Hernando County was established on February 27th, 1843, and named in honor of Spanish Explorer Hernando De Soto, who led anHernando de Soto expedition through the county in 1539. On March 3, 1845 the second session of the 28th Congress of the United States, approved Florida statehood. For a brief period in its history, Hernando County was renamed Benton County, but the original name was reestablished within a few years, after the senator for whom it had been renamed, earned the disfavor of the the county residents.

Before highways were a part of Hernando's landscape, the port town of Bayport was, for a brief time, the county seat. The county seat was moved to the more central location of Brooksville in 1856.

Prior to the 1880's, Hernando County was much larger and included what are now Citrus, and Pasco counties. On January 2, 1887 the state legislature passed a law that subdivided the county into the three counties that exist today.

Present day Hernando County covers approximately 506 sq. miles of area including the cities of Brooksville and Weeki Wachee. Unincorporated areas include Spring Hill, Ridge Manor, Ridge Manor West, Bayport, Aripeka, Lake Lindsey and Hernando Beach. The county stretches 37 miles from East to West and 18 miles from North to South. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico and on the north by the Chassahowitzka Swamp and the Withlacoochee State Forrest.

Population

In the 1980's, Hernando County was the third fastest growing county in the nation. On average, the population growth of the 1980's was 5,665 per year. From April 1990 on, that average has dropped to 3,356 per year. In terms of the estimated new households by percentage growth rate, Hernando County ranked 8th of 67 counties within Florida for the period 1990-1994. The county population was just 17,004 in 1970, and has risen to already 130,802 in 2000, more than a seven fold increase in 30 years. More than 70 percent of the current residents of Hernando County were born in another state.

According to US Census records, the population is projected for 2010 to be 156,600.

Industry

The major industries are limestone mining & cement production, tourism, dairy products, cattle production, citrus products, forest resources, construction, some non-pollutant manufacturing and distribution.

Hernando County's growing manufacturing association base is centered in industrial parks around Hernando County's state of the art airport, one of the largest non-urban air fields in Florida, and in industrial areas around the I-75 and S.R. 50 interchange in east Hernando County.

Some of the important employers include WalMart, Oak Hill Hospital, Regional Healthcare, Spartan Electronics, Florida Crushed Stone, Sims Machine & Controls, Cemex, and Joni Industries.

Schools

There are four public high schools. (Central, Hernando, Springstead and Nature Coast Technical), four middle schools (Parrot, Powell, West Hernando and Fox Chapel) and ten elementary schools (Brooksville, Deltona, Eastside, J.D. Floyd, Moton, PineGrove, Suncoast, Spring Hill, Westside and Chocachatti).
The school Board is one of Hernando County's largest employers.
For the history of Hernando County Schools: http://www.hcsb.k12.fl.us/history.htm

The Board of Education (352) 797-7000

Population
1980 -   44,469
1990 - 101,115
1999 - 127,392
2000 - 130,802
2002 - 139,249 (estimate)
 


Climate
Avg. Mean Temp:      71.5 F
Winter Avg. Temp:     63.0 F
Summer Avg. Temp:  81.0 F
Avg. High Temp:        82.2 F
Avg. Low Temp:        61.2F
Average Rainfall -      55.76"
(Source: www.weather.com)