Okahumpka

This is a story of a town historically important in the development of Florida. By the end of the Nineteenth Century the town appeared to have everything going for it. It was a town which was a major transportation center and generated large quantities of agricultural products such as citrus, ferns, watermelons, naval stores, hardwood lumber, and kaolin from nearby pits. Okahumpka was a stopping off point for tourists from the north and was blessed by a large hotel, which catered to visitors from the north seeking a healthy and warm environment. At one time Okahumpka was as wild as any town in the "Wild West" with Cow Hunters, cattle drives and rustlers, etc. The town was larger, during the mid-nineteenth century, than the communities of Tampa, Leesburg and other present day communities in the area. Yet, by the last half of the Twentieth Century, it had become overrun by nearby Leesburg. Almost all the major buildings would be gone including the depot, stores, post office, schools, taverns, bowling alley and churches. Today, most people know Okahumpka as the name of a rest stop along the nearby Florida Turnpike or the name of an old depot located at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa.