Hillsborough County, Florida

Infobox U.S. County
county = Hillsborough County
state = Florida




founded = 25 January 1834
seat = Tampa | area_total_sq_mi =1266
area_land_sq_mi =1051
area_water_sq_mi =215
area percentage = 17.00%
census yr = 2006(est.)
pop = 1177060
density_km2 =367
web = www.hillsboroughcounty.org
|

Hillsborough County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The 2000 population was 998,948. In 2007, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission conducted a population estimate that put the county's population at 1,204,770. Its county seat is Tampa, FloridaGR|6. Hillsborough County is the largest county in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area and the fourth most populous in Florida.

History

"see also History of Tampa, Florida"

Hillsborough County was created on January 25, 1834 from Alachua and Monroe counties. [http://www.skcensus.com/census/fl/hillsborough.html] It was named for Wills Hill, Viscount Hillsborough of England. The county's boundaries of 1834 included the present-day counties of Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota. [http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/maps/county/hillsbor/hillsbor.htm]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,266 square miles (3,279 km²), of which, 1,051 square miles (2,722 km²) of it is land and 215 square miles (558 km²) of it (17.00%) is water.

The county's unincorporated area approximately 888 square miles, or more than 84 percent of the total land area. Municipalities account for 163 square miles. The modern boundaries of the county place it midway along the west coast of Florida.

A narrow strip of Hillsborough County extends to the west to the Gulf of Mexico roughly along the Tampa Port Shipping Channel. This has the effect of keeping Hillsborough County from being landlocked. The central portion of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is in Hillsborough County as is Egmont Key at the entrance to Tampa Bay. This narrow strip of land effectively separates Pinellas County from Manatee County.

Hillsborough is home to Alafia River State Park and Hillsborough River State Parks.

Adjacent counties

* Pasco County, Florida - north
* Polk County, Florida - east
* Hardee County, Florida - southeast corner
* Manatee County, Florida - south
* Pinellas County, Florida - west

National protected area

* Egmont Key National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

Municipalities and Unincorporated areas

Incorporated

# City of Plant City
# City of Tampa
# City of Temple Terrace

= Unincorporated Census Designated Places =

*Apollo Beach
*Bloomingdale
*Boyette
*Brandon
*Cheval
*Citrus Park
*Dover
*East Lake-Orient Park
*Egypt Lake-Leto
*Fish Hawk
*Gibsonton
*Greater Carrollwood
*Greater Northdale
*Greater Sun Center
*Keystone
*Lake Magdalene
*Lutz
*Mango
*Palm River-Clair Mel
*Pebble Creek
*Progress Village
*Riverview
*Ruskin
*Seffner
*Thonotosassa
*Town 'n' Country
*University
*Valrico
*Westchase
*Wimauma

Unincorporated Communities not Census Designated Places

*Balm
*Del Rio
*East Lake "(not to be confused with the development in Pinellas County)"
*East Tampa
*Fort Lonesome
*Gulf City
*Hopewell
*Keysville
*Knights
*Lithia
*New Tampa
*Trapnell
*Turkey Creek
*Antioch
*Bay Shore
*Seffner Hills

It is perhaps surprising that Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace are the county's only incorporated places. For a county of its size, Hillsborough has an unusually high number of communities that are unincorporated, and an unusually high percentage of its people living in these areas.Fact|date=December 2007

Education

Hillsborough County Public Schools operates public schools in the county. Hillsborough County has the eighth largest school district in the United States consisting of 206 schools (133 elementary schools, 42 middle schools, 2 K-8 schools, 25 high schools and 4 career centers; 73 additional schools including charter, ESE, etc.) [http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/info/index.asp] Twelve out of Hillsborough County's 25 high schools are ranked in Newsweek's list of America's Best High Schools. [http://publicaffairs.mysdhc.org/pointsofpride]

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue services unincorporated areas of Hillsborough County. Fire service begain in the 1950s as an all volunteer force consisting of about a dozen loosely associated community based organizations. The first fulltime career firefighters were hired in 1973. The department now has 893 career uniformed and support personnel which continue to set the pace in Fire and Emergency Medical Response. Since the 1997 merge of Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and EMS, the department has placed paramedics on each career, front-line apparatus: 25 Rescues, 39 Engines, 4 Ladders and 2 Special Operations Units. As nearly 85% of the department's more than 80,000 emergency responses require some level medical care, having paramedics assigned to each unit assures that the citizens of Hillsborough County are receiving rapid Advanced Life Support care.

