Hillsborough

Formed January 25, 1834 (18^th county)

Hillsborough County (1,459,773), Tampa (384,661)

The Modern style masonry and concrete county courthouse was built in 2003.  It is located on Twiggs Street at Jefferson Street.  United States Highway 41 Business is one block south.  Tampa, the only county seat, was the home for the 1891 and the 1951 courthouses.  Ranon & Partners are the architects.  A county administration building was built in 1993.  There is an augmenting courthouse in Plant City.  A Native American statue sits in front.  The county is named for Viscount Hillsborough of England.  Tampa is Native American for “near” or “split wood.”  Hillsborough County was the birthplace of 1 Florida Governor, Robert Martinez.  The county was created on January 25, 1834 from Alachua and Monroe counties as the 18^th county.  It later yielded Charlotte, De Soto, Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota counties. 

Hillsborough County government consists of a manager, sheriff, and appraiser (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Forty-three Circuit Court Judges and Twenty-two County Court Judges, clerk, and county attorney serve Hillsborough County (judicial.) The county is in western Florida.  Tampa Bay, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico, is along the southwest quarter of the county.  St. Petersburg, Florida is west across the bay.  The center of the county is 12.4 miles East-Northeast of Tampa nearer Mango.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pasco, Polk, Hardee, Manatee, and Pinellas counties.  

The area of the county is 1051 square miles.  It is 12 out of 67 counties in the state.  It ranks 4 out of 67 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1388.9 persons per square mile making it 5 out of 67 in the state.  Hillsborough County has 30.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 4 enters the county from Polk County to the east and terminates.  Interstate Highway 75 goes north to south from Pasco County to Manatee County.  United States Highway 41 parallels Interstate Highway 75 from Pasco County to Manatee County.  United States Highway 92 parallels Interstate Highway 4 from Polk County but it continues west into Pinellas County.  United States Highway 301 also parallels Interstate Highway 75 from Pasco County to Manatee County.  The county is a rectangle with the southwest corner removed.  Tampa is a majority of the northwest part of the county.  Tampa is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 26.4% of the county population.  This county is in the Tampa-Saint Petersburg-Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area.