Tuesday, October 14, 2014
STOP 17 HOME SWEET HOME HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FLORIDA
OK... Fellow
Postcard Travelers...
We're back
on our internet journey to all the counties in the United States.
We are
making stop 15 in Hillsborough County Florida!
Feels great to be on the postcard
road again...except that I was already here in my beloved home.
Established in
1834.
County Seat:
Tampa
Formed from
Alachua and Monroe Counties.
Hernando de Soto
led expeditions in this area looking for gold. Natives repulsed Spanish attempts
to inhabit.
In 2010 it was
the fourth most populous county in Florida.
Tampa is the 7th
largest port in the nation. In the 1880s there were sudden turns in its economy
for the better when phosphate was discovered and is still a major
export.
The county was
named for Wills Hill, the Earl of Hillsborough and British Secretary of State
for the counties from 1768-1772.
Hillsborough
County was originally much larger and included 8 other present day
counties.
It is the 32nd
most populous county in the United States.
Henry B. Plant's
railroad in 1882 connected this area to the nation's railroad system. Then there
were more goods coming in and going out. Tourism increased.
Ybor cigars have
an interesting history here.
In the early 20th
century cigar making and agriculture dominated the economy.
In 2011 the
largest crop by value was strawberries- over 388 million dollars. You can't
beat one of the strawberry treats sitting out at a place like Goodson Farms in
the winter in mild temperatures on a sunny day.
Hillsborough has
the eighth largest school district in the U.S.
The Civil War
Reconstruction period was hard on the Tampa area.
There was snow
here a couple of times like in the Great Blizzard of 1889.
MacDill Air Force
Base is here and is a major employer.
Egmont State Park
can only be reached by boat or ferry.
Busch Gardens is
here.
So are the Alafia
State Parks.
Lithia Springs in
the largest natural spring in Florida.
George
Steinbrenner and Hulk Hogan are known for being here.
The postcard
above is listed by Ebay's seller "Caseys" . It shows one of my favorite personal
sights I enjoy when going through Tampa. Check it out here:
No comments:
Post a Comment