Fire Rescue and the Board of County Commisoners has implemented a plan to continue placing new fire rescue stations in areas where growth is occurring or gaps in coverage may exist. Fire Chief Bill Nesmith leads an executive/command staff of two Assistant Chiefs who direct the Operations and Administrative branches. The Personnel and Rescue Division Chiefs, as well as the Fire Marshal, also report directly to the Fire Chief. All fiscal functions, facilities maintenance and supply, and apparatus / equipment procurement & repair are under the direction of the Administrative Assistant Chief. The three Shift Commanders, as well as the training Chief and the Special Operations Chief, report directly to the Operations Assistant Chief. The Ops Chief is responsible for the overall response readiness of all front line personnel. [http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/firerescue/divisions/summary.cfm]

Law Enforcement

Several law enforcement agencies operate within Hillsborough County, Florida. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is headquartered in the Ybor City District of Tampa and is responsible for Law Enforcement services in the unincorporated areas of the county as well as operation of two jail facilities and courthouse security for the 13th Judicial Circuit.Each of the three incorporated cities ( Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace) has its own police agency (Tampa Police Department, Plant City Police Department, and the Temple Terrace Police Department respectively). Tampa International Airport and the University of South Florida also have police departments.

Hillsborough County Emergency Management

The Emergency Management Department is directly responsible for planning and coordinating the evacuation and sheltering of all county residents in the event of a natural or manmade disaster. This agency is also responsible for planning, orchestrating and coordinating response actions and continuity of government in the aftermath of a major disaster. [http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/emergency/] Larry Gispert has been the department's director since 1993 [http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/emergency/about/director.cfm] and is the 2007-2008 President of the International Association of Emergency Managers. [http://www.iaem.com/about/BODirectors/Councils.htm]

The Hurricane Evacuation Assessment Tool (HEAT) [http://arcims-prod.hillsboroughcounty.org/website/htmlviewer/heat/cf.htm?Title=Hurricane%20Evacuation%20Assessment%20Tool] has been created to assist residents of Hillsborough County by providing evacuation and sheltering information in the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster. This interactive program was designed to assist the public in easily determining if they are in one of the five evacuation zones. It also provides information on shelters, hospitals, fire stations and sandbag locations. [http://www-gis.hillsboroughcounty.org/heat/]

The Emergency Management Department also provides information to the public on the following: Hurricane Information, Procedures for Hazardous Materials Spill, Flooding Preparedness, Tornado Preparedness, Wildfire Preparedness, Terrorism Preparedness,and Terrorist Threat Levels. [http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/emergency/info/]

See also

*Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office
*Hillsborough County Public Schools
* USS "Hillsborough County" (LST-827)

References

External links

Government Links

* [http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org Hillsborough County Government / Board of County Commissioners]
* [http://www.hcpafl.org/ Hillsborough County Property Appraiser]
* [http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/ Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office]
* [http://www.votehillsborough.org/ Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections]
* [http://www.hillstax.org Hillsborough County Tax Collector]
* [http://www.theplanningcommission.org Hillsborough County City-County Planning Commission]
* [http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/emergency/ Hillsborough County Emergency Management]
* [http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/firerescue/ Hillsborough County Fire Rescue]

Special Districts

* [http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/ School District of Hillsborough County]
* [http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ Southwest Florida Water Management District]

Judicial branch

* [http://www.fljud13.org/ 13th Judicial Circuit, Tampa, Florida]
* [http://www.hillsclerk.com/ Clerk of the Circuit Court, Hillsborough County]
* [http://www.pd13.state.fl.us/ Public Defender for the 13th Judicial Circuit]
* [http://www.sao13.com Office of the State Attorney, 13th Judicial Circuit]

Hillsborough County Cooperative Extension

* [http://hillsborough.extension.ufl.edu/ Main Web site]

Tourism links

* [http://www.visittampabay.com Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors' Bureau]