Spring Hill, Florida

History and overview

Spring Hill first appeared on Hernando County maps in the mid-1800s along what is today Fort Dade Avenue just north of the community of Wiscon. The modern Spring Hill was founded in 1967 as a planned community, which was developed by the Deltona Corporation and the Mackle Brothers who built the community. The plans for the community are actually identical to the community of Deltona, Florida. The Mackle Brothers sold many of the properties and land in the area through intense advertising. It appeared on maps of Florida as early as 1856. It has since become a sprawling semi-city in its own right, though it is an unincorporated area. The main entrance to the original development is marked by the Spring Hill waterfall on Spring Hill Drive and U.S. Route 19 (Commercial Way). Its location has Hernando Beach to the west, Brooksville, Florida to the east, and Tampa to the south via the Suncoast Parkway, US 41, and I-75.

Spring Hill's proximity to Tampa, approximately 35 miles (56 km) south, and the completion of the Suncoast Parkway in 2001 have made it easily accessible to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

Education

Spring Hill has several schools, both public and private, which provide primary and secondary education to local children. There are also several options for higher education that are easily accessible from the Spring Hill area.

Primary and secondary education

Public schools in Spring Hill are part of the Hernando County School Board school system, which oversees all public schools in Hernando County. The main public schools that serve the Spring Hill area are:

High Schools

Middle Schools

K-8 Schools

Elementary Schools

In addition to the public schools in Spring Hill, there are also several private schools:

Higher learning

Spring Hill is also home to the new 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m²) campus of Pasco–Hernando State College called Spring Hill Campus. This was the fourth campus built out of the five now in existence.

Libraries

The Hernando County Public Library system operates several libraries in and around the Spring Hill area, such as the West Hernando Branch Library and the Spring Hill Branch Library, which serves as a replacement of the Little Red Schoolhouse Branch Library. The historic Little Red Schoolhouse Branch Library has since been converted into a bookstore whose proceeds benefit the library system.

Healthcare

Healthcare in Spring Hill is quite abundant and continues to grow. There are three accredited hospitals in the area, Bayfront Health Spring Hill Hospital, Oak Hill Hospital and the newest, Bayfront Health Brooksville Hospital. With a large senior citizen population, Spring Hill contains many nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities including Spring Hill Health and Rehab, Evergreen Woods Assisted Living Facility and Health South Rehab (an affiliate of Oak Hill Hospital). Bayfront Health Spring Hill is the only facility in the Hernando County with obstetrical services.

Recent developments

JCPenney opened a store on U.S. Route 19 (Commercial Way), just south of Spring Hill Drive in Spring 2008, adjacent to the store is a 250,000-square-foot (23,000 m²) shopping center that include many stores and restaurants, including: Best Buy, Cracker Barrel, Office Depot, Ross & Sports Authority. A Kohl's on Spring Hill Drive, just east of the Suncoast Parkway opened in Fall 2008; a Target was constructed at the same location and opened in July 2009. Just a few miles south of Kohl's and Target off of the Suncoast Parkway at County Line Road and Anderson Snow Road is a new plaza called The Shoppes of Avalon. Their anchor store is Publix which opened fall of 2009. There is also a Nail Star, China Star & Leo Liquors. The newest businesses that have opened on SR 50 are Five Guys, Texas Roadhouse, Panera Bread, HHGregg, Marina and a Burger King.

Tourism

Nearby Weeki Wachee Springs is home to the famous live mermaid show and Florida's only spring-fed water park, Buccaneer Bay.

Media

There are two print newspapers that serve the area: the Hernando Times (a publication of Tampa Bay Times), and the Hernando Sun.

Spring Hill belongs in the Tampa Bay Area media market, the 13th largest designated market area in the United States.

Notable people

Geography

Spring Hill is located at 28°28′44″N 82°32′52″W (28.478929, & 82.547732). According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 54.8 square miles (142 km²), of which 53.1 square miles (138 km²) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km²) (3.12%) is water.

Demographics

As of 2010, there were 44,435 households, with 32.1% being vacant. In 2000, there were 28,274 households out of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.2% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.74.

In 2010, the CDP the population was spread out with 19.5% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 21.2% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 29.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $32,861, and the median income for a family was $37,608. Males had a median income of $30,076 versus $21,364 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $17,184. About 15.5% of the population was below the poverty line. 30.2% of all households had an income of less than $25,000 and 60.3% of all households had and income of less than $50,000.

Languages

As of 2000, English spoken as a first language accounted for 88.64% of all residents, while 11.35% spoke other languages as their mother tongue. The most significant were Spanish speakers who made up 5.96% of the population, while Italian came up as the third most spoken language, which made up 1.51%, and German was at fourth, with 1.13% of the population.

Mass transit

Bus service in Spring Hill is provided by THE Bus (The Hernando Express), which serves as Hernando County's main bus system, servicing both Spring Hill and Brooksville. Started in 2002, THE Bus has three main routes, two of which serve the main thoroughfares of Spring Hill, such as Spring Hill Drive and Mariner Boulevard.

Roads

There are several county roads in Spring Hill that serve as major thoroughfares for traffic traveling around and passing through Spring Hill. Below is a list of the county roads that pertain to Spring Hill:

Highways

Spring Hill is bordered to the west by US 19 (named Commercial Way), and to the north by SR 50 (named Cortez Boulevard). The Suncoast Parkway (SR 589) is a toll road that passes through Spring Hill and serves as a connection to Pasco and Hillsborough counties (and, by extension, Tampa) to the south.