Brandon, Florida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brandon is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the community had a total population of 77,895. However, a recent press release from the Brandon Chamber of Commerce pegged the 2006 area population of Brandon (including peripheral communities) at 287,000. While there have been several attempts to incorporate Brandon, these attempts have received little fanfare from those in the community. In 1997, Brandon became the largest unincorporated community in the state of Florida.
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[edit] Description
Brandon's census boundaries include Interstate 75 to the west, Valrico and Bloomingdale to the east, Riverview to the south, and Mango and Seffner to the north. The zip codes that served the area are 33509 (P.O. Station), 33510, and 33511.
[edit] Geography
Brandon is located at (27.934651, -82.289078),GR1 which places it approximately midway between Tampa and Plant City and easily accessible from Interstate 4 and Interstate 75.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has a total area of 75.9 km² (29.3 mi²). 74.4 km² (28.7 mi²) of it is land and 1.5 km² (0.6 mi²) of it (1.95%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 77,895 people, 28,807 households, and 21,374 families residing in the community. The population density was 1,047.2/km² (2,712.3/mi²). There were 30,485 housing units at an average density of 409.8/km² (1,061.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the community was 81.90% White, 9.26% African American, 0.40% Native American, 2.39% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 3.43% from other races, and 2.52% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.69% of the population. The Brandon area is experiencing a large increase in the number of hispanic people, most of which are from South America. The 2005 projection set the population at 22% hispanic.[citation needed]
There were 28,807 households out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.7% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.8% were non-families. 19.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the community the population was spread out with 26.9% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.
The median income for a household in the community was $51,639, and the median income for a family was $56,931. Males had a median income of $37,454 versus $28,935 for females. The per capita income for the community was $22,080. About 3.9% of families and 5.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.7% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Entertainment
Brandon is home to Westfield Shoppingtown (originally Brandon Town Center). Westfield Shoppingtown is quickly becoming one of the largest malls in Central Florida. The local movie theater is Regency 20. Brandon is also home to the Brandon Ballet. Most notably within the Thrash and Death Metal community, Brandon is home to Sound Idea as well as Burrito Records and is considered by some to be the Death Metal/Punk Rock capital of Florida.[citation needed]
[edit] History
Its history began on January 20, 1857, when John Brandon arrived at Fort Brooke (now Tampa) from Mississippi with his wife Martha and six sons. At first he moved his family to what is now the Seffner area. Then in August 1858, John Brandon purchased 40 acres of land in the New Hope area (now Brandon) south of Hopewell Road (now SR 60), between Parsons Avenue and Lithia Road. Nine years later, after his wife died, John left everything he owned to his son James Henry Brandon and moved to Bartow. In 1876 James built a home for his wife Joanna. It is still standing today and is now Stowers Funeral Home, a well-known landmark on Brandon Boulevard.
Meanwhile, John Brandon remarried a widow named Victoria and moved back to New Hope in 1874. John bought 160 acres and named his land Brandon. John and Victoria's house was located on what would become the corner of Knights and Victoria Street. Four years later, the New Hope Church was built on land donated by John. Besides being the first church in the community, it also served as Brandon's first school.
After John's death in 1886, Victoria took a leading role in the community. The community's first post office was opened in Victoria's home, when she became the postmistress. In 1890, the Florida Central and Peninsula Railroad came through the area, encouraging the people of New Hope to build a depot on Moon Avenue. Victoria convinced a civil engineer for the railroad to survey the area and lay out a town site. He surveyed 40 acres and prepared a map, and Victoria named the town Brandon, after John Brandon.
Since then, Brandon has grown in spurts, beginning with the first general store opened by Dan Galvin on the corner of Moon Avenue and Victoria Street. In 1905, a school was built on Parsons Avenue and Victoria allowed new teachers to board with her so that the new school would have a teacher.
At the time, Valrico began to develop as Victoria's son Lovic, moved there and opened a general store. Lovic and Victoria's other son, Mark, organized the Valrico Baptist Church in 1915, which later moved to Brandon and became the First Baptist Church in 1930.
By 1916, the community needed a large central school to house all of the area's students, so the Brandon Grade School (now McLane Jr. High) was built on Knights Avenue to house grades 1 through 12.
The first Brandon census was taken in 1922 when the population was 100. In 1925, Hopewell Road became a 9-foot wide, paved road and residents such as Clarence Hampton began building business along it in 1927. Clarence opened the first gas and service station.
During the 1920s, the eastern border of Brandon was Pinewood Avenue. Beyond that, was the Kingsway Poultry Colony, where chickens were raised during the winter to be sold in Ybor City. During the Great Depression, the poultry farms closed, and Brandon stabilized with a population of about 250 people.
