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Zellwood, Florida

Coordinates: 28°43′26″N 81°35′36″W / 28.72389°N 81.59333°W / 28.72389; -81.59333
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Zellwood, Florida
Census-designated place
Location in Orange County and the state of Florida
Location in Orange County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 28°43′26″N 81°35′36″W / 28.72389°N 81.59333°W / 28.72389; -81.59333
Country United States
State Florida
County Orange
Area
[1]
 • Total
3.92 sq mi (10.17 km2)
 • Land3.76 sq mi (9.74 km2)
 • Water0.16 sq mi (0.42 km2)
Elevation
98 ft (30 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
2,758
 • Density733.12/sq mi (283.04/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
32798
Area code(s)407, 689
FIPS code12-79200[2]
GNIS feature ID0293615[3]

Zellwood is a census-designated place and an unincorporated area in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,850 as of 2022.[4][failed verification] It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

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Zellwood is named after T. Ellwood Zell, who started spending winters in the area in 1876.[5] The Zellwood Post Office opened in 1877.[6]

An 1881 prospectus issued by the Orange County Immigration Society advertised that "[w]e have a school, post office, and a rapidly increasing population" and that the "enlargement of the channels connecting Lakes Dora, Beauclair and Apopka" would "give us water transportation within three miles".[7]

Middle to late 20th century: Boom and bust of corn

[edit]
Further information: Lake Apopka § History

Zellwood was established legally as the Zellwood Drainage and Water Control District by act of the Florida state legislature in 1941[a].[9] This was to enable marshland in the area to the north of Lake Apopka to be drained and used for agriculture.[10] Several prior unsuccessful efforts to do this had been made, including one in the late 1800s and one in 1915.[11] The lack of drainage meant that the low-level farmland was subject to flooding, resulting in what were termed "suitcase farmers", a succession of farmers who arrived, attempted to grow vegetables, failed, and left.[12]

The World War 2 attempt had more success, and by 1947 there were 1,162 hectares (2,870 acres) in row crops with a further 1,974 hectares (4,880 acres) being prepared.[9] The Apopka-Beauclair Canal, dating from the aforementioned 1800s, was dredged deeper in 1958.[11] In all, some 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of so-called "muck land" (soil heavy with peat and other organic deposits) were exposed.[12][13]

Land at Zellwood was bought by the National Ramie Corporation, the Duda family, and Richard Whitney and by 1950 newspapers were hailing a "wealthy new frontier of truck crop production".[13] In 1967, sweetcorn producers banded together as the Zellwood Sweet Corn Exchange, a sales coöperative.[14] By 1977, Zellwood was producing 20% of all the sweetcorn produced in Florida, as well as leaf crops, radishes, carrots, celery, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant, cucumbers, artichokes, beetroot, and watermelon.[14][12] Roughly 20 producers were growing sweetcorn over 10,500 acres (4,200 ha), selling between 2.5 and 3 million crates mostly during a 5-to-6-week period in the Spring.[14] By the 1980s, there was a Zellwood Sweet Corn Festival and famers in Florida were selling 11.5 million crates in up to three harvests per annum, to a value of approximately US$71,400,000 (equivalent to about $181,100,000 in 2024).[13] At the peak of the boom, there were 35 large and small farms in the area.[12] Ralston Purina was growing mushrooms in a huge complex nearby.[13]

Farmers began using pesticides such as DDT as early as 1947, when there was an infestation of corn earworms.[15] After DDT was banned in 1972, farmers switched to other organochloride pesticides, which themselves were later banned in the 1970s and 1980s.[16] Outside of the growing season, farmers flooded their lands with lakewater to control pests and to ensure that the soil was not oxygenated.[16] When growing season commenced, they would pump the water back into the lake, which would transport the fertilizers and pesticides that they had sprayed from the last season into the lake.[16] Some 20,000,000,000 US gallons (76 Gl) of polluted water, roughly one third of the lake's capacity, was discharged by farms into the lake.[17]

This had devastating effects both on wildlife and on people.[18][16] Fish and native plant populations in the lake died, alligators were born deformed because of endocrine disruption, algae bloomed, and workers became ill.[18][19] The alligator population shrank over the course of the 1980s from between 1,200 and 2,000 alligators per night observed by research biologists from the University of Florida to just 150 per night.[20]

Geography

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Zellwood is located at 28°43′26″N 81°35′36″W / 28.72389°N 81.59333°W / 28.72389; -81.59333 (28.723839, −81.593219).[21]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 10.5 km2 (4.1 mi2), of which 10.1 km2 (3.9 mi2) is land and 0.5 km2 (0.2 mi2) (4.42%) is water.

