Welcome to the Florida entry of Content Bash’s series about the 50 nifty states! From Alabama to Delaware to Hawaii to Illinois to Alaska to Kentucky to Maine to Maryland to Massachusetts, we’re collecting as many entertaining, interesting, cool, weird, and informative facts and pieces of trivia we can get our hands on about all 50 states.

What is Florida known for?

1. Theme parks! There are tons of them in Florida, and Orlando in particular has a bunch of them, like Seaworld, Universal Studios, and of course, Disney World. There’s also LEGOLAND in Lakeland, and Busch Gardens in Tampa.

2. Oranges! With over 74 million citrus trees, Florida is by far the largest producer of oranges in the country. Orange juice is the official state beverage, and the orange is also one of the official state foods.

3. The climate! Florida is known as the Sunshine State, and not for nothing. It has an average daily temperature of more than 70 degrees, making it the warmest state in America.

4. Florida man! This popular and ongoing meme highlights colorful antics of its residents that makes local news and gets national attention through viral headlines has been entertaining the internet for nearly a decade. Why Florida? Journalists are able to take advantage of public record laws that give them access to police incident reports, and the warm year-round weather means more opportunity for happenings to happen. Unfortunately, though, Florida’s dire lack of mental health funding also plays a part.

5. Sports! There are a ton of professional sports in Florida. The Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays play baseball in the state, and the NBA has the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic. The WNBA, meanwhile, has the Miami Sol and Orlando Miracle. The NFL has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins. Even the NHL has the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers, who play in Miami. Major League Soccer also has the Orlando City SC and Inter Miami CF. Many baseball teams have spring training in Florida, and these games are a great (and relatively cheap) way to watch live baseball. Florida sports culture also includes strong college programs like University of Miami, Florida State, and University of Florida. 

6. Old people! There are over 21 million people in Florida (which is actually third-most in America), and adults over 65 make up almost 20% of the entire population. Many seniors find Florida’s warm climate attractive and tax-friendliness ideal for their golden years.

7. Space stuff! Florida has a very rich history with the space program in the United States. The Kennedy Space Center is located in Merritt Island, where NASA launches their ships toward the east with help from the Earth’s natural rotation. Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is right next door.  

A short history of Florida before the United States

8. Archeological evidence tells us that Native Americans inhabited Florida land at least 12,000 years ago.

9. Juan Ponce de León is generally credited with being the first European to come in contact with Florida in 1512. He’s the dude that gave the state its name: la Florida, which is “the land of flowers.” Ponce de Léon’s coming predates Giovanni da Verrazzano landing in New York City in 1524, which means that America as we know it basically started in Florida over 500 years ago.

10. Fort Caroline — which is now Jacksonville — was founded in 1564 by René Goulaine de Laudonnière, an explorer looking to create a sanctuary for him and his fellow Huguenot Protestant facing religious persecution in France.

11. Not long after in 1565, St. Augustine was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. It is the oldest continuously settled city in America.

12. Florida was actually ruled by the British for a while, from 1763 to 1783, when Spain traded Florida to the Kingdom of Great Britain in exchange for Havana, Cuba, as if the countries were professional sports teams and the territories were players.

13. Florida became the 27^th state on March 3, 1845. 

Official state symbols of Florida

14. In 1982, schoolchildren in Florida voted the awesome and beautiful Florida panther as the official animal of the state, thus demonstrating Florida children are as cool as they are smart.

15. The sea cow (also known as the manatee), was designated the official state marine mammal in 1975. Unfortunately, the gentle manatee is considered a threatened species after decades of being harmed by humans and their boats.

16. When Ponce de León introduced horses to North America in 1521, he altered the course of civilization, as cattle was big business and a key part of the economy by the late 17^th century. The cracker horse itself was a kind of breed of Spanish ancestry known for their endurance, speed, and agility despite their relatively small size. For a few hundred years they were the dominant breed in the southeastern United States, so it’s only fitting that the Florida Cracker Horse (a name that probably hasn’t aged well) was made the official state horse in 2008.

17. Florida made the American alligator the official reptile in 1987. It’s also a state symbol for Mississippi and Louisiana. Rawr!

18. The Atlantic sailfish and Florida largemouth bass are the two official state fish of Florida.

19. The barking tree frog, with its beautifully vibrant and bold green color, is the official state amphibian of Florida.




20. Orange is one of the state foods, and the other is key lime pie. The abundance of key limes available in Florida are part of what the Key West is known for, and the dessert and the town have a history together.

21. Continuing Florida’s love affair with all things orange, the orange blossom is the official state flower.

22. The official state bird of Florida is the northern mockingbird and that was designated in 1927. Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Texas also have the northern mockingbird as a state symbol.

