| Review |
The Sumter County (FL) Times [LCCN: sn95072059], a weekly, began publishing in the 1880s from Sumterville, Florida. From 1937 through 1993, the newspaper published from Bushnell, Florida. In 1979, the Sumter County Times absorbed the Herald Express [LCCN: sn00229627] which had published in Wildwood (FL) since 1962 under the alternate titles Sumter County's Herald Express and Wildwood's Herald Express. Sumter County, Florida, originally spelled Sumpter, was named in honor of the Revolutionary War hero, General Thomas Sumter. The County, located in central Florida northeast of Tampa and northwest of Orlando, has been the site of the Seminole Wars. The Dade Massacre (present day Pasco County, Florida) in 1835 led to the start of the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). There were a number of boundary modifications in the county towards the end of the 19th century. In 1871, the boundary between Polk County (FL) and Sumter County was altered. In 1872, a portion of Sumter was annexed to Orange County (FL). On May 27, 1887, Lake County (FL) took portions of Sumter County and Orange County, leaving Sumter County with 574 square miles. To this day (ca. 2008), the area remains essentially rural, a true anomaly for central Florida in the age of Disney. Citrus flourished by 1886 with over 100 orange growers in the county. But, the Freeze of 1894 almost destroyed the citrus industry in Sumter County. The area's farmers then turned to cattle ranching which proved more durable and profitable, rivaled only by truck gardening, a form of small scale gardening that flourishes even today (ca. 2008) in this part of Florida. The Sumter County Times deals with these assorted economic disasters, shifting political boundaries and subsequent power changes. --E. Kesse, University of Florida Digital Library Center. |
