Real Estate Polk County Florida

POLK

Polk County became Florida's 39th county in 1860, when the State of Florida divided Hillsborough County into eastern and western halves. The eastern half was named Polk, in honor of the 11th President of the United States, James Knox Polk. Following the Civil War, the county commission established the county seat on 120 acres donated in the central part of the county. Bartow, the county seat, was named after Francis S. Bartow, a confederate Colonel from Georgia who was the first confederate officer to die in battle during the first battle of the Civil War.

Polk County is larger than the state of Rhode Island and equal in size to Delaware. The total area of the county is approximately 2,010 square miles which makes it the fourth largest county in Florida, exceeded by Dade, Palm Beach and Collier counties. Polk County has 554 natural freshwater lakes which occupy over 7% of the total area of the county. The total land area of Polk County is approximately 1,875 square miles.

The housing market is strong in Polk County. Construction is a pillar of economic strength for Polk County with a record of 4,791 permits issued for single family homes in 2003. This is an increase of approximately 37% over a total of 3,498 building permits issued in 2002 for single family homes. The total number of homes sold in 2002 was 4,918, an increase of 4.6% over a total of 4,702 homes sold in 2001.

Polk County's economy has been historically based on three primary industries: phosphate mining, agriculture and tourism. The discovery of phosphate rock in 1881 in the Peace River, near Fort Meade, Florida, initiated the mining of the world's largest deposit of phosphate rock, known as the “Bone Valley Deposit.” This deposit, which encompasses approximately 500,000 acres in Polk, Hillsborough, Hardee and Manatee Counties, provides approximately 75% of the nation's phosphate supply. Approximately 200,000 acres of Polk County have been mined for phosphate rock. Chemical manufacturing plants located in Polk County are used to convert the insoluble phosphate rock into soluble products, such as diammonium phosphate and monoammonium phosphate, which are used in fertilizers and other products.

Polk County has the largest amount of farmland in the state - with an estimated 621,489 acres in 1997. Polk remains the 6th most productive agricultural county in Florida. The $878 million citrus industry employs approximately 8,000 people in Polk County. Polk ranked first in the state for total citrus picked for the 2001-02 season, with an estimated total of 39.1 million boxes harvested. In addition, Polk was ranked 4th in the state in 2002, in number of beef cattle - with an estimated 93,000 head of beef and dairy cattle.

Tourism is a strong economic force in Polk County and dates back to the dedication of Bok Tower Gardens in 1929 by President Calvin Coolidge. In the mid-1930's, the late Dick Pope, Sr. established the world famous Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, Florida 's first theme attraction. Today, millions of people visit Polk County each year to enjoy these two attractions, as well as Fantasy of Flight, the Sun ‘n' Fun Air Museum and many more. Polk County is also located within a one hour drive of the Walt Disney World resort area, Universal Studios, Sea World and Busch Gardens. In addition to these attractions, Polk is the spring training headquarters for the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians baseball teams. In recent years, Polk County has gained notoriety as a preferred venue for recreational and competitive sports on all levels. In 2001, the county hosted 140 sporting events that pumped in excess of $84 million into the local economy. This is in addition to $72 million generated by the Spring Training operations of the Cleveland Indians, and the Detroit Tigers. The county had an estimated total of 8,890 hotel, motel, and rental condominium units in 2001.

The 2010 population of Polk county was estimated at 570,116. Learn about the local scene at Insidepolk.com.

adapted from www.polk-county.net


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