Marion County is a county located in the North Central region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 375,908. Its county seat is Ocala. Marion County comprises the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. It includes part of Ocala National Forest, which also extends into three other counties.
History Native Americans Evidence of ancient indigenous cultures has been found in Marion County, as well as of the earliest encounter between European explorers and historic indigenous peoples. In 1976, an archaeological investigation found ancient artifacts in Marion County that appear to be the oldest in mainland United States. Excavations at an ancient stone quarry (on the Container Corporation of America site (8Mf154) in Marion County) yielded "crude stone implements". Thousands of pieces of chert were found at the site. These showed signs of extensive wear and were found in deposits below those holding Paleo-Indian artifacts. Thermoluminescence dating and weathering analysis independently gave dates of 26,000 to 28,000 Years Before Present (YBP) for the production of these artifacts, prior to Clovis points. The findings suggested human habitation in this area much earlier than documented by other evidence.Barbara A. Purdy, "Investigations into the Use of Chert Outcrops by Prehistoric Floridians: The Container Corporation of America Site", Florida Anthropologist, Vol. 34, No. 2, June 1981, pp. 90- Barbara Purdy had bipoint evidence from the CCA site, which also predated Clovis points, which she reported in a 2008 paper.Wm Jack Hranicky, Bipoints Before Clovis: Trans-Oceanic Migrations and Settlement of Prehistoric Americas, Universal-Publishers, 2012, p. 225
The county seat of Ocala is named for a Timucuan village visited and recorded by the Spanish Hernando de Soto expedition in the sixteenth century. During the colonial period, Spain and Great Britain traded control of this area.
Settlement After acquisition of the Florida territory by the United States in the 1820s, Marion County was created in 1844 from portions of Alachua, Mosquito (Orange), and Hillsborough counties. Until 1853, Marion County included most of what are now Lake and Sumter counties. In 1849, Putnam County was created and took the northeast portion of Marion. Levy County's creation took some of the western portion of Marion in 1877, near the end of the Reconstruction era.
Marion County is named after General Francis Marion of South Carolina, a guerrilla fighter and hero of the American Revolutionary War who was known as the "Swamp Fox". Numerous early settlers of this area were natives of South Carolina and likely picked their local hero as the county's namesake. The Act creating the county of Marion of the Territory of Florida was signed on March 14, 1844, by the territorial governor, R. K. Call. The county motto is "Kingdom of the Sun".
Civil War era Marion County was a hotbed of secessionist activity. Organizers petitioned the state to host the Florida Secession Convention and break away from the United States with other Southern states. The area had many plantations and more than half of the population was enslaved African Americans.
Several Confederate Army units were organized by plantation owners, including the Marion Rifle Guards, organized May 2, 1861, by Captain W.L. Fletcher, county treasurer. It served as part of the Fourth Florida Infantry under Col. Edward Hopkins. Other company's included the Hammock Guards, commanded by Captain J.S. Hopkins; Marion Dragoons, a cavalry unit organized and financed by William A. Owens, Marion Hornets, commanded by Captain Wade Eichelberger, and the Marion Light Artillery, commanded at one time by John Marshall Martin. The Civil War and its aftermath disrupted local society and strained the economy. The population declined in its wake as many African Americans moved to towns or cities for better opportunities.
Post-Reconstruction era to mid-20th century During the post-Reconstruction period, there was considerable racial violence in Marion County. Locals lynched between 19 and 26 African Americans in the county from the 1880s to 1935.
Mid-20th century to present Since the mid-20th century, thoroughbred horse farms have been established in the county. Such thoroughbred farms have become known for such race champions as Needles, bred at Bonnie Heath Farm, and in 1956, becoming the first Florida-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. In 1978 Affirmed from Harbor View Farm won the Triple Crown.
Carl G. Rose, who had come to Florida in 1916 from Indiana to oversee construction of the first asphalt road in the state, is credited with developing the first thoroughbred horse farm in 1943. As an engineer, he had become familiar with the area's limestone, which he realized supported good pasture for raising strong horses. (Limestone also nurtures central Kentucky's noted Bluegrass Region.) In 1943, Rose bought land along State Highway 200, at $10 per acre, establishing Rosemere Farm. The next year one of his horses, Gornil, won at Miami's Tropical Park, becoming the first Florida-raised thoroughbred to win a Florida race. This raised the profile of Marion County in the racing world.
