Ocala's Items of Interest

Rapid growth

Ocala began undergoing rapid growth in the 1970s with the development of the Interstate 75 and the founding of Disney World.

In the last decades of the twentieth century, the greater Ocala area experienced one of the highest growth rates in the country for a city its size. The population of Marion County in 2000 was over 250,000, up from under 100,000 in 1975. Much of the county's growth is attributable to the area's growing popularity as a retirement destination, primarily in two areas southwest and south of the city: the SR 200 corridor and The Villages, respectively.

Ocala is Horse Country

In 1956, the Ocala area Thoroughbred industry received a boost when Needles became the first Florida-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. In 1978, Marion County bred and raised race horse, Affirmed, won the Triple Crown. Today, Marion County is one of the major Thoroughbred centers of the world, with over 1,200 horse farms in total and about 600 Thoroughbred farms.

Ocala/Marion County has been recognized by the US Department of Agriculture as the Horse Capital of the World.

Noteworthy Ocalans

Famous Ocalans have included:

• C. Farris Bryant, 34th governor of Florida;
• Kenneth H. "Buddy" MacKay, Jr., 42nd governor of Florida
• Patrick O'Neal
• John Travolta
• Elizabeth Ashley
• Arthur Jones
• Band Underoath
• Band A Day To Remember
• Rock band The Royal Guardsmen
• Quarterback Daunte Culpepper
• NFL's Drayton Florence
• Tom Petty
• Deanna Wright
• Science fiction writer Bruce Boston
• Puerto Rican singer Daniel Santos
• Country singer Chad Brock.

Weather

Due to the city being relatively far away from the moderating influence of the oceans, Ocala's summertime temperatures are often the highest in the state while winter temperatures are often the lowest compared to other cities on the peninsula. Ocala's distance from the oceans means the city has more days of sunshine than Florida's coastal cities. This is, in part, why the Ocala/Marion County area is called "the kingdom of the sun." The last snowfall of any significance fell in December of 1989.

Ocala has two distinct seasons: the dry season (November-May) and the wet season (June-October). During the dry season, there is almost uninterrupted sunshine with very little rainfall. In January, the morning low temperatures are often in the 40's, but the cloudless sunny weather typically warms the dry air up to the 70's by the afternoon.