Valrico's History
Valrico perhaps has the most varied history of any community in the area. Early pioneering families in the area included the Wheelers, E.A. Clarke's, Spencers, Windhorsts, Lunsfords, Harveys, and the McKay's.
It was given its name - Spanish for "Valley of Gold" in the 1880s by William G. Tousey, a professor of psychology at Tufts College, Boston, who along with other New Englanders had purchased property here and established homes they hoped to live in for at least part of the year.
When the railroad was completed in 1890, Valrico was "on the map" with a railroad depot and a post office. Tousey and colleagues platted streets and businesses opened, and the community experienced the dreams and promises that successful and unsuccessful Florida communities have experienced during "boom times" from that day until the present. Valrico boasted retail stores and a bank, and even had a golf course laid out in its plans. The freeze of 1895 put an end to some of those dreams, and time took its toll of others.
Between 1910 and 1914, the Hamners and other investors again initiated a new period of development for Valrico. Judge Hamner, a former Governor VanSant, D. Humbird, W.H. and S.C. Phipps and W.F. Miller began to promote and improve the land along the Hopewell Road (SR 60) as a fashionable, agriculturally oriented rural development. In 1914, the plat of the town set on a modified grid plan to the north and east of the S.A.L. tracks, was filed.
Valrico Lake was first known as "Long Pond," and cotton plantations are said to have existed nearby before the Civil War. Nurseries and dairying were pursuits later as was lumbering, with its saw mills and turpentine stills. The successful development of this little community was once again happening. Development plans included a dance pavilion and a golf course. Residents raised the monies to build a civic center known as the Improvement Association in 1914 with Mr. W.F. Miller serving as the efficient president for many years. And it is due to this association, as well as to the help of other residents, that the Van Sant school was built. By 1915, the government established a rural mail route, the mail being carried for some time via the then popular horse and buggy.
The lake area was most noted for its citrus with growers living on about 30,900 acres of groves. Two major packing houses, Fugazzi, a Cincinnatti-based firm and the Florida Citrus Exchange, handled most of the harvest in the pre-World War II era.
Local clay was used in making bricks, and Valrico brick was used in 1916 to construct the bank building and the large civic building, which still is in use today as the home of the Village Players Theatrical Company.
Little other than its natural beauty, the original street arrangement and the groves survive to reflect the historic character of the community. Valrico has two groves to reflect the historic character of the community. Valrico has two histories, two beginnings. The original community was based around a triangular park in the center of town. It was presented by the late W.F. Miller whose tragic death shocked his friends and neighbors in the spring of 1927. The park stands as a memorial to he who helped lay the foundation of the town. Today, the heart of Valrico would be the busy intersection and business district located south of the little triangular park. Today, Valrico boasts a population of over 6,900.
