Ocala, Florida Ocala, Florida Downtown Ocala Downtown Ocala Official seal of Ocala, Florida Location in Marion County and the state of Florida Location in Marion County and the state of Florida Website City of Ocala Ocala (/o k l /, oh-ka-l ) is a town/city located in Northern Florida.
As of the 2013 census, its population, estimated by the United States Enumeration Bureau, was 57,468, making it the 45th most populated town/city in Florida. It is the seat of Marion County and the principal town/city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2013 populace of 337,362. 1.4 Ocala Historic District 5.2 The Ocala Pumpkin Run Ocala is positioned near what is thought to have been the site of Ocale or Ocali, a primary Timucua village and chiefdom recorded in the 16th century.
The undivided town/city takes its name from the historical village, the name of which is believed to mean "Big Hammock" in the Timucua language. The Spaniard Hernando de Soto's expedition recorded Ocale in 1539 amid his exploration through what is today the southeastern United States.
After foreign colonial rule shifted between Spain and Great Britain and back again, in 1821 the United States acquired the territory of Florida.
Army assembled Fort King near the present site of Ocala as a buffer between the Seminole, who had long occupied the area, and white pioneer moving into the region.
The undivided town/city of Ocala, which was established in 1849, advanced the town/city around the fort site.
Greater Ocala is known as the "Kingdom of the Sun". Plantations and other agricultural evolution dependent on slave workforce were prevalent in the region.
Ocala was an meaningful center of citrus manufacturing until the Great Freeze of 1894 1895. Rail service reached Ocala in June 1881, encouraging economic evolution with greater access to markets for produce.
Two years later, much of the Ocala downtown region was finished by fire on Thanksgiving Day, 1883.
By 1888, Ocala was known statewide as "The Brick City". Downtown Ocala in 1883 In December 1890, the Farmers' Alliance and Industrial Union, a forerunner of the Populist Party, held its nationwide convention in Ocala.
At the convention, the Alliance adopted a platform that would turn into known as the "Ocala Demands".
Most of the "Ocala Demands" were to turn into part of the Populist Party platform. Rose, who had come to Florida in 1916 from Indiana to oversee assembly of the first asphalt road in the state.
Today, Marion County is a primary world thoroughbred center with over 1200 horse farms, including about 900 thoroughbred farms, totaling some 77,000 acres (310 km2).
Ocala is well known as a "horse capital of the world." Ocala is one of only five metros/cities (four in the US and one in France) permitted under Chamber of Commerce guidelines to use this title, based on annual revenue produced by the horse industry.
"Postime Farms" and Ocala serve as host to one of the biggest horse shows in the country: H.I.T.S or "Horses in the Sun", a Dressage/Jumper event lasting about two months which generates some 6 to 7 million dollars for small-town Marion County economy each year.
The close-by improve of Silver Springs advanced around the Silver Springs, a group of artesian springs on the Silver River.
Today, well-known for glass-bottom boat tours of the area, Silver Springs is owned by the State of Florida and was incorporated into Silver Springs State Park in 2013. Other close-by natural attractions include the Ocala National Forest and the Florida Trail.
Several prominent man-made attractions in the Ocala region existed in the past, such as the Western-themed Six Gun Territory infamous park (operated from 1963 to 1984) and the Wild Waters water park (operated from 1978 to 2016).
In the last decades of the twentieth century, the greater Ocala region had one of the highest expansion rates in the nation for a town/city its size.
Ocala Historic District Many historic homes are preserved in Ocala's large residentiary Historic District, designated in 1984.
Ocala structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places include the Coca Cola Building, the E.
Ocala is governed by a five-member board of councillors and a mayor, all of which are propel on a nonpartisan basis.
The town/city manager handles most administrative and financial matters. Although a small majority of the city's registered voters are Democrats, Ocala's politics match those of the rest of Marion County in that all of its propel legislators with one exception are registered Republicans.
In the 2008 presidential election, John Mc - Cain carried both the town/city and the county, the latter by a landslide, despite losing Florida as a whole to Barack Obama by a narrow margin. Ocala is positioned at 29 11 16 N 82 07 50 W. According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 38.63 square miles (100.1 km2), all land.
Ocala is also known for close-by Silver Springs, Florida, site of one of the biggest artesian spring formations in the world and Silver Springs Nature Theme Park, one of the earliest tourist attractions in Florida.
Marion County is also home to the Ocala National Forest which was established in 1908 and is now the second biggest national forest in the state.
The Florida Trail, also known as the Florida National Scenic Trail, cuts through Ocala National Forest. Silver Springs State Park was formed as Silver River State Park in 1987, out of territory the state purchased around the Silver Springs attraction to spare it from development.
Ocala has two distinct seasons: the dry season (October May) and the wet season (June September).
These storms are often harsh (unofficially, Ocala is known to have more cloud-to-ground lightning per square mile than any other town/city in the world).
Due to the town/city being mostly far away from the moderating influence of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, Ocala's summertime high temperatures are often the highest in the state while winter evening temperatures are often the lowest compared to other metros/cities on the peninsula. Climate data for Ocala, Florida (1981 2010 normals) As of the 2010 through 2014 census, Ocala was 63.3% non Hispanic white, 20.4% African American, 11.7% Hispanic or Latino, 2.6% Asian, 2% all other. As of the census of 2000, there were 45,943 citizens , 18,646 homeholds, and 11,280 families residing in the city.