23. Florida has a state song: Stephen Foster’s “Old Folks at Home” (which you may know as “Swanee River”). It was written in 1851 and made the official state song in 1935, replacing “Florida, My Florida.” However, the song has been correctly criticized for romanticizing slavery life and the lyrics included some very inappropriate terms for Black people. It’s been amended over the years and officially revised in 2008.

24. In addition to a state song, Florida also has a state anthem: “Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky),” written by Pompano Beach music teacher Jan Hinton. It was selected after Governor Charlie Crist refused to allow the Foster tune be played at his 2007 inauguration. A contest was held in which 243 songs were submitted for consideration, and the public voted among three finalists. “Florida (Where the Sawgrass Meets the Sky)” received more than half the votes, and Senator Tony Hill introduced the bill that made it official.

25. The bottlenose dolphin was adopted as the Florida saltwater mammal in 1975. South Carolina and Mississippi also have our water friend as a state symbol.

26. Did you know that Florida has an official kind of dirt? It’s called Myakka, and it’s a kind of fine sand that appears only in Florida and it’s the most plentiful soil in the state.

27. The sabal palmetto is the state tree, but you might know it as a palm tree. They are also known as swamp cabbages, they are typically 40 to 50 feet high. However, they’ve been known to grow 90 feet if they’re surrounded by other trees and shaded.

28. The Florida flag in its current depiction has been waving since May 21, 1985, when the seal was remade to add more detail. The red stripes, which has been used in the Florida flag since 1900, reference both St. Andrew’s Cross and the Spanish Cross of Burgundy.

 

29. The moonstone is not organically found in Florida, but that did not stop lawmakers from adopting it as the official gem in 1970. The state wanted to commemorate the role the Kennedy Space Center (located in Brevard County and site of the Apollo 11 launch) played in the 1969 moon landing.

 

What famous people from Florida?

30. Three-time Oscar nominee Faye Dunaway, who won the 1977 Academy Award for Best Actress for Network, was born in Bascom in 1941.

31. Zora Neale Hurston, author of the gut-wrenching 1937 masterpiece Their Eyes Were Watching God, was raised in Eatonville. Though she was born in Alabama, she called this town home and her father was even elected major in 1897.

32. Blondie singer Debbie Harry, perhaps the coolest woman alive, was born in Miami in 1945. Her band had a fantastic run in the late 1970s that stack well against any other great rock-n-roll band.

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33. Prolific performer Maya Rudolph, perhaps the funniest woman alive, was born in Gainesville in 1972. Bonus fun fact: she was a member of 90s rock band The Rentals and has been in a relationship with famed filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson for 20 years.

34. The iconic professional wrestler Hulk Hogan was born in Tampa in 1953.

35. Fargo actor William H. Macy was born in Miami in 1950. The prolific thespian has been nominated for no less than 14 Emmys (including five for his work in Shameless), and has won twice.

36. Two-time Emmy Award nominee Delta Burke was born in Orlando in 1956. The star of Designing Women was Miss Florida in 1974.

37. Baseball pitcher Dwight Gooden was born in Tampa in 1964. The four-time All-Star was one of the most exciting players in the game for a number of years, winning the National League Rookie of the Year in 1984, Cy Young award in 1985, and the World Series with the Mets in 1986.

38. Singer and actor Mandy Moore was born in New Hampshire, but her family moved to Longwood when she was just two months old. Inspired by her ballerina grandmother, she cut her show biz teeth performing locally until she was discovered at a studio in Orlando when a FedEx delivery dude who happened to have a record executive friend heard her when he was dropping off packages.

39. Influential and groundbreaking actor Sidney Pointier was born in Miami in 1927. Among his many accomplishments and awards include the 1963 Best Actor Oscar for Lilies of the Field. He also directed Stir Crazy, the 1980 comedy starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

40. Pop star Ariana Grande grew up in Boca Raton. The former Nickelodeon television star won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener.

Florida geography & topography facts

41. Tallahassee is the capital of Florida, and was named as such in 1824.

42. The largest freshwater lake in Florida is Lake Okeechobee. At 730 square miles, it’s the 8th largest natural freshwater lake in the United States and people also refer to it as Florida’s Inland Sea.

43. Some trees in Florida are dangerous! The Manchineel tree is found in Florida and is very toxic. The leaves, bark, and fruit all produce a kind of noxious sap and it can give you blisters on your skin just from touching it. Do not climb this tree, and do not eat its fruit. The Spanish don’t call it manzanilla de la muerte (“little apple of death”) for nothing.

44. The Florida Reef is the third-largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef and Belize Barrier Reef. It’s also the only living one in the United States.

45. There is so much ecological diversity in Florida that more than 500 species of birds have been recorded in Florida, according to the National Audubon Society.

46. At a mere 345 feet above sea level, Britton Hill is the highest point in Florida — as well as the lowest high point in the United States.  

