There are seven incorporated communities in Seminole County: Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Heathrow, Lake Mary, Longwood, Oviedo, Sanford and Winter Springs. Sanford is the county seat.

Seminole has some of the finest residential neighborhoods to be found in Central Florida. They include Heathrow, Markham Woods, Lake Forest, Sweetwater Club, Sweetwater Oaks, Sabal Point, Wekiva, Timachuan and Wembley.

The Seminole County school system is one of the most excellent in the state of Florida. You'll, also, find a wide variety of recreational, cultural, and civic activities in Seminole County.

Seminole is one of the fastest growing county's in Florida, and also one of the smallest in size, 321 square miles.

Seminole is located in the northwest area of Greater Orlando. The western boundary is the Wekiva River, to the north Lake Monroe, to the east the St. John's River and to the south Orange County.

Although there is great commercial expansion underway, Seminole County is predominantly a residential community. About 70% of Seminole residents work outside the county.

Seminole, is one of the fastest growing communities in the United States, due to its great economic potential and excellent quality of life. It is also one of the most affluent communities, with a median household (effective buying income-EBI) income of $45,549; 37.1% have an EBI over $50,000; 21.4% have an EBI of $35,000 to $49,900; and 22% have an EBI of $20,000 to $34,900.

It is a young community, with 35% of the population under 25, and 69% under 45 years of age.

The Central Florida Regional Airport, east of the GreenWay's Lake Mary Blvd. exit in Sanford, has an international arrivals terminal and access road to the GreeneWay. There are plans to provide industrial, commercial and residential uses on 1,500 acres. Like Orlando International Airport, the Central Florida Airport was a former military base and features "runways that can handle any kind of air traffic.

The Seminole Town Center, completed in the fall of 1995, is a large factor in the county's economy. The 1.2 million square foot mall brings the county more than 2,000 jobs, as well as an expanded tax base. The new mall, off of I-4 and Route 46 in Sanford is one of the largest enclosed mall in Florida, Altamonte Mall,slightly larger is also in Seminole County.

Each city in the county is taking an active role in its economic development, paying special attention to their downtown areas. See City information for more details.

• Seminole County Schools, 5317
• Publix Supermarkets ,1,630
• American Automobile Association (AAA), 1,200
• Siemens-Westinghouse, 1,200
• Florida Hospital,850
• HCA Central Florida Regional Hospital, 750
• Tri-City Electric Contractors, Inc. 705
• SprintTelephone-Florida, 700
• AT&T, 600

The American Automobile Association moved their national headquarters to Heathrow in 1989. They brought 500 employees with them and hired 100 more. They currently employ over 1200 people.

Spectrum Healthcare Solutions formerly Baxter-Travenol, moved their corporate headquarters from Long Island, NY to Longwood.

The Postal Service built a 400,000 square foot mail-sorting center in Lake Mary, and A.T.&T. Settled int NCR's former building at Technology Park. They are expected to employ about 4,000. Dixon-Ticonderoga, 200 year old paper and art products manufacturer, moved to Heathrow last year.

Taxation

There are no state or local personal income taxes in Florida. The sales tax in Seminole County is 7%. For millage rates in the cities see the Seminole County Profile.

There are country club & golf communities, Heathrow (recently became a city), between Longwood and Lake Mary. Timacuan and Wembley Park in Lake Mary; Sweetwater Club, Sweetwater Oaks, Sabal Point near Wekiva Springs State Park in Longwood; there is Tuscawilla in Winter Springs, and Seminole Woods in Oviedo, Lake Forest in Sanford to name a few.

The most outstanding and valuable area in Seminole County, and some say all of Central Florida is Markham Woods Road. Affluent and elegant enough to be profiled on "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous", this north-south route between Longwood and Lake Mary features one-acre zoning requirements and homes that start around $300K. Some of the communities of Markham Woods Road are Alaqua, without a doubt, the most exclusive. Hawkscrest, Heathrow Woods, Alaqua Lakes, Magnolia Plantation, and Markham Meadows are also top drawer communities.

For those of us on more limited budgets, there are many great communities in Seminole . There are older established communities, as well as new communities with building still under construction. The average price of a home in Seminole County is about $128,166.

There are now two major enclosed shopping malls in Seminole County with a third due to open in the southern part of Seminole.

The Altamonte Mall has 1.3 million square feet of retail space and four anchor stores, Sears, Dillards, Burdines and J.C. Penney, is another giant in enclosed retail malls. It is located located in the center of Seminole at State Road 436 and Palm Springs Drive in Altamonte Springs. Adjacent to the Mall is The Renaissance Center, a 200,000 square foot shopping plaza with 8 theaters and a parking garage.

Plans are in the works to make the Cranes Lake area into a new downtown for Altamonte Springs. Major shopping, megaplex movies, restaurant, the works are all in the plans. Tentative date for completion is late 2003.

On Route 434, just east of I-4, there is the Longwood Village Shoppes, an upscale outdoor mall with interesting shops and restaurants. Further west on Route 434, crossing over Route 436 is the West Town Shopping Center which serves the Forest City community as well as the surrounding area. This is one of the fastest growing areas in Seminole county and the unincorporated areas of Orange county. This a a major shopping area with a Home Depot, a Lowe's home center, a Sports/Recreation Authority, Walmarts, Robb & Stuckey, Burdines Furniture and a host of other shoppes.

There are a number of other interesting strip malls with shops and restaurants along the major corridors of the county.

The English were the first to inhabit the area in the 1770's. They settled in plantations along what is now the Lake Jessup area.

After the American Revolution the stretch of land from St. Augustine southe to Alachua County, known as Mosquito County was acquired by the Spanish. In 1821, Spain ceded the Florida territroy to the United States and the first American settlement, Camp Monroe, was built in 1836. Originally a military fortress on lake Monroe, the camp was renamed Mellonville after Captain Charles Mellom, killed in a battle with the Seminole Indians.

Years later Cornelius Taylor designed an orange grove community near Mellonville, called Enterpise. General Zachary Taylor, who replaced Jessup, carved a roadway from lake Monroe to Tampa, making both towns important trade centers for the transfer of goods by riverboat and wagon. The county seat was then moved from New Smyrna to Mellonville and the county's name was changed from Mosquito to Orange. The new name certainly fit. Once tracks were laid for the South Florida Railroad which connected Sanford to Orlando, the county became the world's largest shipper of oranges in the world.

In 1913, delegates from Sanford were successful in lobbying the state leglislature in splitting the county into two parts, Seminole and Orange Counties. Sanford remained the county seat in Seminole and Orlando, whose economy was more citrus and tourist-oriented, was named Orange.