Fruitville, Florida
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Fruitville is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
(CDP) in
Sarasota County Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...
,
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, United States. The population was 15,484 at the 2020 census. It is part of the North PortSarasotaBradenton
Metropolitan Statistical Area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...
.


History

The area that is Fruitville was mostly a sawgrass swamp when European pioneers began to settle the area. This marshland was home to wild cattle but, according to one source, those cattle didn't do well due to a lack of minerals in the foliage they grazed from. This swampland was eventually drained to make the land more suitable for farming. In the late 1870s, a new wave of pioneers began to settle in Florida thanks to a growing orange industry. In 1876, a man by the name of Charles Reaves settled in what is now considered Fruitville. According to some sources, he was the one who named the area Fruitville after the abundance of fruit in the area. Reaves would go on to become the postmaster for the area's 115 residents. The first church in
Sarasota County Sarasota County is a county located in Southwest Florida. At the 2020 US census, the population was 434,006. Its county seat is Sarasota and its largest city is North Port. Sarasota County is part of the North Port–Sarasota–Bradenton, FL m ...
was the Friendship Baptist Church. The church was chartered in 1875 and a small pine log structure was used for the congregation until a new church was erected in 1876, using some of the original lumber from the first church. In 1887, the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company of Scotland donated land to the church for the establishment of the community's first cemetery. Also in 1887, Charles and his wife Martha Tatum Reaves converted their corncrib into Fruitville's first school for their three children and seven neighbors. They went on to hire Miss Josie Clower as the first teacher in the area. After citizens petitioned for a modern school building, funding was granted from the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
to build Fruitville Elementary in 1941. Rural schools in the nearby villages of Tatum Ridge and Old Myakka were closed, with their students bussed to the new school in Fruitville. A map from 1902 shows Fruitville on the map as a community. In May 1918, Franklin Field (named after then-mayor George Franklin) began operating as a military airfield during . The Franklin airfield was located north of Fruitville Road and east of what is now Tuttle road. The airfield was an auxiliary landing station for the U.S. Army Air Service and housed, at the least, several Curtiss JN "Jenny" planes. With the war over, the airfield saw less and less traffic and was likely unused by 1920. In 1924 the land was developed for a new subdivision. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, there was a migrant camp called Sababo in Fruitville that supplied much of the labor force for area's farm industry. A major crop in the area was celery. In 1966, there was an estimated 2,000 migrant workers in Sarasota County. To provide healthcare and education to this population, on December 5, 1966 the Fruitville Area Medical and Educational (FAME) Center was opened. In November 1990, Litchfield's Cinema 10 opened in the Sarasota Commons, the community's first modern movie theater. As a promotion, the theater offered tickets for only 50 cents during its opening. Some of the films shown for its pre-opening weekend were ''
Pretty Woman ''Pretty Woman'' is a 1990 American romantic comedy film directed by Garry Marshall, from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. The film stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and features Héctor Elizondo, Ralph Bellamy (in his final performance), La ...
'' and . On December 8, 2001, the Fruitville Public Library was opened to serve the Fruitville community as a part of the
Sarasota County Library System The Sarasota County Library System is the public library system that serves Sarasota County in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of 10 locations, including a central library located in the city of Sarasota. History The Sarasota Town Impro ...
. The library was initially called East County Library throughout its
land-use planning Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals ...
process before the Sarasota County Commission renamed the library a month prior to its opening.


Geography

According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land and , or 4.21%, is water.


Demographics

As of the
2020 United States Census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...
, there was a population of 15,484 people and 6,043 households. There were 2.32 persons per household. In terms of age, 4% were under 5 years old, 15% were 18 years or younger, 45% were between 18 and 64, and %26 were 65 years or older. 80.9% of the population was white (non-Hispanic), 2.1% was black or African American, 2.4% was Asian, and 12.5% was Hispanic or Latino. There were 1,172 veterans living in Fruitville and 12.9% of the population was Foreign born. The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $275,600 and the median gross rent was $1,639. Median household income was $72,512. 7.6% of the population lived below the poverty threshold. 92.6% of households had a computer and 88.1% had a broadband internet subscription. Of the population 25 years and older, 91.0% had a high school degree or higher and 33.0% of that same population had a Bachelor's degree or higher. Of the population under 65 years old, 6.8% lived with a disability and 17.2% did not have health insurance.


Education

Fruitville is home to several public and private schools including: *Fruitville Elementary *Julie Rohr Academy *Learning Academy of Sarasota *McIntosh Middle School *Sarasota Academy of the Arts *Sarasota Christian School It is also home to the Fruitville Public Library, a branch of the
Sarasota County Library System The Sarasota County Library System is the public library system that serves Sarasota County in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of 10 locations, including a central library located in the city of Sarasota. History The Sarasota Town Impro ...
.


References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Sarasota County, Florida Sarasota metropolitan area Census-designated places in Florida