Temple Terrace, Florida
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Temple Terrace Tree City USA |
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| Nickname(s): "The Terrace" | |||
| Motto: "A City for Living" | |||
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| Coordinates: 28°02′07″N 82°23′21″W / 28.03528°N 82.38917°W | |||
| Country |  United States |
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| State |  Florida |
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| County | Hillsborough | ||
| Founded | 1920 | ||
| Incorporated | May 28, 1925 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Joseph Affronti | ||
| Area | |||
| - City | 6.9 sq mi (17.9 km2) | ||
| - Land | 6.9 sq mi (17.8 km2) | ||
| - Water | 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2) | ||
| Elevation | 59 ft (18 m) | ||
| Population (2000) | |||
| - City | 21,694 | ||
| - Density | 3,051.2/sq mi (1,177.3/km2) | ||
| - Metro | 4 million | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP codes | 33617, 33637, 33687 | ||
| Area code(s) | 813 | ||
| FIPS code | 12-71400[1] | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0292103[2] | ||
| Website | www.templeterrace.com | ||
Temple Terrace is a city in northeastern Hillsborough County, Florida, USA, adjacent to Tampa. According to 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 23,405. It is the third and smallest incorporated municipality in Hillsborough County. (Tampa and Plant City are the others.) Incorporated in 1925, the community is known for its rolling landscape, bucolic Hillsborough River (Florida) views, and majestic trees; it has the most grand sand live-oak trees of any place in central Florida. Temple Terrace was originally planned as a 1920s Mediterranean-revival golf-course community. Temple Terrace is a Tree City USA.
The city was named for the then-new hybrid, the Temple orange. (The Temple orange, which is also called the tangor, is a cross between the mandarin orange — also called the tangerine — and the common sweet orange; it was named after William Chase Temple, one-time owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates and founder of the Temple Cup.) Temple Terrace was the first place in the United States where the new Temple orange was grown in large quantities. The "terrace" portion of the name refers to the terraced terrain of the area by the river where the city was founded. (Terraces in generally-flat South Florida might be called "low ridges" in other parts of the country.) Several of the original homes also had terraced yards with lawns sloping, in tiers, down to the river.
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[edit] History
[edit] Pre-Columbian
The original inhabitants of the Temple Terrace area were the Native Americans known as the Tocobaga, a group of Native Americans living around Tampa Bay, both in prehistoric and historic times, until roughly 1760. Their numbers declined in the seventeenth century, due, at least in part, to diseases brought to the New World by the Europeans, to which they had little natural resistance. All of the Florida tribes were also severely affected by the raids of Creeks and Yamasee during the late stages of the seventeenth century. In any case, the Tocobaga disappeared from history less than a hundred years later.
[edit] Spanish exploration
Spanish exploration of the Temple Terrace area dates back to 1757 when Spanish explorer Don Francisco Maria Celi of the Spanish Royal Fleet made his way up the Hillsborough River (naming it "el Rio de San Julian y Arriaga") to what is now Riverhills Park in search of pine trees to use as masts for his ships. Here, in the extensive longleaf pine forest, he erected a cross in what he named "El Pinal de la Cruz de Santa Teresa" (the Pine Forest of the Cross of Saint Theresa). Confirmation of the fleet's travels is found in its map and log book. An historic marker and a replica of the cross erected to honor St. Theresa is found in the Riverhills Park today. Up to 1913, the longleaf pine trees made the area suitable for turpentine manufacturing and logging.
[edit] The Potter Palmer years
The area now known as Temple Terrace was originally part of an exclusive 19,000-acre (77 km2) hunting preserve called "Riverhills Ranch" belonging to Chicago socialite Bertha Palmer (also known as Mrs. Potter Palmer). (She played an extensive role in making Sarasota, Florida the "City of the Arts" it is today. She was one of the largest landholders, ranchers, farmers, and developers in Florida at the turn of the twentieth century). Property acquisition by the Palmers and the Honorés began in 1910; one of the original buildings from the preserve, now known as the Woodmont Clubhouse, remains. Because it escaped logging, the grounds of the clubhouse harbor some of the largest specimens of live oak and longleaf pine in the city.
