Yeehaw Junction, Florida
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| Yeehaw Junction, Florida | |
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| — Census-designated place — | |
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| Coordinates: 28°19′51″N 81°21′6″W / 28.33083°N 81.35167°WCoordinates: 28°19′51″N 81°21′6″W / 28.33083°N 81.35167°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Florida |
| County | Osceola |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 240 |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| FIPS code | |
| GNIS feature ID | 2403047[1] |
Yeehaw Junction is a census-designated place (CDP) in Osceola County, Florida, United States.[2] As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 240.[3] The area was confused with Buenaventura Lakes CDP in the 2000 census (see map on the left), and the correct data for the area was not recorded.[4]
Yeehaw Junction is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area.
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[edit] Geography
Yeehaw Junction is located at 27°42′00″N 80°54′16″W / 27.7°N 80.90444°W (27.7, -80.90444), at the intersection of US 441/SR 15, SR 60 and Florida's Turnpike (SR 91), approximately 30 miles (50 km) west of Vero Beach and 30 miles north of Lake Okeechobee. The nearest incorporated area is the ghost town of Kenansville some 15 miles (24 km) north on U.S. 441 at the junction of Canoe Creek Road (Osceola County Road 523). The location was named after the Yeehaw station on the Florida East Coast Railway, several miles to the east on SR 60.
[edit] History
The junction's name "Yeehaw" comes from the Seminole tribe in origin and means "wolf", referring to wolves that inhabited the area. According to town historians and several original newspaper articles that are displayed at the Desert Inn and Restaurant National Historical site, the town was originally named "Jackass Junction". This name was given to the four-corner site back in the early 1930s, when local ranchers rode on burros to visit the Desert Inn (then the local brothel). As the 1950s approached, the Florida legislature felt that a name change was due in light of the construction of Florida's Turnpike through the center of the community in 1957, resulting in renaming the town to its present-day name.[citation needed]
[edit] Demographics
In 2010 Yeehaw Junction had a population of 240. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 89.2% non-Hispanic white, 1.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 2.9% reporting two or more races and 6.3% Hispanic or Latino.[5]
[edit] Present day
Today, Yeehaw Junction is known as a major stopping point for tourists on the Florida's Turnpike who want to purchase conditional discount tickets for various tourist attractions in the Orlando area. The Turnpike exit links with Florida State Road 60, an important traffic route going from Vero Beach on the Atlantic to Tampa and St. Petersburg on the Gulf Coast.
Because the population is not large enough to support its own schools, children in the community may choose to attend Osceola County School District which may be over an hour bus ride for students (the nearest public school is located in St. Cloud), or be bused to closer schools in Indian River County or Okeechobee County.
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[edit] References
- ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Yeehaw Junction, Florida
- ^ "Race, Hispanic or Latino, Age, and Housing Occupancy: 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File (QT-PL), Yeehaw Junction CDP, Florida". U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder 2. http://factfinder2.census.gov. Retrieved August 5, 2011.
- ^ ERRATA FOR THE CENSUS 2000 TIGER/LINE(R) FILES, United States Census Bureau, October 2001. Accessed 2008-02-11.
- ^ 2010 census report for Yeehaw Junction
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