DeSoto County

Home Sweet Home    Find a Realtor    Find a Company    Vital Stats    Rain & Shine    Job Market    Class Notes    Getting Around

Great Outdoors    Good Sports    Hot Times    Shop 'til You Drop    Nightlife    College Scene    Just for Seniors

A river runs through it; the lovely Peace River winds slowly through southwest Florida's DeSoto County, ultimately finding its way to Charlotte Harbor and finally to the Gulf of Mexico. But DeSoto County is inland and its major town about 50 miles from the ocean and its beaches. It's a quiet, rural, peaceful--and affordable--place. And it's survived good times and bad--range wars and fires, boom and bust. Its only incorporated city, Arcadia, is one of the state's oldest. The 58-block historic district mirrors its earlier existence as a Florida boomtown and gateway to southwest Florida during this section's frontier days. Eventually citrus and cattle became more populous in the county than people, but those who stayed and those who come here to retire or to spend their winters all chose it for the idyllic setting--acres and acres of groves and grazing land. It's the kind of place that inspires poets to write pastoral odes and painters to appreciate the light, yet it's not crowded with literary salons or art galleries. In fact, the cultural life is decidedly low key, but so is everything else. Laid-back is lovely; and not everyone relishes urban life. The slow, leisurely pace is one reason Arcadia was named best small town in Florida in Norman Crampton's The Best 100 Small Towns in America; the awesome boomtown architecture dating back to the turn of the century is another.

Home Sweet Home

Housing here is definitely affordable when compared to coastal counties nearby. The DeSoto County Board of Realtors, says that three-bedroom, two-bath homes of about 1,500 square feet are often listed at $55,000 and up. Most of the housing inventory ranges from $35,000 to $75,000, although single-family homes range from a low of about $30,000 to a high of approximately $200,000. Single-family mobile homes are also a substantial segment of the region's housing market. They range from $3,500 to $150,000. Really. At the low-end is a small unit located in a mobile-home park; at the high-end, a deluxe mobile home situated on several acres. Raw acreage is one of the Arcadia area's best buys: five-acre tracks might be priced at $18,000, says Markey, bringing the cost per acre to a very reasonable $3,600, for example. Currently, no new-home communities are being developed in DeSoto County. Few condominiums or duplexes are available here; there's virtually no waterfront property; and very little residential property is sited on golf courses. But if you like wide open spaces or a quiet, uncrowded neighborhood, consider DeSoto County housing.

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Vital Stats

Population: 24,820
Median age: 38
New citizens 440
New job creation: NA
Unemployment rate: 9.5 percent August, 1999
Cost of living: 91.65
Per capita income: 17,744
Median household effective buying income: $23,364

Rain & Shine

The average temperature year-round is a near-perfect 72 degrees Fahrenheit. In January, the temperature averages 63 degrees Fahrenheit; in August the average temperature is 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Fifty-one inches of rain fall annually, mostly in the summer season.

Job Market

With 52,000 acres full of citrus trees, lots of labor and machines are required to get 20 or 21 million boxes of fruit to market. And although cattle are less labor intensive than citrus when it must be picked, its not surprising that a county with 55,000 head of cattle on 247,000 acres would need farm hands or modern-day cowboys. Tourism brings some jobs. Peace River canoe and boat trips often need outfitters. And people who come to view the historic district or the two annual rodeos need food and lodging. The largest private employers in the county include the G. Pierce Wood Hospital (1,000), DeSoto Medical Hospital (290), Bethel Farms (87), Sorrels Brothers Packing Company, Inc. (75), Winslow Liferaft (75), First State Bank (58) and Sunbulb, Inc. (54).

Class Notes

Extensive information about the schools in this area is online at the state's Department of Education (http://www.firn.edu/doe/doehome.htm). There you'll discover everything you'll need to know about Florida schools -- in general and in particular. All you need is the name of your county and the names of the schools students from your neighborhood attend.

Use links from the DOE home page for general information about entrance requirements, immunizations and so forth.

For the nitty-gritty details that really matter, click on the logo for the "Florida School Indicators Report."

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Getting Around

Uncrowded roads, even major highways like State Road 70 east/west and U.S. Highway 17 north/south, serve the county. Seminole-Gulf and CSX railroads carry freight, but passenger service isn't available. If you move here, bring your automobile with you, because mass-transit doesn't exist. Arcadia is only 53 miles from the Sarasota/Bradenton International Airport. Arcadia Municipal's 3,700-foot lighted runway handles local commercial and some executive planes. Bradenton's Port of Manatee is the closest deep-water port, but the Port of Tampa isn't much farther away.

