Brooksville is an
incorporated city in Hernando County
, Florida
, in the
United
States
. It is the county
seat of Hernando County. It is a suburban city included in the
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
Metropolitan Statistical Area
.
Geography
Brooksville is located at (28.553529, -82.388668).
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
12.9 km
2 (5.0 sq mi). 4.9 square miles
(12.8 km
2) of it is land and 0.04 square miles
(0.1 km
2) of it (0.60%) is water.
The geographic center of Florida is located twelve miles northwest
of Brooksville.
Brooksville was once a major
citrus
production area and was known as the "Home of the Tangerine".
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 7,264
people, 3,220 households, and 1,832 families residing in the city.
The
population density was
1,469.5 people per square mile (567.7/km
2). There were
3,920 housing units at an average density of 793.0/sq mi
(306.4/km
2). The racial makeup of the city was 74.93%
White, 21.31%
African American, 0.36%
Native American, 1.23%
Asian, 1.09% from
other races, and 1.09% from two
or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 3.07%
of the population.
There were 3,220 households out of which 23.7% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 39.9% were
married couples living together, 14.0% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 43.1% were non-families.
38.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.2% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age
of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 21.7% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to
64, and 29.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
44 years. For every 100 females there were 80.2 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.4 males.
Economy
Personal income
The median income for a household in the city was $25,489, and the
median income for a family was $31,060. Males had a median income
of $29,837 versus $21,804 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$16,265. About 16.8% of families and 21.5% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 27.9%
of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.
Industry
Tourism
The city has historic homes along cobble stone covered
streets.
Rogers' Christmas House and Village has been a tourist attraction
in Brooksville since 1978. It has five southern homes with
fireplaces moved and arranged to form a traditional Christmas
village setting. Each house is filled with classic Christmas
collectibles from
Christopher
Radko,
Swarovski Crystal,
Goebel,
Fontanini,
Anri,
Department
56 and others, and ornaments from
Egyptian Museum Glass,
Raz,
Pacific Rim,
Kringles,
Snowbabies,
North Star and others.
There is also a Native American Outpost in a log cabin
The Brooksville Business Alliance has sponsored the annual
Brooksville Founders Week Celebration since 2006. There is a
monthly live music performance, antique car show, and other
events.
History
May Stringer House
William Sherman Jennings House
Judge Willis Russell House
Brooksville, originally known as Melendez, was first settled about
1845. A map printed in 1855 shows the town of Melendez as being the
capital of Benton County, the
former name of Hernando County. It remained the
county seat of Hernando County for more than one
hundred years.
Fort
DeSoto, a military fort established about 1840 to give
protection to settlers from
Native Americans, was
located at the northeastern edge of present day Brooksville on
Croom Road about one-half mile east of U.S. Highway 41.
Fort
DeSoto was also a trading post and a regular stop on the Concord
Stage Coach Line which ran from Palatka
to Tampa
.
The fort was built on top of a heavy bed of
limestone, a fact which they were unaware of at
the time, and this made it exceedingly difficult to obtain water,
thus causing this location to be abandoned as a community site. As
a result, in the early 1840s the population shifted about three
miles to the south where a settlement first formed by the Hope and
Saxon families became known as Pierceville. About this time,
another community about two miles northwest of Pierceville, named
Melendez, was formed.
On Sept. 12, 1842,
Seminole Indians
attacked the McDaniel party near the community of Chocachatti,
south of Brooksville, killing Charlotte (Mrs. Richard) Crum.
Brooksville was established in 1856, and grew from a consolidation
of Pierceville and Melendez. Brooksville was incorporated on
October 13,
1880.
The City of Brooksville was settled by four pioneer families: the
Howell family which settled the northern part of town; the Jon L.
Mays family which settled the eastern part of town; the Hale family
on the west; and the Parsons family on the south.
Brooksville is a residential-commercial community which has
experienced growth.
There are several modern medical facilities,
including Brooksville Regional Hospital Inc., Oak Hill Community
Hospital and Spring Hill Regional Hospital serving the area, a
campus of Pasco-Hernando Community College located at the edge of
the city, and a business section with eleven shopping centers and a
public airport, Hernando County Airport
, located six miles south of the city. There
are three city
parks with walking trails,
sports, and picnicking facilities, including a nine-hole
golf course and a
library. The area also offers abundant
hunting,
fishing,
biking and (in Nobleton just 12 miles NE of
Brooksville
[216372]) canoeing, kayaking and camping
opportunities.
Etymology
Brooksville was named in honor of
Representative Preston Brooks of
South
Carolina
because of
the role he played in a drama which took place in the Chamber of
the U.S. Senate in 1856. In 1856, Brooks beat Senator
Charles Sumner with his cane in the
Senate chamber because of a speech Sumner had made critical of
slavery and its southern supporters.
Media
- The Brooksville Belle, published twice a month.
Notable residents
- Bronson Arroyo - childhood home
of Cincinnati Reds pitcher. Arroyo
pitched for Hernando High
School and graduated in 1995.
- Jerome Brown (1965-1992) - American football defensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL).
Died in a car accident in Brooksville. In 2000, the Jerome Brown
Community Center was opened in his honor.
- John Capel - American sprinter and professional
football player.
- Mike Hampton - Major League Baseball player for the
Houston Astros. Born in
Brooksville.
- William Sherman
Jennings Governor of Florida
1901-1905.
- George Lowe, television actor, grew
up in Brooksville. In the early-1970s, he began learning radio
skills at WWJB AM 1450, a local radio
station.
- Bill McCollum - birthplace and
childhood home of former U.S.
Congressman and current Florida Attorney General
- Stephen M. Sparkman, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from
Florida, was born on a farm in Hernando County just south of
Brooksville on July 29, 1849. Sparkman was elected as a Democrat to the 54th United States Congress and
to the ten succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1895-March 3,
1917).
- Hughie Thomasson - Guitarist,
songwriter, lead vocalist and leader of the Southern rock band Outlaws, as well as guitarist and songwriter
for Lynyrd Skynyrd, died at his home
in Brooksville.
Cultural
- Canadian director Bob Clark's 1974 horror film Deathdream (aka
Dead of Night; The Night Andy Came Home) was filmed entirely in
Brooksville.
References
- OCLS Fast Facts retrieved April 7, 2008
- Rogers' Christmas House and Village
- Peace
Tree Trading
- (Brooksville Business Alliance - founders week
slide show)
- Brooksville
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
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