Plant City, located off Interstate 4 in eastern Hillsborough County, played an important role in the development of central Florida. When American settlers began arriving to the region in the 1830s, they referred to it by an Indian name, Ichepuckeassa. In the 1850s, an Irish postmaster dubbed a fledgling settlement in the area "Cork." In 1883, industrialist Henry B. Plant's South Florida Railroad arrived to town, and residents named their community in his honor. Two years later, the town incorporated as Plant City.

During this time, Constantine Shannon began importing strawberries from Mississippi. Shannon's decision marked the beginning of what is today a multi-million dollar business, and the basis for Plant City's claim as the "Winter Strawberry Capital of the World." In the late nineteenth century, agriculture shared the limelight with lumber, both industries driven predominately though African-American labor.

An 1887 malaria epidemic and 1895 freeze hindered Plant City's growth, but by the dawn of the twentieth century, the city boasted mercantile stores, banks, and hotels. The grand Hillsboro State Bank, constructed in the classical revival style, opened in 1902.

Shortly after World War I, phosphate mining emerged as an important new industry, and a land boom in the 1920s culminated in the construction of the luxurious Plant Hotel, as well as a new, Georgian-style, red brick city hall. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Plant City's citizens inaugurated the annual Plant City Strawberry Festival, an event still celebrated each year in late February or early March. Also during the Depression, the local school district adopted a Strawberry School System policy, under which the school term ran from late spring through December, freeing children from schoolwork for the pending harvest season. Despite the repeal of the policy in 1956, strawberries have continued as the centerpiece of the local economy for four decades.

Today, Plant City has several well preserved historic structures. The downtown area features both a residential and commercial historic district, with buildings dating to the turn of the twentieth century. Most notable among these is the Hillsboro State Bank and the Bing Rooming House, which housed black visitors during the segregation era.

From its early history as a turn-of-the-century boomtown to its current status as "Winter Strawberry Capital of the World," Plant City has been a rich part of central Florida's history.

This podcast made possible through a grant from the Florida Humanities Council. Script written by Kyle Burke. Narrated by John Richardson.