WPA
Ernest C. Johnston
Historical Records Survey
State Archives Survey
11/10/36
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CITRUS COUNTY
That part of Hernando County lying north of a line two miles south of township line 21, south, on the Withlacoochee River and running thence east nine and a half miles, north two miles to its intersection with, and thence west, coinciding with township line 21, south, to the Gulf of Mexico was designated by an act of the Florida Legislature of 1887 as Citrus County.
This new county was bounded on the north and east by the Withlacoochee River and on the west by the Gulf of Mexico. By an act of the Florida Legislature of 1911 a slight change of boundary between Citrus and her sister county, Levy, on the north was made, giving to the latter the islands lying at the mouth of the Withlacoochee River but moving several miles of the northern boundary of the former from the center of the river to its northern bank, thus placing entirely in her territory the giant hydro-electric plant of the Florida Power Company which prior to the change of boundary had been half in Levy and half in Citrus.
It is said that the first white settlers coming to the territory which is now Citrus County found wild orange trees in great abundance and from this tradition it derived its name.
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The first county seat of Citrus County was Mannfield, a village of which nothing now remains but a memory. There the first Board of County Commissioners met on August 7, 1887. James M. Baker was chairman, P. J. Peacher, O. P. Keller, J. T. Landrum and C. C. Carroll being the other four members. W. C. Zimmerman was Clerk of the Circuit Court, J. C. Priest, Sheriff, W. M. Brooks, Tax Assessor, A. D. Tompkins, Tax Collector, Nick Barco, Treasurer and J. W. Allen, County Surveyor. This first meeting of the county's officials was held in a church at Mannfield as were subsequent meetings until October of the same year when a store building was rented for use as a courthouse. During the four years that Mannfield remained the county seat this building was utilized for the purpose.
The county seat was then moved to Inverness in April, 1891.
The Florida Canal and Transit Company gave to the county the site upon which was erected its first courthouse and jail, plans and specifications for which were accepted by the Board on August 3, 1891. The plans and specifications called for a well to be dug on the public square in order that those visiting the county seat might be able to water their teams of oxen, horses or mules.
Settlement in the territory which is now Citrus County began in the neighborhood of what is now Crystal River and Homosassa in the early '40's. David Levy, whose name was
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officially changed to David L. Yulee was among the first. He was one of two chosen to be the first representatives of the State of Florida in the United States Senate. Near Homosassa and just a few feet off the main highway between that point and Inverness there stand the ruins of a giant furnace and sugar mill where the sugar cane from the vast plantation there operated by Senator Yulee was converted into molasses.
Other names that appear in the public records as among the pioneers of this section are Neil Ferguson, John Parsons, Cotton Rawls and Early A. Allen. Among those who pioneered to the inland near Inverness, Floral City and Oak Grove were Daniel Rooks and his three sons each of whom served as a member of the Board of County Commissioners - one of them is a member of the present Board - and Anna Miley who gave the ground upon which the Methodist Church at New Hope now stands to that congregation.
Prominent in the political life of the county appear the names of Albert M. Williamson, J. T. Landrum, W. C. Zimmerman, J. C. Priest and Capt. A. E. Willard.
From 1901 to 1906 there was waged a crusade for good roads. Outstanding champion of this cause was R. H. Matson, Sr., chairman of the Board of County Commissioners during four years of this period. From November, 1906, when the first "hard road" was authorized, to the present great progress has been made, so
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that Citrus County now has an excellent system of hard surfaced roads.
In 1895 the "Freeze" swept down with the lowest temperature known to the State, leaving in its wake thousands of acres of ruined citrus groves. Its disastrous effect on the many beautiful groves in Citrus County is mirrored in the Tax Assessor's record which shows a drop of fifty per cent in land valuations during the succeeding two years.
In 1913 the present modern courthouse was completed.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Citrus County, Florida, booklet, Citrus County Chamber of Commerce.
Compiled General Laws of Florida, 1927.
General Statutes of the State of Florida, 1908.
Minutes of County Commissioners, Vol. 1, 1887-1895; Vols. 2-3, 1896-1913.
Patent Record, Vol. 1, 1887-1891; Vol. 2, 1894-1926.
CONSULTANTS
Connor, Claude. Inverness, Florida.
CHECKED WITH
Ross, Mrs. Nevina. Floral City, Florida.
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