Wimauma is an unincorporated

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 ...

in Hillsborough 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 6,373 at the 2010 census, up from 4,246 at the 2000 census.

History

Wimauma was founded by Captain C.H. Davis in 1902. Davis named the town using the first few letters of the names of his daughters Will, Maude, and Mary. Wimauma was located on a railroad route that was built south from Durant to

Manatee County Manatee County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 399,710. Manatee County is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its county seat and largest ci ...

and into

Sarasota Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Ba ...

, with construction starting in 1895. It was incorporated in 1902 as the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company. It became the Florida West Shore Railway on May 9, 1903, and then merged into the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

in 1909. In 1902, Capt. Davis helped to build the railroad connecting Turkey Creek and

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

. He decided to found a town at the halfway point, opening a post office there on October 24, 1902. The town had the railroad tracks as the eastern boundary and was centered on Lake Tiger, now called Lake Wimauma. A railroad depot was constructed in 1903. The town was officially incorporated in 1925 as the county's fourth municipality, but the city government ceased to function some time in the 1930s. In 1993, this fact was rediscovered, but it was concluded that the incorporation was no longer valid after about 60 years without a city government. The railroad depot in Wimauma served as a passenger stop until 1968. The railroad tracks were removed in 1984, and the station had been razed years before this removal.

Geography

Wimauma is bordered to the north by Balm, to the west by Sun City Center, and to the south by

U.S. Route 301 U.S. Route 301 (US 301) is a spur of U.S. Route 1 running through the South Atlantic states. It runs from Biddles Corner, Delaware, at Delaware Route 1 to Sarasota, Florida, at U.S. Route 41. It passes through the states of Delaware, ...

forms part of the western border of the community, leading north to the Brandon–

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

area and southwest to

. Florida State Road 674 runs through the center of Wimauma, leading east to Fort Lonesome and west through Sun City Center 9 miles to

Ruskin Ruskin may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ruskin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Ruskin (given name), a list of people Places United States * Ruskin, Florida, a census-designated place * Ruskin, Georgia, an uni ...

. 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 Wimauma CDP has a total area of , of which land and , or 0.99%, are water.

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 4,246 people, 951 households, and 820 families residing in the community. The population density was . There were 1,097 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the community was 51.13%

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 ...

, 7.42%

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 ...

, 0.80% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.28%

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 ...

, 37.21% from other races, and 2.94% 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 72.89% of the population. There were 951 households, out of which 53.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 17.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 13.7% were non-families. 8.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.31 and the average family size was 4.36. In the community the population was spread out, with 38.6% under the age of 18, 14.2% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 13.6% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females, there were 116.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 124.5 males. The median income for a household in the community was $35,114, and the median income for a family was $34,671. Males had a median income of $20,484 versus $19,604 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 community was $8,597. About 26.5% of families and 31.7% 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 44.5% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Bill Warner, motorcycle racer * Paul Kickliter, teacher, lawyer, judge, landowner and Florida state senator.

References

{{authority control Census-designated places in Hillsborough County, Florida Census-designated places in Florida Former municipalities in Florida 1902 establishments in Florida Populated places established in 1902 Populated places disestablished in 1993