Hernando

Formed February 24, 1843 (22^nd county)

Hernando County (194,515), Brooksville (8,885)

The red brick Classical Revival style courthouse was built in 1914.  The building was renovated in 1994.  William Augustine Edwards is the designer.  A modern concrete and glass county Government Center was built in 1990.  The courthouse is located on Main Street between Jefferson and Broad streets.  Broad Street is United States Highway 98.  The building features columns and veteran memorials are on the grounds.  Newmansville (1843), DeSoto (1844), Bayport (1854), Pierceville (1855), and Brooksville (1856) have all been the county seat.  Explorer Hernando De Soto inspired the county name as he did for De Soto County.  South Carolina Congressman Preston Brooks provided the county seat name.  The county was created on February 24, 1843 from Alachua, Hillsborough, and Orange counties as the 22^nd county.  Citrus and Pasco counties were later cut from the county. 

Hernando County government consists of a manager, sheriff, and appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-eight Circuit Court Judges serve Hernando, Citrus, Lake, Marion, and Sumter counties and Two County Court Judges, clerk, and county attorney serve Hernando County (judicial.) The county is in central Florida.  The geographical center of Florida is 12 miles north-northwest of Brooksville in the county.  Tampa, Florida is south of the county.  The Gulf of Mexico is on its western border.  The center of the county is 9.2 miles West of Brooksville nearer Brookridge.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Citrus, Sumter, and Pasco counties and the Gulf of Mexico. 

The area of the county is 478 square miles.  It is 62 out of 67 counties in the state.  It ranks 27 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 406.9 persons per square mile making it 19 out of 67 in the state.  Hernando County has 4.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 75 enters from Sumter County, northeast, and exits into Pasco County, south.  United States Highway 19 goes north to south in the county, Citrus County to Pasco County.  United States Highway 41 also comes from Citrus County and goes into Pasco County.  United States Highway 98 enters from the northwest, Citrus County, and exits to the southeast, Pasco County.  United States Highway 301 crosses the southeast tip from Sumter County to Pasco County.  The county shape is a comma lying on its face.  Brooksville is located near the center of the county.  Brooksville is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 4.6% of the county population.  The county is pronounced HUR-NAN-DOE.  This county is in the Tampa-Saint Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area.