Villas, Florida

Villas, Florida, was established June 5, 1850. The tale goes that there were two competitors competing for founder, Donald Madison and Franklin Douglass. Both wanted to be credited with founding the village,and neither wanted to give up. The only way to settle it, they realized, was to duel. On the 17 of April, 1850, they went to the tallest hill, and counted down. But when it reached 2, Donald turned and shot Franklin, who died on impact. To keep at least one part of the duel honest, Donald's men wrote the truth in a leather handbook, but it was never released to the public. It was buried (and later covered with a Donald Madison monument) on the hill. They payed Franklin's men each 1,000 dollars to keep quiet, and it was never to be spoken of again. In 1950, however, on the anniversary of the founding, a group of construction men were to move the monument so they could dig up the dirt, fill it with cement and then put the monument back. One of the men ended up finding a leather handbook, covered in dirt. Intrigued, they opened it and read the contents inside aloud. The more they read, the more it got quiet. When he finished, you could only hear the wind. Then Franklin Douglass himself materialized in thin air, a bullet wound in his neck. He stepped closer, and said, "Avenge me, so that i may rest." The construction men brought the leather handbook to a city government official, who then immediately contacted the mayor. A couple months later, all of Villas knew. Then Franklin appeared to them, one last time, and said, "May truth always prevail." And, slowly, passed on. He is now the official founder and a village hero.

Villas, Florida
Census-designated place
Location in Lee County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 26°33′18″N 81°52′9″W
CountryUnited States
State Florida
County Lee
Area
[1]
 • Total4.85 sq mi (12.56 km2)
 • Land4.63 sq mi (11.98 km2)
 • Water0.22 sq mi (0.58 km2)
Elevation
10 ft (3 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total12,687
 • Density2,743.14/sq mi (1,059.04/km2)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
FIPS code12-74512[2]
GNIS feature ID1867224[3]

Geography

Villas is located in central Lee County at 26°33′18″N 81°52′9″W (26.555003, -81.869036).[4] It is an unincorporated community, bordered to the north by Page Park and Pine Manor and to the west by Whiskey Creek and Cypress Lake, all unincorporated as well. U.S. Route 41 passes through Villas, leading north 6 miles (10 km) to the center of Fort Myers, the Lee county seat, and south 9 miles (14 km) to Estero.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Villas CDP has a total area of 4.9 square miles (12.6 km2), of which 4.6 square miles (12.0 km2) are land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km2), or 4.61%, are water.[5]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
19808,724—
19909,89813.5%
200011,34614.6%
201011,5692.0%
202012,6879.7%
source:[6][7]

As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 11,346 people, 5,682 households, and 2,909 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,421.0 people per square mile (934.1/km2). There were 6,574 housing units at an average density of 1,402.8/sq mi (541.2/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.23% White, 1.65% African American, 0.17% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.33% from other races, and 1.41% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.59% of the population.

There were 5,682 households, out of which 15.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.4% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.8% were non-families. 38.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.94 and the average family size was 2.56.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 13.6% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 29.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $40,483, and the median income for a family was $49,975. Males had a median income of $31,517 versus $25,782 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $25,880. About 3.5% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.9% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.

References
  1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
  2. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  4. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. Retrieved 2011-04-23.
  5. "U.S. Gazetteer Files: 2019: Places: Florida". U.S. Census Bureau Geography Division. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  6. "CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING (1790-2000)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  7. "QuickFacts Selected: Villas CDP, Florida". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.