Osceola County, Florida

Osceola County Education, Geography, and History

Osceola County is a county located in the state of Florida. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 268,685. Osceola County was created on May 12, 1887 from Brevard County and Orange County. The county seat is Kissimmee. This county is named for Osceola (1804-1838), a leader of the Seminole during the Second Seminole War.

Osceola County is included in the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Osceola County Name

This county was named for Osceola (1804-1838), a leader of the Seminole during the Second Seminole War.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Osceola County History

Osceola County was created in 1887. The county is named for the Indian leader Osceola, whose name means "Singer of the Black Drink."

On July 21, 1821, Florida was divided into two counties, named Escambia County to the west and St. John's County to the east. In 1824, the southern part of St. John's County became Mosquito County, with Enterprise as the county seat. When Florida became a state in 1845, Mosquito County was renamed Orange County. In 1844, Brevard County was carved out from Mosquito County. On May 12, 1887, Osceola was named a county, having been created from both Orange and Brevard Counties. Osceola County reached all the way down to Lake Okeechobee until 1917 when Okeechobee County was formed.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,506 square miles (3,901 km²), of which, 1,322 square miles (3,424 km²) of it is land and 184 square miles (478 km²) of it (12.24%) is water.

Osceola county is located close to the center of Florida. The city of Kissimmee, the county seat, is 18 miles due south of Orlando.  St. Cloud  is 9 miles east of Kissimmee and approximately 45 miles west of the city of Melbourne on the Atlantic coast.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Northeast: Brevard County
• Southeast: Indian River County; Okeechobee County
• South: Highlands County
• West: Polk County
• Northwest: Lake County; Orange County

Education

The School District of Osceola County, Florida serves the county.

Colleges

Florida Christian College
Florida Technical College
Heritage University & Seminary
Stetson University
Valencia College - Osceola Campus

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