In the town/city the populace was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older.
In the town/city the populace was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older.
Ocala is the command posts of Emergency One, a around the world designer and manufacturer of fire rescue vehicles.
According to Ocala's 2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the town/city are: 1 Marion County Public Schools 5,625 5 Ocala Regional Medical Center & West Marion Community Hospital 1,725 9 City of Ocala 994 The Ocala Pumpkin Run The Ocala Pumpkin Run Classic Car Show and Fall Festival takes place each year on the 400 acre Castro Farm just off Highway 27 and has turn into a premier destination car show, hosting more than 1,000 classics and customs each year and spectators from all over the southeast.
Marion County proclaimed October as 'Ocala Pumpkin Run Month' due to the impact the event has had on the improve each year. Ocala was the command posts of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker, formerly a 2,000-employee top-10 wholesale mortgage lending firm, and the fifth-largest issuer of GNMA securities, that ceased company operations in 2011 due to investigations relating to fraudulent activity. The enhance schools in Ocala are run by the Marion County School Board.
There are 30 elementary, ten middle and ten enhance high schools in Marion County, which include the following schools in Ocala: Marion Oaks Elementary School Ocala Springs Elementary School South Ocala Elementary School Ambleside School Of Ocala grades K 8 Ocala Christian Academy grades PK 12 Ocala is home to the College of Central Florida, a member of the Florida College System, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
The college offers specialty programs in equine studies, agribusiness, and logistics. It also has one of 21 campuses of Rasmussen College, a Higher Learning Commission regionally accredited post secondary institution. Webster University offers on-site, regionally accredited graduate degree programs in company and counseling at their Ocala Metropolitan Campus. Three of the eight libraries in the Marion County Public Library System are positioned in Ocala. Those three libraries are: Ocala Public Library - Headquarters for the Marion County Public Library System.
In 1995, Ocala was titled an All-America City Award winner. See also: List of sister metros/cities in Florida Ocala has two sister cities: Eastbound SR 40 as it approaches US 27-301-441 in Ocala.
Several primary highways pass through Ocala, including Interstate 75, U.S.
Ocala was on the leg of the historic Dixie Highway.
See also: List of county roads in Marion County, Florida Route 27 runs north and south throughout Ocala.
Route 301 is the chief small-town north and south road through Ocala.
Route 441 is the chief small-town north and south road through Ocala.
Florida 492.svg State Road 492 runs east and west through the northern part of the town/city from the northern end of the US 27 multiplex with US 301 441 to close to the Silver Springs City Line.
Florida 40.svg State Road 40 runs east and west through Ocala.
It spans from Rainbow Lakes Estates through Ocala National Forest to Ormond Beach in Volusia County, although a bi-county extension exists, spanning from Yankeetown in Levy County to Dunnellon, south of the end of SR 40.
Florida 464.svg State Road 464 runs east and west from SR 200 through the southeastern part of the city.
Beyond the town/city limits, it continues southeast towards State Road 35, and continues as County Road 464.
Florida 200.svg State Road 200 runs northeast and southwest from Hernando in Citrus County through US 27-301-441 where it becomes a "hidden state road" along US 301 until it reaches Callahan, and is multiplexed with SR A1 - A into Fernandina Beach.
Ocala International Airport provides general aviation services to the community.
Ocala Suntran provides bus service throughout select parts of the city.
One of the primary hubs for Suntran is the former Ocala Union Station, which served Amtrak trains until November 2004.
Amtrak serves Ocala by bus connection to Jacksonville and Lakeland.
Ocala is also served by Greyhound Bus Lines.
Ocala Symphony Orchestra Ocala Civic Theatre Fine Arts for Ocala, Inc.
The Ocala Outdoor Sculpture Competition West Port High School offers an arts-affiliated magnet program known as MCCA (Marion County Center for the Arts), and it focuses on instructing students in the arts.
Ocala National Forest United Hebrews of Ocala City of Ocala.
Ocala.
"Silver Springs, Oldest Florida Tourist Attraction, Will Become A State Park".
"Ocala City Charter" (XLS).
City of Ocala.
"2009 City of Ocala Run-Off Election Results" (XLS).
"The Florida Trail in the Ocala National Forest".
"City of Ocala CAFR" (PDF).
"Ocala Pumpkin Run LLC".
"Home - Ocala Christian Academy".
"Ocala First Assembly of God - An A/G Church in North Central Florida - Ocala, FL".
"Webster University: Webster University: Ocala Metro Campus".
"Marion County Public Library System library directory".
City of Ocala.
"This event is just the beginning of a nice relationship between the town/city of Ocala and the town/city of Pisa and San Rossore," Fontanelli said in Italian amid the ceremony.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Ocala.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ocala, Florida.
City of Ocala, Florida Historic Ocala Preservation Society Ocala Banner, the East Florida Banner, and the Southern Sun, historical newspapers serving Ocala, Florida, full text and images openly online in the Florida Digital Newspaper Library Star-Banner, daily journal for Ocala Ocala Website, alternative journal for Ocala Municipalities and communities of Marion County, Florida, United States
Categories:
Cities in Marion County, Florida - County seats in Florida - Ocala, Florida - Populated places established in 1836 - 1836 establishments in Florida Territory
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