Most local residents worked in the two orange packing houses in Valrico. The center of town remained at Moon Avenue and Victoria Street, where the train depot, post office, school, and grocery store were all located. For entertainment and everything else, the train to Tampa was the way to go, as only a few paved roads existed with most being dirt or shell topped, making the drive to Tampa very difficult.
World War II was an interesting time in Brandon, with little growth, but a definite edge as they had the food they raised on their farms. After the war, new businesses began to open again. A drug store and soda fountain at the corner of Parsons Avenue and Hopewell Road quickly became a popular teenage hangout. In 1950, Scogin's opened their famous variety store on Hopewell Road, and in 1953, Brandon got its first doctor, Dr. V. R. Hunter.
The 1950s were the beginning of the real growth period for Brandon. Yates Elementary was built in 1954, followed by Mann Junior High School in 1957. Brandon Grade School, on Knights Avenue, became the first Brandon High School. At the time, there were fewer than 100 graduates a year. In 1956, Hopewell Road was connected to Adamo Drive, which made access to Tampa easier, thus turning Brandon into a bedroom community. With commuters, came subdivisions, the first of which was Hill-Dale Heights on Kingsway Avenue. The Brandon News was established in 1958 as a one-page newsletter and advertisement for Scogin's clothing store, written by Al & Chris Scogin. Brandon's first honorary Mayor's race was held in 1959 and was won by Nat Storms.
In 1959, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce was formed to help promote business and growth. By the early 1960s, Brandon's population was 8,000, and it was estimated that one new family moved into town every day. Brandon began spreading out into the bordering communities of Limona, Seffner, and Valrico; Hopewell Road became four lanes wide and was designated State Road 60. Soon, the town's first shopping center, Brandon Center, was built, and Brooker Elementary School and the Brandon Swim and Tennis Club both opened in 1965. In the next few years, Kingswood Elementary School, the Brandon Public Library, and many housing developments, shopping centers, and golf courses further fueled or reflected the influx of new residences and businesses.
By the 1970s, growth was causing traffic congestion, as approximately 430 commercial and service businesses, 3 malls and a population of 40,000 were all contained with-in a six-mile radius.
In the mid 1970s, Hillsborough Community College moved to Brandon by holding classes at public schools. More indications of the increasing population were the building of Brandon Community Hospital and the Brandon Cultural Center (now the Center Place Fine Arts and Civic Association).
Brandon took off rapidly during the 1980s. Development of the southern area of Brandon brought thousands of new residents. On September 27, 1986, I-75 began to bring traffic through the Brandon area, dramatically changing the community and helping its population reach approximately 100,000 with over 2,500 business by 1988.
[edit] Brandon's population history from the U.S. Census Bureau
- 1960......1,655
- 1970.....12,749
- 1980.....41,826
- 1990.....57,985
- 2000.....77,895
[edit] Establishments
Known for being Tampa's premier bedroom community, Brandon boasts many characteristic establishments that have lasted over a quarter of a century.[Babe's Pizza has been a Brandon staple that has fed the stomachs of local suburbanites with its famous "Double Decker Pizza". Brandon residents have indulged in popular dessert shops such as Campbell's Dairy Land, an ice cream parlor that reopened its doors in July of 2003 after a tragic fire.[citation needed] Brandon is also known as the birthplace of Beef O'Brady's, a family-oriented bar and grill chain restaurant prevalent throughout the Southeastern United States.[citation needed]
Milano's Italian restaurant on Parsons Avenue was a favorite in the mid-70s. Milano's was owned by the founder of Beef O' Bradys, who later died just as "Beef's" was going nationwide.[citation needed]
[edit] Brandon High School
Brandon High School was established in 1914 and was the second high school created in Hillsborough County. The high school's wrestling team is nationally ranked and undefeated since 1973.[citation needed]
[edit] Brandon Regional Library
Brandon Regional Library is a two-story library in Brandon which caters to the communities of Brandon, Valrico, and Lithia. In July and August of 2006, the library underwent an extensive renovation. It reopened September 9, 2006.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Brandon Chamber of Commerce
- Brandon Family Cemetery Records
- Life In Tampa Bay - Information and tools for researching the Tampa Bay area including Tampa, St. Petersburg, Brandon, Lithia, Riverview, Valrico, and Apollo Beach.
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Categories: Articles lacking sources from February 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since March 2007 | Hillsborough County, Florida | Unincorporated communities in Hillsborough County, Florida | Unincorporated communities in Florida | Census-designated places in Florida
