Florida Information and Brief History

Florida History

In 1513, Ponce De Leon, seeking the mythical “Fountain of Youth,” discovered and named Florida, claiming it for Spain. Later, Florida would be held at different times by Spain and England until Spain finally sold it to the United States in 1819. Florida's early-19th-century history as a U.S. territory was marked by wars with the Seminole Indians that did not end until 1842, although a treaty was actually never signed.
Today Florida is one of the nation's fastest-growing states. It's population went from 2.8 million in 1950 to more than 12.9 million in 1990.

Florida Facts

• Origin of name: From the Spanish, meaning “feast of flowers” (Easter)
• Orlando is Florida's 6th largest city with a population of 181,175 (1998 est.)
• Florida is larger than England and Wales, Greece or Hungary.
• Florida has about 7,800 lakes. Nearly one-third of the state's lakes are located in four Central Florida counties--Lake, Orange, Osceola and Polk.
• No part of Florida is more than 60 miles (96 km) from its famous beaches.
• Orange juice was proclaimed as the official state beverage by the Florida Legislature in 1967.
• The alligator was designated the official state reptile by the 1987 Legislature.
• Florida is known has been known as "The Sunshine State," since 1970.
• Tallahassee was selected as the Florida capital in 1824.  

Florida Driving Safety

The law in Florida requires that headlights must be on from dusk till dawn, in fog and in rain! The rule of thumb is that if the windscreen wipers are on, so too should be the headlights. It is also recommended that headlights be on while driving on all rural two lane roads.

Central Florida Golf Courses

With 1,050 of the estimated 14,000 courses in the U.S., Florida has more golf courses than any other state. While Florida's mild winters allow for year round golf the summer months can present a challenge with mainly Floridians on the links in June, July and August. Rates at most Florida golf courses increase during the "season" which generally runs from November to April - this varies with each course

Florida National Parks

Florida's three national forests (Apalachicola, Osceola and Ocala) feature more than one million acres and are famous for recreation and a variety of wildlife. All three would fit into Everglades National Park. Biscayne National Park is unique in that it is a 175,000-acre marine playground off the coast of Miami. America's newest national park is Dry Tortuga located 68 miles west of Key West.

For information on Central Florida restaurants and places to visit try www.orlandosentinel.com

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