Haines City, Florida - Wikipedia

Haines City was platted in 1884, shortly after the South Florida Railroad reached the area.[1][5] The city was originally known as Clay Cut, but there was no railroad station.[1] It is said that the inhabitants persuaded the railroad company to build a station by agreeing to rename their city Haines City, to honor a senior railroad official, former Confederate States Army Colonel Henry Haines.[6]

Haines City was originally incorporated under the General Statutes of Florida as the Town of Haines City on February 23, 1914.[1] The first state legislative act affecting it was enacted on May 20, 1919, and, by Chapter 8272,[7] it was reincorporated as the City of Haines City on January 5, 1925, under a Mayor-Council form of government.[1] The present charter was adopted as Chapter 12790 on July 1, 1927, changing the form of government to "Commission-Manager Plan," as amended. The city operates under a commission-manager form of government and provides the following services as authorized by its charter: Public safety (Police and Fire), Streets and Highways, Culture-Recreation, Public Improvements, Sanitation, Planning and Zoning and General and Administrative Services.[8]

The early settlers planted citrus groves, and citrus growing and processing became the main industry of the city.

African Americans first came to Haines City in 1902 and made a community called "Oakland" named after the various oak tree's that were in the area at the time. Its history is commemorated with a historic district and historical marker.[9] Redevelopment efforts seek to reestablish more business activity in the neighborhood.[10]

From 1974 to 1986, Circus World, a theme park created by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, was open just north of Haines City. After Circus World shut down, it was rebranded & reopened as Boardwalk and Baseball. It featured carnival games and theme park styled rides like the Grand Rapids Flume. It closed in 1990, and the site has been redeveloped as a residential and shopping complex named Posner Park.

In recent years, Haines City has seen explosive growth, largely because of its easy access to Orlando and Walt Disney World Resort. New residential areas have been developed on the edges of the city. On high ground in the north of the city, Southern Dunes, a golf and country club with both vacation homes and residential homes, was developed between 1995 and 2005.

In 2004, Haines City experienced three hurricanes. Hurricane Charley passed through the city in August. Hurricane Frances came right on the heels of Charley but mostly just dumped a lot of rain. Hurricane Jeanne soon followed packing a punch not quite as strong as Charley but longer lasting. The city has since recovered.

Four years after Charley, Haines City got struck again this time by a weaker storm named Tropical Storm Fay. This storm caused little damage, but schools closed on the second day of the school year (Tuesday, August 19, 2008) due to it; the original plan had been to close schools Tuesday and Wednesday, but the lack of danger it showed on Tuesday caused the change in agenda.[11]

Park renovations

A new park on Lake Eva, replacing a previous park on the site, was completed in 2009.[12] The city has also built a new park, called "8-Acre Park", and auditorium in the Oakland area, on the northern side of the city.

Brush fire

Haines City was the site of a 350-acre (1.4 km2) brush fire on March 25, 2009. It was a scare to the residents of dozens of houses in a housing complex named Randa Ridge.