Weeki Wachee is an unincorporated community and former city located in Hernando 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. As of the 2020 census, the community has a total population of 16. The Weeki Wachee Preserve and the Weeki Wachee Springs park are located in the area. The park includes water rides, animal shows,

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are ...

costume shows, and

manatee Manatees (, family (biology), family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivory, herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing t ...

watching. The communities of Weeki Wachee Gardens and Spring Hill are nearby.

History

Weeki Wachee was founded as a city in 1966 to promote the local mermaid attraction. With fewer than 15 residents, and increased concerns over the city's finances, services, and state park operations, state representative Blaise Ingoglia sponsored a bill to dissolve the city, and Governor

Ron DeSantis Ronald Dion DeSantis (; born September 14, 1978) is an American politician, attorney, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the 46th List of governors of Florida, governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Pa ...

signed it into law in June 2020. Hernando County, the county the former city resides in, was responsible for resolving its financial issues. Park operations were not affected.

Geography

The former city boundaries of Weeki Wachee was located in western Hernando County at . Via

U.S. Route 19 U.S. Route 19 or U.S. Highway 19 (US 19) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mex ...

, it was north of Port Richey and south of Homosassa Springs. Via

Florida State Road 50 State Road 50 (SR 50) runs across the center of the U.S. state of Florida through Orlando, with its termini at SR 55 ( US 19) at Weeki Wachee and SR 5 ( U.S. Route 1) in Titusville. SR 50 is signed east–west. Within various counti ...

, Weeki Wachee was west of Brooksville, the Hernando County seat. 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 city had a total area of , of which , or 4.68%, was water.

Demographics

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 12 people, five households, and five families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 11.8 people per square mile (4.5/km). There were five housing units at an average density of 4.9 per square mile (1.9/km). As identified by the census, no one in Weeki Wachee was

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

. All residents were

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 ...

except for one Native American member of the

Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Little River Band of Ottawa Indians () is a federally recognized Native American tribe of the Odawa people in the United States. It is based in Manistee and Mason counties in northwest Michigan. It was recognized on September 21, 1994. It is one ...

Weeki Wachee Springs

Tourist attraction

Weeki Wachee Springs, the spring of the

Weeki Wachee River The Weeki Wachee River is a river in Hernando County, Florida, United States. It flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 18, 2011 westwards from Weeki Wachee to th ...

, is a Florida tourist attraction where underwater performances by

s — women dressed in fancy outfits with fins about their legs — can be viewed in an aquarium-like setting. The attraction includes a Buccaneer Bay water park, animal shows, and boat rides. General Manager Robyn Anderson was the town's mayor. The park is now a

Florida State Park There are 175 state parks and 9 state trails in the U.S. state of Florida which encompass more than , providing recreational opportunities for both residents and tourists. Almost half of the state parks have an associated local 501(c)(3) non-pr ...

and is owned and managed by the State Parks department.

Deepest naturally formed spring in the United States

From May 22 until August 30, 2007, the discharge level at Weeki Wachee spring dropped to a level that allowed for cave divers to gain effective entry into the cave system at the spring. The Karst Underwater Research team successfully executed exploration dives and the necessary in-water decompression to explore approximately in multiple passages at an average depth of fresh water (ffw) with a maximum depth of ffw.

References

External links

Weeki Wachee Springs
official site
Weeki Wachee Cave System

{{authority control Cities in Hernando County, Florida Cities in the Tampa Bay area Cities in Florida Populated places disestablished in 2020 Former municipalities in Florida