Ocala
| Ocala | |
|---|---|
| Nickname : Horse Capital of the World | |
 The City Auditorium |
|
| County and state location | |
 |
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| Basic data | |
| Foundation : | 1836 |
| State : | United States |
| State : | Florida |
| County : | Marion County |
| Coordinates : | 29 ° 11 ′ N , 82 ° 8 ′ W |
| Time zone : | Eastern ( UTC − 5 / −4 ) |
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Inhabitants : - Metropolitan Area : |
59,253 (as of 2016) 349,020 (as of 2016) |
| Population density : | 591.9 inhabitants per km 2 |
| Area : | 100.1 km 2 (about 39 mi 2 ) |
| Height : | 32 m |
| Postcodes : | 34470-34483 |
| Area code : | +1 352 |
| FIPS : | 12-50750 |
| GNIS ID : | 0288030 |
| Website : | www.ocalafl.org |
| Mayor : | Kent Guinn |
Ocala is a city and also the county seat of Marion County in the US state of Florida with 56,315 inhabitants (as of 2010).
geography
Ocala is quite central in Florida. Orlando is 120 km away, and Tampa and Jacksonville are both 140 km away. The city is the center of the metropolitan area of Ocala (English: Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area ), which corresponds to Marion County.
history
The name "Ocala" comes from the now extinct Indian tribe of the "Timucuan", who called their village "Ocali", which translates as "big hammock". The streets in Ocala still bear historical Indian or Spanish names from the former landowners.
In 1846 Ocala became the seat of the county administration of Marion County, which was named after the war hero General Francis Marion . In 1847 the settlers built the first courthouse, a post office was opened and the first weekly newspaper was published. In the early 50s of the 19th century wealthy plantation owners came from South Carolina and established huge plantations in the surrounding area. By 1858, Ocala was one of the leading economic and cultural centers in Florida. The ensuing American Civil War destroyed all plantations and shops and the population dropped to 200.
In 1881 the Peninsular Railroad , a subsidiary of the Florida Railroad , opened a railway line from Waldo to Ocala. By the second subsidiary Tropical Florida Railroad , this route was extended in 1882 to Wildwood , 1886 to Plant City and 1890 to Tampa . In 1887, the Savannah, Florida and Western Railroad opened a railway line from Ocala to Dunnellon .
In 1883 a major fire destroyed practically the whole city center during the harvest festival. From that day on, new houses were only built from bricks, which gave the city the name "Brick City", which it still bears today. In 1890 Ocala had a size of around 8 km² and a population of 1895, making it the fifth largest city in Florida at the time.
Religions
In Ocala there are currently 119 different churches from 24 different denominations. Among the churches belonging to a denomination, the Baptist congregation is most strongly represented with 42 churches. There are also 9 churches that do not belong to any denomination (as of 2004).
Demographic data
According to the 2010 census, the 56,315 inhabitants at that time were distributed over 26,764 households. The population density was 562.6 inh / km². 70.7% of the population identified themselves as whites, 20.9% as African American , 0.3% as Indians and 2.6% as Asian Americans . 2.9% said they belonged to another ethnic group and 2.4% to several ethnic groups. 11.7% of the population was made up of Hispanics or Latinos .
In 2010 children under the age of 18 lived in 29.7% of all households and persons aged 65 or over lived in 29.7% of all households. 58.2% of households were family households (consisting of married couples with or without offspring or one parent with offspring). The average household size was 2.30 people and the average family size was 2.95 people.
25.5% of the population were younger than 20 years, 26.8% were 20 to 39 years old, 25.3% were 40 to 59 years old, and 22.4% were at least 60 years old. The mean age was 38 years. 47.6% of the population were male and 52.4% were female.
The median annual income was $ 36,706, with 21.5% of the population living below the poverty line.
In 2000, English was the mother tongue of 92.33% of the population, 5.15% spoke Spanish and 2.52% had another mother tongue.
Attractions
The following properties are listed on the National Register of Historic Places :
East of Ocala is the Ocala National Forest , which is accessed by the Florida Trail .
economy
There is no industry worth mentioning. The main branches of employment are: education, health and social affairs: (23.1%), banking, finance, real estate: (13.3%), art, entertainment, restaurants: (10.3%). Ocala is home to the second largest horse breed in the USA.
Clinics
- Ocala Regional Medical Center
- Munroe Regional Medical Center
education
schools
- Blessed Trinity Elementary School (approx. 670 students)
- First Assembly Christian School (approx. 280 students)
- Grace Episcopal Day School (approx. 230 students)
- Cornerstone School (approx. 190 students)
- Howard Middle School (approx.1,180 students)
- Osceola Middle School (approx. 1,080 students)
- Saddlewood Elementary School (approximately 830 students)
- Fort King Middle School (approx. 830 students)
Further educational institutions
- Forest High School (approx. 1,830 students)
- Vanguard High School (approximately 1,750 students)
- Lake Weir High School (approximately 1,680 students)
- St John Lutheran School (priv., Approx. 700 students)
Other advanced educational institutions include the “Central Florida Community College” with approx. 3,100 students, the “Webster College” with approx. 300 students, the “Marion County School of Radiologic Technology” with around 20 students and the “Florida AuctionSchool” Inc ".
Libraries
Ocala has the Marion County Public Library with over 343,000 books, over 7,600 audio recordings, and over 7,900 videos.
traffic
Ocala is crossed by Interstate 75 , US Highways 27 ( SR 500 ), 301 and 441 ( SR 25 ), and Florida State Roads 40 , 200 , 464 and 492 . The city has its own airport, Ocala International Airport .
The Ocala Union Station was from 1994 to 1995 and from 1996 to 2004 a station of the Amtrak's Palmetto from New York City to Tampa . Today, the section between Jacksonville and Lakeland is served by the Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach long-distance buses .
crime
The crime rate in 2010 was 470 points (US average: 266 points) in the high range. There were three murders, 34 rapes, 155 robberies, 269 assaults, 712 break-ins, 2372 thefts, 87 car thefts and four arson attacks.
sons and daughters of the town
- Elizabeth Ashley (born 1939), actress
- Brittany Bowe (* 1988), speed skater
- Chad Brock (born 1963), country singer
- Daunte Culpepper (born 1977), American football professional
- Tom Denney (* 1982), music producer
- Herbie Goins (1939-2015), R&B singer
- Joey Mantia (* 1986), speed skater
- Buddy MacKay (* 1933), politician and from 1998 to 1999 the 42nd governor of the state of Florida
- John Travolta (* 1954), actor, singer, dancer, producer and author; has its own runway (Jumbolair) near its property.
- PJ Williams (born 1993), American football player
- A Day to Remember (founded in 2003), post-hardcore / metalcore band, comes from Ocala
- Wage War (founded 2013), metalcore band from Ocala
Web links
- Website of the city (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ^ Gregg Turner: A Short History of Florida Railroads. Arcadia Publishing , Mount Pleasant 2014, ISBN 978-1-439642-54-2 .
- ^ Historic Preservation. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 15, 2015 ; accessed on September 11, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 . United States Census Bureau . Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- ↑ Language distribution 2000 . Modern Language Association . Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- ^ FLORIDA - Marion County. National Register of Historic Places , accessed July 28, 2015 .
- ↑ http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Ocala-Florida.html
- ↑ http://www.celebritydetective.com/Celebrity_Homes_John-Travolta-house.html
