Southern Hillsborough County History

Description
The Southern Hillsborough County Historical Connections Project is a collaborative endeavor between the SouthShore Campus of Hillsborough Community College (HCC) and esteemed community partners including the Ruskin History Project, Inc., the Firehouse Cultural Center, the Ruskin Women's Club, the Sun City History Center, and the International Independent Showmen's Museum. This ambitious undertaking aims to document and celebrate the diverse townships south of the Alafia River, weaving together their unique narratives into a tapestry of regional heritage.

This project was made possible through funding from the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and the HCC Foundation.

For more information about this project, contact Roxanna Palmer, HCC SouthShore Librarian, at rpalmer15@hccfl.edu.
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Riverview Collections

Riverview Collections
Type: Unspecified
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: Benjamin Moody is the first recorded settler in what is today's Riverview, establishing a homestead in 1842. In 1856, the small town of Peru (pronounced Pee-Roo) was founded on the Alafia River's south shore where today's US 301 crosses the river. The river's name, Alafia, is often believed to derive from an Indian word meaning "River of Fire," likely due to the… more

Sun City Center Collections

Sun City Center Collections
Type: Unspecified
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: Del Webb (who was half owner of the New York Yankees) built the Kings Inn with a luxury restaurant and a 20 unit motel in just 30 days. Businessmen from Tampa and Sarasota would often fly in for lunch and a private place to talk. There was an airstrip across 674 from the Inn. The taxiway is now the Winn Dixie parking lot. During the first years, houses were built on a 45 day schedule; up to five… more

Ruskin Collection

Ruskin Collection
Type: Unspecified
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: In its early days Ruskin was so isolated that you needed a boat to easily travel to Tampa or St. Petersburg, and the trip would take several hours each way. But timber and turpentine were available for construction because prior to 1906 a turpentine factory operated close to the area that Ruskin College was being built. Food was not a problem because the temperate climate and good soil was ideal… more

Apollo Beach Collection

Apollo Beach Collection
Type: Unspecified
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: The 5,500 acres tract of land that was to be known as Apollo Beach was first deeded to Paul Dickman in 1920 and used annually for farming and grazing pasture and considered uninhabitable. In the early 1950s, Dickman negotiated the sale of the land to three men from New York: Turner, Dean, and Clark. They renamed the land “Tampa Beach” and construction began on the Flamingo Canal near U.S. 41 and… more

Gibsonton Collection

Gibsonton Collection
Type: Unspecified
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: Gibsonton was a popular winter fishing destination for many carnival and sideshow workers in the 1940s according to Mark Caramanica. It was the only place in the U.S. where the former fire chief was over eight feet tall and the local police chief was a dwarf! Gibtown, as it’s called, was near the winter home for the Ringling Brothers Circus at Tampa, Sarasota and Venice. Wikipedia states that the… more

Wimauma Collection

Wimauma Collection
Type: Unspecified
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: Captain C.H. Davis founded Wimauma in 1902. The town site was located on a 55-mile railroad route from Durant to Manatee County and into Sarasota. Wimauma, a farm-based community, has 6,500 year-round residents, and increases with the farming seasons to 11,000+. Wimauma is truly special because of the vast diversity of its residents and businesses. There are ‘bodegas and cantinas’ along with… more

Small Towns and Ghost Towns Collection

Small Towns and Ghost Towns Collection
Type: Unspecified
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: There are a number of small towns, some still identifiable (Sun City, Balm, and Fort Lonesome, are three extant small communities), and some that have long since disappeared in southern Hillsborough County (Remlap, Adamsville, Peru, and Boyette, as examples). This collection will house items from those communities as their histories are important parts of the South Hillsborough County story.

Southern Hillsborough County - General Collections

Southern Hillsborough County - General Collections
Type: Collection
Member of: Southern Hillsborough County History
Description: This collection includes history and photos NOT associated with a particular South County community, but rather dealing with regional issues in South Hillsborough County.
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At present, our website is still a work in progress as we continue the archival process of thousands of items.  Our artifact display and research area is currently located inside the Learning Resource Center at the SouthShore Campus and has the same hours as the library.