47. Florida has about 1,350 miles of coastline. That’s the largest in the United States, not counting Alaska or Hawaii.

48. There are two different rivers in Florida that are called Withlacoochee, one in central Florida and another in Madison County.

49. Roughly 1,700 small islands off the coast of the state make up the Florida Keys.

50. Because Florida has so much coastline, you’re always less than 60 miles from the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico.

51. Florida is almost completely surrounded by water, which makes it a peninsula.

52. The 200-mile-long northwestern part of the state that borders Alabama to the west and Georgia to the north is commonly referred to as the Florida Panhandle.

53. At 875 square miles, Jacksonville is the largest city in the United States in terms of area.

54. Located a mere 90 nautical miles from Cuba, Key West is the southernmost point of the continental United States.

More fun & weird facts about Florida

55. Florida has the most gold courses of any state, taking up precious real estate that could be much better put to use in other ways.

56. Fort Lauderdale is very LGBTQ+ friendly. It has one of the highest concentration of same-sex couples in the whole country and has been called Florida’s gay capital.

57. In 2013, journalist and sports broadcaster Diana Nyad became the first person to swim the 103 miles from Cuba to Florida without the help of fins or shark cage. It took her nearly 53 hours.

58. Gatorade was created at the University of Florida in 1965 to help the Florida Gators football team rehydrate and replace body fluids during practices and games. The famous drink has been credited for aiding the team’s win at the 1967 Orange Bowl.

59. Parallel parking is not required to get your driver’s license in Florida. It’s one of 15 states that do not test for it.

60. In August 2014, the largest gathering of people dressed as ninja turtles occurred at Nickelodeon Suites in Orlando. Guinness even recognized and approved the congregation of 1,394 people.

61. A real-life Li’l Sebastian, KneeHi is the shortest living donkey in the world, according to Guinness. He is less than 26 inches tall and every bit as adorable as you probably think. He lives in Gainesville.

62. In 1999, a new area code of 321 was introduced in Brevard County to accommodate the increase in phone numbers. Area codes in general aren’t really super-interesting, but this one is notable because it references the 3-2-1 countdown used to launch spacecraft from Cape Canaveral.

 

Tourist attractions and cool places to visit in Florida

63. The goth teenager in us might be attracted to the Phillips Mausoleum located in Tallahassee. Little is known about local architect Calvin C. Phillips, who supposedly and obsessively designed and built his own resting place. His architectural influences — from Greek to Indian to Roman — are on full display here, but his skull is not. It was stolen by vandals in 2000 and never recovered.

64. The History of Diving Museum is your go-to place for all kinds of equipment and exhibits related to diving. Situated in Islamorada, this treasury of diving memorabilia is one of the largest and best of its kind in the world.

65. The Wreck Bar in Fort Lauderdale provides an underwater burlesque show that features mermaids and aquamen to go along with your dinner and drinks to create an unforgettable dining experience.

66. Not to be confused with the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma City, SKELTONS: Museum of Osteology in Orange County is billed as the largest natural history museum in Central Florida, with more than 500 animal skeletons in its collection, including penguins, an elephant, a giraffe, a hippopotamus, and a rhinoceros.

67. The Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg is dedicated to the famous surrealist Spanish artist, and features no less than seven of his works, including “The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory” — which includes the famous image of the melting clock you’re familiar with.

68. Seaside is pretty much literally as movie-perfect as a picturesque town you can imagine, so much so that it was used in The Truman Show to represent an idyllic Utopian small-town lifestyle. It’s a planned resort community with so much imaginative detail to its planning and architecture that it’s been the subject of industry discussion.

69. Located in by Tampa Bay, Bayshore Boulevard is considered one of the longest continuous sidewalks in the world. Nearly 4.5 miles long, it’s a terrific way to take in the Tampa sights.

70. The Historic Monkey Island in Homosassa is a small sanctuary of retired research animals who have the space all to themselves. Created some 40 years ago, spider monkeys roam the island freely, swinging from trees and platforms. Tourists can observe from a distance, and it’s a treat for anyone who loves monkeys.

71. Nestled within much bigger amusement parks in Orlando is WonderWorks, an indoor gem of a spot that features educational science exhibitions on hurricanes, zero gravity, and bubbles.

72. The International Independent Showmen’s Museum in Riverview says that “No museum is quite like the Showmen’s Museum” — and they’re not wrong. Featuring tons of pieces that showcase the history of the traveling show that’s over 300 years old, it’s a remarkable snapshot of a dying corner of Americana.

73. Way down upon the Swanee River in White Springs is the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, a building dedicated to one of America’s first popular songwriters. It includes dioramas that depict different takes on different Foster ditties, from “Camptown Races” to “Old Folks at Home.”

Cover Image Credit: Image by David Mark from Pixabay

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