Brandon

History

On January 20, 1857, John Brandon arrived at Fort Brooke (now Tampa) from Mississippi with his first wife Martha, his seven sons, and their seven slaves. At first, they moved to what is now the Seffner area. Then in August 1858, John Brandon purchased in the New Hope area (now Brandon) and later on and then named his land "Brandon". John and his second wife Victoria's house was located on what became the corner of Knights Avenue and Victoria Street. Four years later, the New Hope Church was built on land donated by Brandon. Besides being the first church in the community, it also served as Brandon's first school. In 1890, the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad (F&CP) came through the area, encouraging the people of New Hope to build a depot on Moon Avenue. Charles S. Noble, an engineer for the FC&P, was asked to plat about 40 acres of land north of present-day State Road 60, south of Lake Meade, east of Kings Avenue, and west to Parsons Avenue. Filed on April 24, 1890, the surveyor named the community in honor of John Brandon and Noble Street for himself. Stowers Funeral Home is a famous landmark in Brandon, in a building erected by John Brandon's son James. Since then, Brandon has grown in spurts, beginning with the first general store opened by Dan Galvin on the corner of Moon Avenue and Victoria Street. In 1905, a school was built on Parsons Avenue, and Victoria Brandon allowed new teachers to board with her. At the time, Valrico began to develop to the east, as Victoria's son Lovic moved there and opened a general store. Lovic and Victoria's other son, Mark, organized the Valrico Baptist Church in 1915, which later moved to Brandon and became the First Baptist Church in 1930. By 1914, the community needed a large central school to house all of the…

Geography

Brandon's census boundaries include Palm River-Clair Mel to the west across U.S. Route 301, Valrico to the east, Riverview and Bloomingdale to the south, and East Lake-Orient Park, Mango, and Seffner to the north. Brandon is east of downtown Tampa and southwest of Plant City. Interstate 75 passes through the western part of the Brandon CDP, with access from exits 256 (Florida State Road 618/Selmon Expressway) and 257 (Florida State Road 60/Brandon Boulevard). Interstate 4 passes north of the center of Brandon, with access from exits 7 (US 301), 9 (I-75), and 10 (State Road 579/Mango Road). According to the United States Census Bureau, the Brandon CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 5.42%, are covered by water. Neighborhoods within Brandon include Barrington Oaks East, Brandon Hills, Kensington Estates, La Viva, and Limona. Brandon, like the Tampa Bay area, has a humid subtropical climate. Unlike Tampa and Pinellas County, Brandon typically has a few nights below freezing each year due to its greater distance from the coast. The summers are long and hot, and average ; winters are mild and dry, averaging . Brandon, like the rest of the Tampa Bay area, receives abundant rainfall, around annually. Brandon's winters may have low temperatures in the 30s for more than four days, while Tampa can have low temperatures in the 40s and 50s °F in that same time.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  17,270
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,375
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,253
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  12,870
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  12,781
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  12,501
• White Ibis

  Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,644
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  9,620