[edit] The Mediterranean Revival golf course community
Mrs. Potter-Palmer’s vision for her property was that it be developed into a golf course community surrounded by extensive citrus groves, but her death in 1918 prevented her from realizing that vision. At her death, the trustee of her estate and brother, Adrian Honoré, sold her local land holdings to Burks Hamner, Vance Helm, Maud and Cody
Fowler, and D.Collins Gillett who formed two development corporations—Temple Terrace Estates, Inc., who developed the golf course and residential areas; and Temple Terraces, Inc., who developed 5,000 acres (20 km2) of orange groves that originally surrounded the City to the west and north, the largest orange grove in the world in the 1920s. (Adrian Honoré retained a seat on the board.) D. Collins Gillett oversaw Temple Terraces, Inc. and owned the first and largest citrus nursery in Florida, Buckeye Nurseries of Tampa. His father, Myron E. Gillett, was instrumental in bringing the Temple orange to the US from Jamaica.
In 1924, part of the 5,000-acre (20 km2) area platted as the Temple Orange grove and called Temple Terraces, Inc. was developed into the present day neighborhood of Temple Crest, immediately adjacent to Temple Terrace and to its west, hugging the Hillsborough River. Nearby Busch Gardens was also originally part of Mrs. Palmer's original 19,000-acre (77 km2) ranch.
In 1925, the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club (which is still in existence) hosted the first ever Florida Open (billed as the "Greatest Field of Golfers ever to Play in Florida"). "Long" Jim Barnes was resident professional of the course at the time, and every major golfer of the day competed in the event except for Bobby Jones. Leo Diegel won the tournament. The golf-course architect was Tom Bendelow who also designed Medinah Country Club's Course #3 in Chicago, a 7,508-yard (7,385 m) golf course which has hosted three U.S. Opens (1949, 1975, 1990) and two PGA Championships (1999, 2006). The golf course of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club is eligible for the prestigious National Register of Historic Places.
Temple Terrace is one of the first planned golf-course communities in the United States (1921). The town plan was designed by town planner John Nolen or one of his students (the exact author of the Temple Terrace plan remains under investigation). The architecture was designed in the Mediterranean-Revival style by two different architects at two different time periods. The first phase was in 1921 by noted Tampa architect M. Leo Elliott (Centro Asturiano de Tampa and Old Tampa City Hall) who designed the first eight houses and the public buildings. In 1926 renowned New York architect Dwight James Baum (architect of John Ringling's Ca' d' Zan, the Hotel El Verona in Sarasota, and the West Side YMCA in New York City) designed many of the early residences in Temple Terrace.
There are twelve buildings designed by Elliott remaining in the city, the largest collection of his work anywhere. In addition, there are forty two houses in the city designed by architect Dwight James Baum, which is thought to be the largest collection of his work in the Southeast.
Temple Terrace struggled through the 1930s like the rest of Florida. Building activity began to pick up again after World War II. There is now a fine collection of mid-century modern homes and buildings, at least three of which were designed by members of the renowned Sarasota School of Architecture. Two houses located on South Riverhills Drive were designed in the 1950s by John Randal McDonald AIA, a student of the renowned architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. At least one house in the city was designed by architect Mark Hampton.
[edit] Florida College
Florida Bible Institute bought the old Country Club Clubhouse and Club Morocco Casino in the late 1930s from the city for back taxes and both buildings remain a cherished part of Florida College. Florida College is now a private liberal arts college (founded in 1946) and occupies some of the community's oldest buildings. Billy Graham attended Florida Bible Institute, which owned the property now occupied by Florida College, in the late 1930s. In his autobiography he writes he received his calling "on the 18th green of the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club". A Billy Graham Memorial Park is on the east side of the 18th green on the river.