Close on Rose's heels, entrepreneur Bonnie Heath set up his own thoroughbred farm, producing Needles. In 1956 the horse was the state's first native-bred winner of the Kentucky Derby. (see further below). Bonnie Heath Farm is owned and operated by Bonnie Heath III and his wife Kim.
In 1978, Marion County-bred-and-raised Affirmed won the Triple Crown. Today, Marion County is a major world thoroughbred center with more than 1,200 horse farms. There are about 900 thoroughbred farms, totaling some . Ocala is well known as a "horse capital of the world".
Tourism The nearby community of Silver Springs developed around the Silver Springs, a group of artesian springs on the Silver River. In the 19th century, this site became Florida's first tourist destination.
Today, well known for glass-bottom boat tours of the area, Silver Springs is owned by the State of Florida; it was incorporated into Silver Springs State Park in 2013. Other nearby natural attractions include the Ocala National Forest and the Florida Trail. Several prominent man-made attractions in the Ocala area existed in the past, such as the Western-themed Six Gun Territory theme park (operated from 1963 to 1984) and the Wild Waters water park (operated from 1978 to 2016).
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Marion is the fifth largest county in the state, with a total area of , of which is land and (4.7%) is water.
Marion County is generally composed of rolling hills. The highest elevation is about . The majority of its trees consist of live oaks, pines, and palm trees.
It is about a two-hour drive from Marion County to many of Florida's major cities; Orlando is 75 minutes to the southeast, while Daytona Beach is about 90 minutes to the east. Tampa is about 75 minutes to the southwest, Jacksonville is roughly a two-hour drive northeast, and Miami is about six hours to the southeast.
There are several significant lakes within or bordering Marion County. Orange Lake is in the far northern part of Marion County, near the border with Alachua County. Lake Kerr is in the northeastern part of the county, near the town of Salt Springs, which is near the border with Putnam County. Lake Weir, the largest of the three, is in the far southern region, near the border with Lake County. Part of Lake George is also in Marion County.
Marion County is inland, centered between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Gulf of Mexico to the west. Because of this, the area is generally not affected as much by hurricanes as the more coastal counties to its east and west. The largest threats from natural disasters are high winds and flooding; tornadoes are also of concern.
Adjacent counties Putnam County, Florida – northeast Volusia County, Florida – east Lake County, Florida – southeast Sumter County, Florida – south Citrus County, Florida – southwest Levy County, Florida – west Alachua County, Florida – northwest
National protected area Ocala National Forest (part)
Demographics
+Marion County, Florida – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)99,833162,861208,232245,136253,83781.50%83.59%80.42%73.99%67.53%Black or African American alone (NH)20,04824,54229,37039,33742,79516.37%12.60%11.34%11.87%11.38%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2596169989839860.21%0.32%0.39%0.30%0.26%Asian alone (NH)2508961,7774,3375,9730.20%0.46%0.69%1.31%1.59%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census41121148xx0.02%0.04%0.04%Other race alone (NH)86582316471,7470.07%0.03%0.09%0.20%0.46%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census2,6514,60014,512xx1.02%1.39%3.86%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,0125,86015,61636,13755,9101.64%3.01%6.03%10.91%14.87%Total122,488194,833258,916331,298375,908 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 375,908, 156,906 households, and 102,412 families, and the population density was 236.7 per square mile (91.4/km).
The median age was 50.3 years. 18.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 29.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 89.0 males age 18 and over.
As of the 2020 census, the racial makeup of the county was 71.4% White, 11.8% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 4.8% from some other race, and 9.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 14.9% of the population.
As of the 2020 census, 70.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 29.3% lived in rural areas.
There were 156,906 households in the county, of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 47.5% were married-couple households, 16.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.3% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 177,380 housing units, of which 11.5% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 75.5% were owner-occupied and 24.5% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 9.5%.
American Community Survey
The 2016–2020 five-year American Community Survey estimates show that the average household size was 2.4 and the average family size was 2.9. The percent of those with a bachelor's degree or higher was estimated to be 15.0% of the population.
The 2016–2020 five-year American Community Survey estimates show that the median household income was $46,587 (with a margin of error of +/- $1,434) and the median family income was $56,181 (+/- $1,758). Males had a median income of $32,045 (+/- $865) versus $25,585 (+/- $601) for females. The median income for those above 16 years old was $28,739 (+/- $827). Approximately, 10.7% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.1% of those under the age of 18 and 8.4% of those ages 65 or over.
2000 census