Spring Hill, Florida


Spring Hill is a census-designated place in Hernando County, Florida, in the United States of America. The community is unincorporated. The population was 113,568 at the 2020 census, up from 98,621 at the 2010 census. Spring Hill belongs to Florida's Nature Coast region and is in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area. It is east of Hernando Beach, southwest of Brooksville, and north of Tampa.

History and overview

Spring Hill was formerly a large tract of endangered Longleaf Pine Ecosystem and Sand Pine Scrub with very high biodiversity, and it was a safe haven for many imperiled species. Most of that ecosystem remained unchanged until the 1970s when large scale deforestation for development began. The community first appeared on Hernando County maps as early as 1856 along what is today Fort Dade Avenue just north of the community of Wiscon.
The modern Spring Hill was founded in 1967 as a planned community, which was developed by the Deltona Corporation and the Mackle Brothers. The developers originally wanted to call the community "Spring Lake" and used that as the working name throughout the development process. Eventually, they were forced to use a different name due to the name Spring Lake already being in use locally and they chose "Spring Hill". The plans for the community are identical to the community of Deltona. The Mackle Brothers sold many of the properties and land in the area through intense advertising on a national scale. The community has since become a sprawling semi-city in its own right, although it is an unincorporated area. The main entrance to the original development is marked by the Spring Hill waterfall on Spring Hill Drive and U.S. Route 19.
Spring Hill's proximity to Tampa, to the south, and the completion of the Suncoast Parkway in 2001 have made the community easily accessible to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

Geography

Spring Hill is located in southwestern Hernando County at . It is bordered to the west by Timber Pines; to the north by Weeki Wachee, Weeki Wachee, Florida|North Weeki Wachee], High Point, Brookridge, and Wiscon; and to the east by Brooksville, Florida|South Brooksville], Garden Grove, and Masaryktown. To the south it is bordered by Shady Hills and Heritage Pines in Pasco County.

Census area

According to the United States Census Bureau, Spring Hill has a total area of, of which are land and, or 3.94%, are water.

Postal address

Postal mailing address names for this community are divided into "Shady Hills" and "Quail Ridge" for correct postal address coverage. The Spring Hill census designated place does not extend into neighboring Pasco County, so the U.S. Postal Service recommends that "Spring Hill" be used only as the mailing address for destinations in ZIP Code 34610 of Pasco County, not for postal customers in this Hernando County unincorporated community.

Demographics

RacePop 2010Pop 2020% 2010% 2020
White 77,39978,66078.48%69.26%
Black or African American 4,4855,6464.55%4.97%
Native American or Alaska Native 2593050.26%0.27%
Asian 1,3491,9221.37%1.69%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian 38510.04%0.04%
Some other race 1746370.18%0.56%
Two or more races/Multiracial 1,5384,7701.56%4.20%
Hispanic or Latino 13,37921,57713.57%19.00%
Total98,621113,568

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 113,568 people, 43,121 households, and 30,380 families residing in the CDP.
For the period 2013–17, the estimated median annual household income in the CDP was $45,468, and the median family income was $53,017. Male full-time workers had a median income of $39,478 versus $35,059 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,349. About 10.7% of families and 14.9% of the total population were below the poverty line, including 22.6% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 98,621 people, 38,333 households, and 27,272 families residing in the CDP.
At the 2010 census, the population density was.
Of the 39,078 households in 2010, 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.6% were headed by married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.9% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49, and the average family size was 2.91.
In 2010, in the CDP, 21.6% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.2% were from 18 to 24, 21.9% were from 25 to 44, 27.1% were from 45 to 64, and 22.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.3 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males.

Languages

For the period 2013–17, English spoken as a first language accounted for 85.7% of the population, while 14.3% spoke other languages as their mother tongue. The most significant were Spanish speakers who made up 10.0% of the population.

Education

Spring Hill has many schools, both public and private, which provide primary and secondary education to local children. There are also several options for higher education that are easily accessible from the Spring Hill area.

Public primary and secondary schools

Public schools in Spring Hill are part of the Hernando County School Board school system, which oversees all public schools in Hernando County. The main public schools that serve the Spring Hill area are:
High schools
Middle schools
K-8 schools
  • Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics
  • Explorer K-8
  • John D. Floyd K-8 School of Environmental Science
  • Winding Waters K-8
Elementary schools

Private schools

In addition to the public schools in Spring Hill, there are several private schools:

Higher learning

Spring Hill is home to the Spring Hill Campus of Pasco–Hernando State College. This was the fourth campus built out of the five now in existence.
Northwestern Christian University, an online program, has its headquarters in Spring Hill.

Libraries

The Hernando County Library System operates several libraries in and around the Spring Hill area, such as the West Hernando Branch Library and the Spring Hill Branch Library that serves as a replacement of the Little Red Schoolhouse Branch Library. The historic Little Red Schoolhouse Branch Library has been converted into a bookstore, run by the Friends of the Library, whose proceeds benefit the library system.

Healthcare

The only hospital that operates in Spring Hill is TGH Spring Hill.

Tourism

Nearby Weeki Wachee Springs is home to the famous live mermaid show and Florida's only spring-fed water park, Buccaneer Bay.

Media

There are two print newspapers that serve the area: the Hernando Times, and the Hernando Sun.
Spring Hill belongs in the Tampa Bay Area media market, the 12th largest designated market area in the United States.

Notable people

Transportation

[Image:FLMap-doton-SpringHill.PNG|thumb|right|Spring Hill's location in Florida (red dot)]

Mass transit

Public transit in Spring Hill is provided by Hernando County Transit, which consists of four routes which serve Spring Hill and Brooksville, and which also provides a connection to the Pasco County Bus System via the Purple Route's terminus in Hudson. The Bus system operates six days a week since expanding to include Saturday service in October 2019.
The four current routes are:Purple: Pasco-Hernando State College - Brooksville to Spring Hill, final stop in Hudson, where it connects to Pasco County Transit Route 21Green: Brooksville US 41 & Wiscon Road via Wiscon Rd, California St and Spring Hill Drive to Pasco-Hernando State College Spring Hill CampusRed: Mariner & Northcliffe Boulevards via Northcliffe, Deltona, & Forest Oaks Boulevards, as well as US 19 to Pasco-Hernando State College Spring Hill CampusBlue: Brooksville Walmart via Mariner Blvd to Bayfront Health Spring Hill
Additionally, paratransit services are available via Trans-Hernando, which offers door-to-door services by advance reservation for the elderly, mentally challenged, and economic/transportation disadvantaged residents of Hernando County.

Roads

There are several county roads in Hernando County, Florida|county roads] in Spring Hill that serve as major thoroughfares for traffic traveling around and passing through Spring Hill. Below is a list of the county roads that pertain to Spring Hill:
CR #NameDirection
30px CR 572Elgin Boulevard/Powell RoadEast/West
30px CR 574Spring Hill DriveEast/West
30px CR 578County Line RoadEast/West
30px CR 585Barclay Avenue/Anderson Snow RoadNorth/South
30px CR 587Mariner BoulevardNorth/South
30px CR 589Deltona BoulevardNorth/South

Highways

Spring Hill is bordered to the west by US 19, and to the north by SR 50. The Suncoast Parkway is a toll road that passes through Spring Hill and serves as a connection to Pasco and Hillsborough counties to the south.