make each item to order using premium blanks, embroidery and soft-hand prints. Production takes 2-5 business days (weekends and holidays excluded), then 4-10 days in transit via USPS, UPS or FedEx to U.S. addresses; most orders arrive within 6-15 business days. You'll get a tracking link the moment it ships. Any current shipping offer is shown in the bar at the top of every page and applies automatically at checkout, no code needed.

How do I send a gift?

Enter the recipient's address as the shipping address and your own as the billing address at checkout. Nothing ships with a price; the package includes a plain packing slip. Tracking goes to your email, not theirs. For birthdays and holidays, order two weeks ahead to be safe.

What's the return policy?

Made-to-order items can't be returned or exchanged for size or color, so please use the size chart and photos before ordering. If anything arrives defective, misprinted or damaged, send a photo and your order number within 30 days and we'll replace it or refund you.

How do I care for my item?

Apparel: wash cold, inside out, with like colors; no bleach; tumble dry low or hang dry. Embroidered pieces: iron inside out to protect the stitching. Caps: spot clean. Printed glasses and water bottles: hand wash only, no dishwasher, so the artwork lasts. Mugs and engraved glasses are dishwasher safe. Any item-specific care notes are in the description above.

Who makes this?

Merlin Classics is a small Connecticut brand making original retro designs for the towns people love. Every piece is printed, embroidered or engraved to order in the USA, and the business supports hunger relief in the communities our collections celebrate.

More From Gainesville Florida

All Gainesville Florida Items

And yet the wild kept its seat at the table — that is the Gainesville difference. Paynes Prairie became Florida's first state preserve in 1971, returning bison and wild horses to Bartram's savanna. Devil's Millhopper — the 120-foot sinkhole with a rainforest in its bowl — became a geological state park. Sweetwater Wetlands, San Felasco Hammock, Boulware Springs, and the springs country beyond ring the city in green, while the Duckpond's Victorian streets, the Thomas Center's gardens, Depot Park's restored railyard, and Tom Petty Park — named for the city's most famous musical son — keep the town's own story close. Few American cities of this size live this near to their landscape.

Gainesville is where the prairie still runs wild — a North-Central Florida city where you can watch wild bison and free-roaming horses graze a 21,000-acre savanna an hour after walking out of a research lab. The seat of Alachua County since 1854, it grew from a railroad market town on the old cotton frontier into one of America's great college towns, wrapped around Florida's first state preserve and pocked with karst springs and sinkholes that keep the wild close. Live oaks, Spanish moss, black water and green shade: this is real Florida, the interior kind, and Gainesville has never let it go.

Why People Visit Gainesville Florida

Gainesville blends wild Florida and a working college town. Visitors come for the prairie and the springs, the sinkhole country, the historic district's porches and oaks, and a downtown anchored by the Hippodrome's marquee. It is shaded, walkable, and rooted in place — North-Central Florida at its most genuine, with the real Florida outside the city limits and a century of college-town culture inside them.

Gainesville Florida Merlin Classics retro vintage logo featuring North-Central Florida heritage motifs