Neighboring Cities: Sun City Center | Ruskin | Summerfield | Lithia
Wimauma was founded by Captain C.H. Davis in 1902. That year, Davis helped build the Seaboard Air Line Railroad connecting Turkey Creek and Bradenton. Davis decided to found a town at the half-way point, opening a post office there in on October 24, 1902. Davis named the town by taking the first letters of the names of his three daughters, Willie, Maude, and Mary. The town had the railroad tracks as the western boundary and was centered around Lake Tiger, now called Lake Wimauma. The town was officially incorporated in 1925 as the county's fourth municipality, but the city government ceased to function some time in the 1930s. In 1993 this fact was rediscovered, but it was concluded that the incorporation was no longer valid after about 60 years without a city government. |