Demographics

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Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
20202,758—
U.S. Decennial Census[22]

As of the census of 2000,[2] there were 2,540 people, 1,239 households, and 795 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 252.1/km2 (653.3/mi2). There were 1,409 housing units at an average density of 139.9/km2 (362.4/mi2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.62% White, 2.83% African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.04% Asian, 2.09% from other races, and 1.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.09% of the population.

There were 1,239 households, out of which 9.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.43.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 11.1% under the age of 18, 3.8% from 18 to 24, 15.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 48.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 64 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $29,300, and the median income for a family was $34,468. Males had a median income of $24,091 versus $20,378 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,683. About 6.6% of families and 11.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.8% of those under age 18 and 4.2% of those age 65 or over.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Chapter 20714, Laws of Florida[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ CenPopGazetteer 2020.
  2. ^ a b USCB 2000.
  3. ^ USBGN 2007.
  4. ^ Census 2010.
  5. ^ Dickinson 2010.
  6. ^ USPS 2017.
  7. ^ Welby 1881, p. 43.
  8. ^ FDCA 1998, p. 175, Zellwood Drainage and Water Control District.
  9. ^ a b Conrow et al. 2011, p. 191.
  10. ^ Conrow et al. 2011, p. 190.
  11. ^ a b Conrow et al. 2011, pp. 190–191.
  12. ^ a b c d Slongwhite 2014, p. 28.
  13. ^ a b c d Mormino 2008, p. 184.
  14. ^ a b c Hawkins 1977, p. 67.
  15. ^ Slongwhite 2014, p. 29.
  16. ^ a b c d Slongwhite 2014, p. 30.
  17. ^ Slongwhite 2014, p. 31.
  18. ^ a b Mormino 2008, pp. 184–185.
  19. ^ Slongwhite 2014, pp. 31–32.
  20. ^ Slongwhite 2014, p. 32.
  21. ^ USCB 2010.
  22. ^ DecennialCensus 2016.

Bibliography

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  • Conrow, Roxanne; Lowe, Edgar F.; Coveney, Michael F.; Rauschenberger, R. Heath; Masson, Greg (2011). "Restoration of Lake Apopka's North Shore Marsh: High Hopes, Tough Times, and Persistent Progress". In Elliott, John E.; Bishop, Christine A.; Morrissey, Christy (eds.). Restoration of Lake Apopka’s North Shore Marsh: High Hopes, Tough Times, and Persistent Progress. Wildlife Ecotoxicology: Forensic Approaches. Springer. pp. 189–211. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-89432-4_6. ISBN 9780387894324.
  • Slongwhite, Dale Finley (2014). "Background of Lake Apopka". Fed Up: The High Costs of Cheap Food. University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813047614.
  • Mormino, Gary Ross (2008). "Sunbelt Hues". Land of Sunshine, State of Dreams: A Social History of Modern Florida. Florida History and Culture. University Press of Florida. ISBN 9780813047041.
  • Official List of Special Districts. Florida Department of Community Affairs. 1998.
  • Hawkins, Wayne (1977). "Florida Produce exchanges: Organizations for more effective marketing". New Climate for Agricultural Bargaining: Proceedings, 21st National Conference of Bargaining and Marketing Cooperatives, January 14–15, 1977, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Special report, United States Farmer Cooperative Service. Vol. 24. United States Department of Agriculture.
  • Welby, George C. (1881). "Zellwood". A general description of Orange county, Florida, its soil, climate, health, productions, resources, and facilities of transportation. By Z. H., Mason. Orange County immigration society. (A general description of Orange county, Florida at the Internet Archive)
  • Dickinson, Joy Wallace (June 13, 2010). "Whistler's famous mama sits calmly". Orlando Sentinel.

United States government

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Further reading

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