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Kissimmee, Florida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kissimmee | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  United States |
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| State |  Florida |
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| County | Osceola | ||
| Incorporated | 1883 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Council-Manager | ||
| - Mayor | Jim Swan | ||
| - City Manager | Mark Durbin | ||
| Area [1] 1 | |||
| - City | 17.32 sq mi (44.8 km²) | ||
| - Land | 16.68 sq mi (43.2 km²) | ||
| - Water | .64 sq mi (1.6 km²) 3.7% | ||
| Elevation [3] 3 | 49 ft (20 m) | ||
| Population (1 July 2006)[2] 2 | |||
| - City | 60,894 | ||
| - Density | 2,866.6/sq mi (1,106.8/km²) | ||
| - Metro | 1,984,855 | ||
| 2006 estimates | |||
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP code | 34741-34747, 34758-34759 | ||
| Area code(s) | 321,407 | ||
| FIPS code | 12-36950GR2 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0285145GR3 | ||
| Website: http://www.kissimmee.org | |||
Kissimmee is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of 2006, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 60,894. It is the county seat of Osceola County.GR6 Kissimmee is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had a 2006 population of 1,984,855.[4]
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Kissimmee (pronounced /kɪˈsɪmi/, with the accent on the second syllable) is on the northwest shore of Lake Tohopekaliga (locally called "Lake Toho", "West Lake Toho" or simply "West Lake"). It was founded in the mid-19th century as Allendale. The name was changed when the city was incorporated in 1883. The growth of Kissimmee can be credited to Philadelphian Hamilton Disston, who based his two-million acre drainage operation out of the small town. Disston contracted with the financially wobbly state of Florida to drain its southern lands.Disston would own half of all the land he successfully drained. This deal made Disston the largest single landowner in the U.S.
Disston's dredging and land speculation activities required a small steamboat industry to transport people and goods along the new waterway. The Kissimmee shipyard was responsible for building most of these steamships, which were just one jump ahead of civilization--with Kissimmee as the jumping off point. Concurrently, the South Florida railroad was growing and extended the end of its line from Sanford down to Kissimmee, making the town on Lake Tohopekaliga a transportation hub of central Florida.
The heyday of Kissimmee was short lived. Expanding railroads began to challenge the steamships for cargo and passengers. By 1885, the SF Railroad extended its tracks again to Tampa. The panic of 1893 was the worst depression the U.S. had experienced crushing land speculation and unsound debt. Disston closed his Kissimmee land operation. Back to back freezes in 1894 and 95 wiped out the citrus industry. The freezes combined with South Florida's growth, steamship operations relocating to Lake Okechobee left Kissimmee dependent on cattle once again.
Cattle ranching was an important part of the local economy before the opening of nearby Walt Disney World in 1971. After that, tourism and development supplanted cattle ranching to a large measure; however, cattle ranches still operate nearby, particularly in the southern part of Osceola County.
On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley passed through Kissimmee with winds in excess of 100 miles per hour, damaging homes and buildings, toppling trees and cutting electrical power to the entire city. Kissimmee Utility Authority restored power to 54 percent of the residents in the first 72 hours; 85 percent were restored within one week. Service was restored to all customers on August 28. Three weeks after Hurricane Charley, the area was struck by Hurricane Frances, followed by Hurricane Jeanne three weeks after Frances.
Kissimmee is located at (28.303988, -81.412867).GR1 According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.32 mi² (44.9 km²), of which 16.7 square miles (43 km²) is land and 0.6 square miles (2 km²) is water (3.7%). [1]
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 47,814 people, 17,121 households, and 11,813 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,866.6/mi² (1,106.8/km²). There were 19,642 housing units at an average density of 1,177.6/mi² (454.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.22% White, 9.99% African American, 0.52% Native American, 3.38% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 14.15% from other races, and 4.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 41.73% of the population. The majority of Hispanics residing in the city are Puerto Ricans. There are also small Colombian, Cuban, Dominican and Mexican communities residing in and/or around the city.
There were 17,121 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.0% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.21.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.0% under the age of 18, 12.0% from 18 to 24, 34.9% from 25 to 44, 18.5% from 45 to 64, and 7.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $33,949, and the median income for a family was $36,361. Males had a median income of $25,851 versus $21,025 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,071. About 12.3% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.0% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.
The Houston Astros conduct spring training in Kissimmee, at Osceola County Stadium. The Astros' farm system formerly included a Kissimmee entry in the Florida State League. In order to prevent jokes, the team's nickname was the Cobras rather than the Astros.
Kissimmee is home to a 650-person capacity outdoor water park, in addition to multiple golf courses.
The School District of Osceola County, Florida serves Kissimmee. The following Osceola County public schools are located in Kissimmee:
Elementary Schools
- Boggy Creek Elementary
- Central Avenue Elementary
- Chestnut Elementary School
- Cypress Elementary
- Deerwood Elementary
- Highlands Elementary
- Kissimmee Elementary
- Mill Creek Elementary
- Partin Settlement Elementary
- Pleasant Hill Elementary
- Reedy Creek Elementary
- Sunrise Elementary School
- Thacker Avenue Elementary
- Ventura Elementary
Middle Schools
- Denn-John Middle School
- Discovery Intermediate School
- Horizon Middle School
- Kissimmee Middle School
- Neptune Middle School
- Parkway Middle School
High Schools
- Gateway High School - The high school in the area that offers the International Baccalaureate Program.
- Liberty High School
- Osceola County School For The Arts
- Osceola High School
- PATHS@TECO
- Poinciana High School
- ^ a b Florida by place Population, Housing Units, Area and Density:2000. US Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- ^ Annual Estimates of the population for the Incorporated Places of Florida (XLS). US Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-07-23.
- ^ Kissimmee, United States Page. Falling Rain Genomics. Retrieved on 2007-08-09.
- ^ Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 (XLS). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
- Kissimmee, Florida is at coordinates Coordinates:
- Kissimmee Utility Authority Municipal utility serving Kissimmee and surrounding area since 1901
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Osceola County, Florida |
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| County seat: Kissimmee | ||
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Kissimmee | St. Cloud |
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