ERA American Realty
Citrus County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 118,085. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 141,416. Its county seat is Inverness, Florida. More than 90% of the population of Citrus County lives outside the two incorporated towns of Inverness and Crystal River.
The Homosassa Springs Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Citrus County.
Citrus County was first occupied about 2,500 years ago by mound-building Native Americans that built the complex that now forms the Crystal River Archeological Site. The site was occupied for about 3,000 years. Why the complex was abandoned is currently unknown.
Citrus County was created in 1887. The Citrus County area was formerly part of a Hernando County. It was named for the county’s citrus trees. Citrus production declined dramatically after the “Big Freeze” of 1894-1895. Today, citrus is grown on one large grove, Bellamy Grove. Additionally, some people do have trees on their personal property.
The original county seat was Mansfield, or Mannsfeld. The county seat was moved to Inverness. Currently, only a street and a pond remain of the original town.
Phosphate mining also played a major part in the history of the County until the end of WWII in which phosphate mining was largely moved overseas. The first newspaper of Citrus County was called the Phosphate Times. Pineola, Florida was the site of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad‘s “Great Train Wreck of 1956.”
In the 1960s Citrus County began to develop and housing developments such as Beverly Hills started to dominate the county.
Citrus County is known as “The Little Giant” and this is inscribed on the official county seal. Citrus County is in the geographic center of Florida.
Citrus County has one local television station that broadcasts County Commission meetings live on the first and third Tuesday of each month. In addition, Citrus County is serviced by Bay News 9, a news outlet provided by Bright House Networks.