"plant city florida" Plant City by doug48

plant city florida is located between lakeland and tampa just off highway I-4. plant city was originally an indian village named ichepucksassa. later it was renamed cork after the city in ireland. when henry plant built a railroad through the town the people of cork named the town after him. the main crop of plant city originally was cotton but in later years the cotton fields were replanted with strawberries. today plant city is known as the winter strawberry capital of the world. each year in late february or early march plant city hosts the florida strawberry festival. hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world attend this event. plant city has a nice downtown historic district which is worth visiting when traveling along I-4 between tampa and orlando.

henry plant

the town of plant city florida is named after henry bradley plant. henry plant was a famous post civil war railroad tycoon and real estate developer. after the civil war the economy of the south was devastated by the war and later the effects of radical reconstruction. plant believed that the economy of the south would improve over time and bought up and number of bankrupt railroad companies. in 1879 he bought the atlantic and gulf railroad and in 1880 he bought the charleston and savannah railroad. in 1882 he founded the plant holding company with the assistance of henry flagler, m. k. jesup, and w. t. walters. plant built a railroad down the west coast of florida that terminated in the village of tampa. to accommodate northern tourists he built the $ 2,500,000 tampa bay hotel in downtown tampa. henry plant and henry flagler were instrumental in the developement of the state of florida in the late 19 th century.