[edit] Rejuvenation and Redevelopment
Temple Terrace is currently in the process of redeveloping fifty acres (the southeast quadrant) of its 1960s-era downtown. The goal of the city is to build a mixed-use, medium-density, pedestrian-oriented downtown.
The city hired noted town-planner, Torti Gallas & Partners, in 2004 to create a new-urbanist master plan and redevelopment code for the entire 225-acre (0.91 km2) downtown area (four quadrants of 56th Street and Busch Boulevard), all with citizen input. The city also initiated a form-based code for its downtown, created a façade-improvement grant program, implemented a multi-modal transportation model to encourage alternatives to the automobile, and began revitalizing 56th Street with entry towers, landscaping, street furniture, placing utilities undergound, and improved lighting.
[edit] Neighbors
Many of Temple Terrace's residents teach or work at the nearby University of South Florida, and the close-knit community has strong ties to that institution. (The USF campus was also part of Mrs. Palmer's original 16,000-acre (65 km2) ranch.)
Eureka Springs Park, located to the east of Temple Terrace, is Hillsborough County's only botanical garden. The 31-acre (130,000 m2) park was started by Russian immigrant and amateur horticulturalist, Albert Greenberg, who donated his park to the county in 1967. Poet Robert Frost and other famous personalities made it a point to visit Greenberg in the years prior to World War II.
The Museum of Science & Industry (Tampa), commonly called MOSI, is located near the Tampa-Temple Terrace city line.
[edit] Geography
Temple Terrace is located at 28°2′30″N 82°22′57″W / 28.04167°N 82.3825°W (28.041546, -82.382519)[3]. The city is bounded by Tampa to the west, Del Rio to the south, New Tampa to the north, and rural Hillsborough County, near Interstate 75, to the east.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.9 square miles (17.9 km²)— 6.9 square miles (17.8 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (1.15%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 20,918 people, 8,671 households, and 5,350 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,051.2 persons per square mile (1,177.3/km²). There were 9,359 housing units at an average density of 1,365.1 houses per square mile (526.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 80.46% White, 11.16% African American, 0.37% Native American, 2.59% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 2.39% from other races, and 2.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.34% of the population.
There were 8,671 households out of which 27.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.3% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.2% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $44,508, and the median income for a family was $56,809. Males had a median income of $38,384 versus $32,107 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,515. About 5.4% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.8% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Education
[edit] Sister cities
Temple Terrace has a sister city:
Eastleigh, England in the United Kingdom since 1989[4]
[edit] See also
- Jim Barnes
- Tom Bendelow
- Kathy Castor
- Adam Copeland
- Leo Diegel
- Billy Graham
- Pam Iorio
- Debra Lafave
- Morrisound Recording
- Bertha Palmer
- Peter Palmer
- Colonel Tom Parker
- Casey Rosado
[edit] References
- ^ a b "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2005-05-03. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ "City of Temple Terrace News Release". http://www.templeterrace.com/media/releases/EastleighVisit_091707.pdf.
[edit] External links
- City of Temple Terrace
- Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club
- Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of Commerce
- Masque Community Theatre of Temple Terrace
- Temple Terrace Arts Council
- Terrace Community Middle School
- The University of South Florida
- The Woodmont Clubhouse
- GFWC Temple Terrace Woman's Club
- Citizens for the Revitalization of Temple Terrace
- Myron E. Gillett (father of developer D. Collins Gillett)
- Architect M. Leo Elliott
- Architect Dwight James Baum
- Architect Dwight James Baum papers
- Architect John Randal MacDonald AIA
- Dusty Owens Official Website
- Don Wallace (entrepreneur and former resident)
- Branch Family Cemetery, 8729 Overlook Drive
- Hillsborough County Community Atlas: City of Temple Terrace
- Hillsborough County Watershed Atlas
- USGS GNIS: Temple Terrace, Florida
- Temple Terrace, Florida is at coordinates 28°02′30″N 82°22′57″W / 28.041546°N 82.382519°WCoordinates: 28°02′30″N 82°22′57″W / 28.041546°N 82.382519°W
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