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HISTORY Citrus County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. Its county seat is Inverness, Florida. More than 90% of the population of Citrus County live outside the two incorporated cities of Inverness and Crystal River.Citrus County was created in 1887 The Citrus County area was formerly part of a Hernando County. It was named for the county's citrus trees. Citrus production declined dramatically after the "Big Freeze" of 1894-1895. Today, citrus is grown on one large grove, Bellamy Grove. Additionally, some people do have trees on their personal property. Phosphate mining also played a major part in the history of the County until the end of WWII in which phosphate mining was largely moved overseas. The first newspaper of Citrus County was called the Phosphate Times. Citrus County's most significant tourist draw is that it is the only place in the United States where one can legally interact and swim with the West Indian manatee. This threatened species makes Citrus County's spring-fed rivers its wintering home. According to the US Fish & Wildlife Services' Aerial Manatee Surveys, as many as 400 of these playful creatures can be found in Citrus County at one time. Citrus County also has within its territorial boundaries a number of uninhabited and/or sparsely inhabited coastal islands that can be accessed via watercraft. While some of the Citrus County islands are state lands thus available for public use for recreational opportunities, many other Citrus County islands are private property and are either wholly or partially owned by private parties. A number of the interior islands have private vacation homes and cabins situated along the waterfront in the 1980s Citrus County began to develop and housing developments such as Beverly Hills started to dominate the county Cities and towns Incorporated Back to Citrus County Home Page
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