Plant City, Florida
If you’ve ever eaten a midwinter strawberry, chances are good it was grown in Plant City, Florida, known as the winter strawberry capital of the world. More than three-fourths of the nation’s midwinter strawberries are grown here on more than 7,000 acres of rich, fertile farmland.
As with many rural Florida communities, farming was the staple around which Plant City grew, initially as a large cotton center. Its original designation, Ichepucksassa, after an Indian village that once claimed the land, was a troublesome mouthful that didn’t last long. The community’s Irish postmaster renamed Ichepucksassa after his hometown in Ireland: Cork. But that didn’t last long either, in 1884, Henry Plant brought the South Florida Railroad into town; in 1885 the city was incorporated and renamed after him. The historic Union Station depot still stands on Palmer Street today, acting as a downtown area welcome center and mini-railroad museum.