Highland City is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

(CDP) in Polk County,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States. The population was 2,051 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The modern-day area of Highland City was the site of the United States Army's Fort Fraser, established in 1837 during its war with the Seminole Indians.

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

, former U.S. President, commanded the fort for a short period. Fort Fraser was abandoned shortly after its construction. In 1885, the Pemberton Ferry Branch of the

South Florida Railroad The South Florida Railroad was a railroad from Sanford, Florida, to Tampa, Florida, becoming part of the Plant System in 1893 and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1902. It served as the southernmost segment of the Atlantic Coast Line's ma ...

was completed between Lakeland and Bartow. The area now known as Highland City was the only stop between the two larger cities. The stop, and eventual village, was named for the Haskell brothers, who were early investors in the South Florida Railroad. E. B. Haskell was a newspaper publisher from Boston, Massachusetts and his brother Dr. C. C. Haskell, of Maitland, Florida, was an original stakeholder in the South Florida Railroad. In addition to the town of Haskell, the South Florida Railroad's #6 locomotive was named the E. B. Haskell. The Haskell freight depot was built by the railroad company along the roadway that would later become U.S. Highway 98. (In 1958, the depot was demolished due to its proximity to the roadway, and was replaced by a new freight building). The first postmaster (and also the first freight agent of the depot) in Haskell, Thomas A. Goode, was appointed on February 9, 1887. Developer W. F. Hallam had begun to develop the Lakeland Highlands area by 1924. Hallam built the Hallam Country Clubhouse in the area west of Highland City and the road accessing the clubhouse became known as Clubhouse Road. The development of the Highlands also brought an influx of new residents to the Haskell community. In 1925, the community of Haskell was incorporated by the Florida legislature, which also had the effect of officially changing the community's name to Highlands City. The city elected its first officials: By 1927, the town's official area was reduced due to a lawsuit brought on behalf of a few Highland City landowners. This ended the town's short stint as an incorporated place.

Name

A common error in referring to this place is to add an 'S' to the end of "Highland", causing the name to incorrectly read "Highlands City". For example, a new train depot, constructed in 1958, originally featured a sign with the mistakenly spelled "Highlands City" name. Lakeland Ledger reporter Courtland Anderson made special note of the error in the caption of his photo of the new depot. When the community was briefly incorporated in the 1920s, the plural form was used.

Modern Community

The Highland City Volunteer Fire Department (HCVFD) works in conjunction with the Polk County Fire Department to provide fire protection for the Highland City area. For many years, HCVFD operated the fire service in Highland City on a completely volunteer basis. In the last quarter of the 20th century, Polk County consolidated many of its fire districts, and the Highland City fire station became an official Polk County Fire Station, under command of the Fire Chief of Polk County. As of 1996, the Highland City community had organized an active community group. The group's goals included beautification, utility upgrades and safer neighborhoods. On December 9, 2006, the community saw the grand opening of the Fort Fraser Trail, a 7.75-mile pedestrian and bicycle trail extending from the Polk State College campus south to Bartow.

Geography

Highland City is located at (27.962901, -81.879380). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land. Highland City's street addresses put them on the Lakeland street grid; most street names have "SE" in their name, indicating that they are southeast of Lakeland's "point zero" intersection of Florida Avenue and Main Street. However, Highland City is often considered to be culturally closer to Bartow than Lakeland. Highland City Elementary, primarily feeds into Bartow Middle School and

Bartow High School Bartow Senior High School is the only high school in Bartow, Florida. It resulted from a merger of the whites-only Summerlin Institute and Union Academy, a school for African Americans, after desegregation. History Summerlin Institute was fou ...

. Unlike its nearest neighbor, Lakeland Highlands, which is somewhat affluent, Highland City is a working class area with many

mobile homes A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). ...

. The Highland City census designated place is located on U.S. Highway 98, northwest of Bartow and east of Lakeland Highlands. The approximate limits of the Highland City census designated place are County Road 540A to the south, Clubhouse Road to the North, Strickland Avenue to the west, and 1st Street SE to the east.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 2,051 people, 766 households, and 562 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 818 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP was 83.72%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 10.24%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.54% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 3.90% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 13.12% of the population. There were 766 households, out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 20.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% 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 3.13. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 33.3% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 8.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $31,823, and the median income for a family was $36,250. Males had a median income of $26,833 versus $21,038 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the CDP was $13,925. About 9.5% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 19.9% of those under age 18 and 15.5% of those age 65 or over.

References