Floral City, Florida

Floral City is a census-designated place in southeastern Citrus County. Located on the western banks of the Withlacoochee River, the original settlement at Floral City was surveyed and platted in 1883. In the early days, the center of phosphate mining in Florida was in Citrus County. Floral City was larger than Miami back then. During World War I the center of phosphate mining moved southeast to the Bartow area (east of Tampa) and Floral City withered a bit as the mines in Citrus County were closed.

Today, Floral City still offers the abundant wildflowers that originally earned it the name. Most of the townsite is part of the Floral City Historic District as this is a piece of "Old Florida" that still survives nicely.

On the north edge of Floral City is the first of the Tsala Apopka chain of lakes, a series of lakes that run north along the Withlacoochee River for fifty miles, until that river empties into the Gulf of Mexico. A lot of property around town is part of the Withlacoochee State Forest. Floral City is also about the half-way point for folks riding the Withlacoochee State Trail, a 46-mile-long paved rails-to-trails linear state park.