Wakulla County Florida   Located in North Florida

Wakulla County Cities

Land area (rank): 601 square miles (45)
Population 1993 (rank): 15,401 (56)
Population density 1993 (rank): 26 persons per square mile (55)
Growth 1980-1990 (rank): 30.5% (34)

Physical Characteristics

Wakulla County is in north Florida and is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, and by Franklin, Liberty, Leon, and Jefferson counties. The county has 34 square miles of water. The average January temperature is 54.2 degrees F, and the average August temperature is 81.4 degrees F. The average annual rainfall is 54.03 inches.

History

Wakulla County was established from a portion of Leon County in 1843. Wakulla, also the name of an enormous spring and river in the county, is probably of Indian derivation. It may contain the word kala, meaning "spring of water" in some Indian dialects or wahkola, meaning "loon" in Hitchiti, a language of the Creek Indians.

Population

In 1993, 95% of Wakulla County's population was in unincorporated areas. The place with the greatest population is the unincorporated town of Crawfordville, which is also the county seat. Next in population is Panacea, followed by the incorporated city of Sopchoppy (398 persons in 1993) and the town of St. Marks (303 persons in 1993). In 1993, 86% of Wakulla County's population was white, and 14% was nonwhite. In 1990, 0.6% of the population was Hispanic. Of the population increase between 1980 and 1990, 77.3% was due to net migration. The 1992 birth rate was 14.4 live births per 1,000 persons, and the 1992 death rate was 8.1 deaths per 1,000 persons. In 1992 the infant mortality rate was 9.4 per 1,000. The leading causes of death were cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Education

Of all 1992 high school graduates, 60.3% planned to continue their education. The 1992 high school dropout rate was 1.7%. In 1990, 71.6% of persons in the county were high school graduates, and 10.1% had completed four or more years of college. Colleges and universities. Served by Tallahassee Community College (Leon County).

Economy

The per capita income in Wakulla County for 1993 was $15,583 (37th highest in the state). The median household income in 1989 was $25,019. In 1989, 11.1% of families had incomes below the poverty level. In 1990, 19.1% of personal income in Wakulla County was derived from transfer payments. Food and kindred products firms had the greatest number of reported employees in the manufacturing sector. Employers of the greatest numbers of persons in the retail trade sector were eating and drinking establishments and food stores. In 1992 there were 83 farms in Wakulla County, totalling 8,679 acres (2% of total land in the county). In 1991, 11,851 thousand board feet of softwood logs, 23,057 cords of softwood for pulp, and 1,765 cords of hardwood for pulp were produced. In 1991, 516,648 pounds of fish and 568,381 pounds of shellfish were landed in Wakulla County.

Median value of a single-family home 1990: $51,800
Median monthly rent 1990: $245
Mobile homes as a % of total housing: 43.7
Housing starts 1992: 118
Housing starts 1993: 146

In 1992 the price level index for Wakulla County was 94.31 (34th highest in the state).

Local Government

In 1993, the ad valorem millage rate was 9.7500, and the total taxable value of property was $256,927,407. Taxable sales totalled $47.80 million in 1992 and $40.90 million in 1993. Lottery sales totalled $1,856 thousand in 1992-93. In 1990-91 Wakulla County's revenues totalled $12,850 thousand ($889.6 per capita) and its expenditures $15,792 thousand ($1,093.3 per capita). Of those 18 years of age and older, 82.5% were registered to vote in 1992. Of these, 86.8% were registered Democrat and 11.1% were registered Republican. In the 1992 presidential election 38.5% of the votes were cast for Bush, 34.6% for Clinton, and 26.7% for Perot.

Festivals and Attractions

Blue Crab Festival, Panacea, May; Wakulla Springs State Park, Wakulla Springs.