Plant City, Florida

History

Plant City's original name was Ichepucksassa (also known as Idasukshed) after the Indian village that once occupied the territory. Its name caused so much confusion that the city was renamed Cork, after the postmaster's Irish hometown. It was finally given the name Plant City in commemoration of Henry B. Plant and his railroad, which significantly boosted the commerce in this primarily agricultural community by incorporating it with the South Florida Railroad.

The columnist John Keasler, who wrote 7,000 columns over 30 years for The Miami News, hailed from Plant City.

Country singer Pam Tillis was born in Plant City.

Plant City was the spring training home of baseball's Cincinnati Reds, who played exhibition games at Plant City Stadium from 1988 to 1997.

In popular culture

Geography

Plant City is located at 28°1′N 82°8′W (28.0142, -82.1289).

According to the United States Census Bureau the city has a total area of 22.8 square miles (59 km²), of which 22.6 square miles (59 km²) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²), or 0.53%, is water.

The city and its surrounding area are in the Southern Flatwoods ecological community as defined by the US Department of Agriculture. [1] The region as a whole is noted for its sandy, infertile, and poorly drained soils. In and around Plant City, however, high organic matter content and scattered phosphate nodules make many of the soils more fertile than typical for the flatwoods.

Climate

Plant City, as does most of Florida, has a humid subtropical climate with humid and hot summers and warm, drier winters. Since the coolest month mean temperature is 61 °F, it narrowly misses the definition of a true tropical climate.

Education

The Hillsborough County School District operates all public schools in Plant City.

Public schools

Simmons Career Center (6-12)
Durant High School (9-12)
Plant City High School (9-12)
Strawberry Crest High School - Dover, FL (9-12)
Simmons Exceptional Center (K-12)
Teen Parent East Program (K-12)
Tomlin Middle School (6-8)
Turkey Creek Middle School (6-8)
Marshall Middle School (6-8)
Plant City Adult Learning Lab (GED Prep)
Walden Lake Elementary (K-5) Burney Elementary School (preK-5) Stonewall Jackson Elementary (k-5)

Private schools

Evangelical Presbyterian Church Learning Center (PK)
First Presbyterian Learning Center II (PK-K)
St. Clement Early Education Center (PK)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 29,915 people, 10,849 households, and 7,843 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,321.9 people per square mile (510.4/km²). There were 11,797 housing units at an average density of 521.3 per square mile (201.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.67% White, 16.16% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 9.10% from other races, and 1.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.42% of the population.

There were 10,849 households out of which 36.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.7% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.7% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the city, the population was spread out with 29.4% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,584, and the median income for a family was $43,328. Males had a median income of $33,417 versus $23,585 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,815. About 11.3% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.

Aviation

Plant City Airport is a public-use airport located 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest of the central business district.

Railroad

Plant City Union Depot served both the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad even after the merger into the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad until passenger service ceased operations in 1971. The east-west ACL tracks cross the north-south Seaboard tracks at a 90 degree angle at the southeast corner of the station. The station has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. Amtrak's Silver Star still uses the line west-to-eastbound ACL tracks, although it does not stop there. Closest stations are Tampa or Lakeland. Recently, a train-viewing complex was built at the southwest corner of the diamond.

Major highways

Law Enforcement

The Plant City Police Department (PCPD) is the law enforcement agency for the City of Plant City, Florida. The PCPD has a total of 99 personnel, 74 of which are sworn officers, and a $6,000,000 annual budget.

National Register of Historic Places

There are several locations in Plant City which have been included in the National Register of Historic Places. They are:

Attractions

Parks

Alafia River State Park and Alderman's Ford Regional Park are located nearby.

Mural ban

On October 12, 2009, the Plant City Commissioners voted 4-1 to essentially ban all new murals in the Historic District of Plant City. Current murals being painted are not affected by this ban, but no new murals can be painted unless the owner of the building can prove there was an already existing mural on the wall before 1994. The ban was set in motion by a complaint about a recent mural by Blake Emory- a rendition of Norman Rockwell's "April Fools" - contained a sex organ in the painting. Even though the creators of the mural insisted it was not intentional, and immediately altered the section of the mural, City Commissioners hastily cast the vote adding that they may revisit this ban in the future. City Commissioner Bill Dodson was the only vote against the ban saying he was looking for a more thought out and complete ordinance over an immediate and outright ban.

Sister cities

Plant City has formalized sister city agreements with the following city: