FLAGLER COUNTY, FLORIDA

'Flagler County' is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2000 census, the population was 49,832. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 83,084 [1], its 66.7% growth since the 2000 Census making it the fastest-growing county in the United States by percentage of 2000 population. [2] Its county seat is Bunnell, Florida⁶. It comprises the Palm Coast, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Contents

History

Geography

Adjacent Counties

Demographics

Cities and towns

Incorporated

Unincorporated

Politics

See also

External links

Government links/Constitutional offices

Special districts

Judicial branch

Tourism links

History

Flagler County was created in 1917. It was named for Henry Morrison Flagler, a famous railroad builder who built the Florida East Coast Railway.
In 1974, Marco Polo Park, a theme park off Interstate 95 opened. It was never profitable and closed soon after.
In 1998, when two brush fires threatened to become one huge brush fire in Flagler County, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for the entire county. This was the first, and so far the only, time a whole county was evacuated in Florida.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,478 km² (571 mi²). 1,256 km² (485 mi²) of it is land and 222 km² (86 mi²) of it is water, much of it in the Atlantic Ocean. The total area is 15.03% water.

Adjacent Counties

★ St. Johns County, Florida - north

★ Volusia County, Florida - south

★ Putnam County, Florida - west

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 49,832 people, 21,294 households, and 15,672 families residing in the county. The population density was 40/km² (103/mi²). There were 24,452 housing units at an average density of 19/km² (50/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 87.27% White, 8.83% Black or African American, 0.27% Native American, 1.17% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.96% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 5.09% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 90.1% spoke English, 5.0% Spanish and 1.2% German as their first language.
1.8% of the population identified themselves as being of non-Hispanic West Indian Ancestry. (source=http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ThematicMapFramesetServlet?_bm=y&-context=tm&-tm_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U_M00139&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF3_U&-CONTEXT=tm&-tree_id=403&-all_geo_types=N&-geo_id=04000US12&-format=&-_lang=en#?360,221)
In 2000 there were 21,294 households out of which 21.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.80% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 21.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.67.
In the county the population was spread out with 17.90% under the age of 18, 4.80% from 18 to 24, 20.30% from 25 to 44, 28.30% from 45 to 64, and 28.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 92.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $40,214, and the median income for a family was $45,625. Males had a median income of $31,184 versus $24,865 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,879. About 6.70% of families and 8.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.70% of those under age 18 and 4.40% of those age 65 or over.
Flagler county was ranked the fastest-growing county in the nation by the US Census Bureau from 2000 to 2005, boasting a 53.3% change, with a July 1, 2005 population estimate at 76,410.

Cities and towns

Incorporated

★ Town of Beverly Beach

★ City of Bunnell

★ City of Flagler Beach

★ Town of Marineland

★ City of Palm Coast

Unincorporated

★ Daytona North

★ St. Johns Park

★ Espanola

★ Bimini

★ Painters Hill

★ Flagler Estates (also in St. Johns County)

Politics

Due in large part to its rapidly changing demographics, Flagler County is often an unpredictable county in presidential and other elections, although the general trend has been towards the Democratic party in recent years.

'Presidential elections results'

Year	Republican	Democratic	Other
2004	'51.0%'	48.3%	0.7%
2000	46.5%	'51.3%'	2.2%
1996	41.0%	'47.7%'	11.3%
1992	38.2%	'40.9%'	20.9%
1988	'60.3%'	39.4%	0.3%

See also

★ Bike trails in Florida (paved)

External links

Government links/Constitutional offices

★ Flagler County Board of County Commissioners official website

★ Flagler County Supervisor of Elections

★ Flagler County Property Appraiser

★ Flagler County Sheriff's Office

★ Flagler County Tax Collector

Special districts

★ Flagler County Public Schools

★ St. Johns River Water Management District

Judicial branch

★ Flagler County Clerk of Courts

★ Public Defender, 7th Judicial Circuit of Florida serving Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia counties

★ Office of the State Attorney, 7th Judicial Circuit of Florida

★ Circuit and County Court for the 7th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Tourism links

★ Flagler County Tourist Development Council