Great Outdoors

The bucolic Peace River winds through the county at a leisurely pace that's perfect for canoeing and boating. Fishermen find many quiet places where they can indulge their favorite hobby. Lots of the outdoor landscape here is lovely although less than sensational. The sounds are rural; the air is clean. Cattle graze and citrus groves are visible in the distance.

Good Sports

Tennis courts and golf courses are part of the DeSoto County scene--but not a big part. Fishing, canoeing, biking and hiking are popular, but there is no public swimming pool. The bowling alley's in Arcadia on Highway 70. For professional sports, plan to travel to Tampa, Miami or Orlando.

Hot Times in the City

In Arcadia, you'll see The Depot, a mini museum in the restored railroad depot that also houses business offices. Don't miss the Main Street Historical Walking Tour. Highlights include three structures that survived a 1905 fire and several buildings of architectural interest: the Mediterranean Trinity Methodist Church, the masonry vernacular J.J. Heard Opera House, the colonial revival Chollar-Dowd Home, the Queen Anne-style Gaskins-Harding House and the Scott-Crankshaw House, an impressive example of Georgian Revival architecture. A classic Southern civic structure suited to occupy the town's main square, DeSoto County Courthouse is probably the most historically significant of all the nearly 300 historic buildings in Arcadia. It comes complete with its own frame bandstand for entertaining residents on the courthouse lawn.

Held twice yearly, in March and October, the All-Florida Rodeo attracts visitors to town and brings in rural dwellers for lots of fun and some authentic rodeo competitions. DeSoto County's May Watermelon Festival is almost as big a deal, and more fun for many. Beauty pageants, a watermelon golf scramble, antique autos on display, a horse show and the "Wiver Waft Wace" are only part of the fun. Eating watermelon is the other part, but even if you hate watermelon, you will probably enjoy this annual event. A Christmastime tour of historic homes adds to the holiday joy, as does Christmas Card Lane--more than 70 large Christmas cards complete with messages displayed in a lighted setting best viewed by folks in cars driving down the lane. The Bluegrass Festival's in February; the Harvest Festival is held in the fall.

Shop 'til You Drop

There are no malls, but there are12 shopping centers. If you hanker after designer duds or high-end labels, you might need to drive east to Palm Beach or west to Sarasota. Food, clothing, household items, furniture, carpeting, appliances, art supplies, even cellular phones can be purchased here and there in DeSoto County, but antique stores are plentiful--seven in Arcadia, a city of about 6,500 people. They're in keeping with the region's illustrious past and look great in its historic homes.

Nightlife

This is one of the few places in Florida where you won't find any type of pari-mutuel wagering. The closest residents get to gambling is buying a state lottery ticket. In truth, it's a quiet place with little serious nightlife. Much of the county's social life centers on its many churches; almost all are Protestant, there's one Catholic church and no Jewish temples. If you want to go out to dinner, several choices await in Arcadia, some chain places like Golden Corral Family Steak House and Pizza Hut, for example, but others that sound intriguing and are probably one-of-a-kind: Wheeler's Goody Cafe, DeSoto Restaurant and Paradise Restaurant, for example. Imagine telling your friend, "I'll meet you in Paradise," when you mean you'll meet for dinner in a restaurant.

College Scene

South Florida Community College, based in Avon Park, operates a branch in Arcadia. It's part of the state's extensive, two-year coed system, which includes Manatee Community College in Bradenton and Edison Community College in Fort Myers. Also close at hand is a brand-new four-year state institution headquartered south of Fort Myers called Florida Gulf Coast University, which will specialize in distance learning. Even closer--in Sarasota--is the highly rated and highly competitive New College, a branch of the University of South Florida.

Just for Seniors

Lots of sixty-plus people living here enjoy an active lifestyle attending social functions, fishing, playing cards and going out to eat. Many live in mobile home parks that provide special activities. Both public and private, non-profit and for-profit agencies cater to the needs of senior citizens. DeSoto Memorial Hospital, several clinics and nursing homes are available. Special services like homemakers, personal care, home-delivered meals, congregate meals and respite care are offered through state and federal programs. For more specific, detailed information, call the Elder Helpline at 941/494-5965. It's an information and referral service operated under the auspices of the Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida Inc.