Wimauma, Florida

Wimauma is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,246 at the 2000 census.

History

Wimauma was founded by Captain C.H. Davis in 1902. It was located on a 55 mile railroad route that was built south from Durant to Manatee County and into Sarasota with construction starting in 1895. It was first incorporated in 1902 as the United States & West Indies Railroad and Steamship Company. It became the Florida West Shore Railway on May 9, 1903 before being engulfed into the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company in 1909. In 1902, Captain C.H. Davis helped to build the railroad connecting Turkey Creek and Bradenton. Davis decided to found a town at the half-way point, opening a post office there in on October 24, 1902. Davis named the town by taking the first letters of the names of his three daughters, Willie, Maude, and Mary. The town had the railroad tracks as the eastern boundary and was centered around Lake Tiger, now called Lake Wimauma. A railroad depot was constructed in 1903. The town was officially incorporated in 1925 as the county's fourth municipality, but the city government ceased to function some time in the 1930s. In 1993 this fact was rediscovered, but it was concluded that the incorporation was no longer valid after about 60 years without a city government. The railroad depot in Wimauma served as a passenger stop until 1968. The railroad tracks were removed in 1984 and the station had already been razed years before that. Currently, Wimauma is the site of the Church Of God (Cleveland, TN) Camp Ground and conference center.