Plant City was once known for producing lumber, cotton, citrus and cattle. However, that was before the big freeze of the late 1800s.
Jennifer Morgan, public relations and media representative for the Florida Strawberry Festival: “After that big freeze, it was too challenging for those farmers to produce those things. So there was a small group of little trail blazers that started to plant berry plants. They were shocked at how resilient those plants were to the frost and the cold weather, and so that’s how it started.”
Nicknamed the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, Plant City’s farms produce millions of berries each year. In fact, Hillsborough County produces about 15 percent of the nation’s strawberries and nearly all of its winter berries. Then railroad magnate Henry Plant, after which the city was named, settled in the town. He built a railway from Plant City to Tampa, allowing farmers to sell their berries far and wide.
Source: wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu
