Ruskin

History

The town and college were named after the English writer and social reformist John Ruskin. Ruskin, a utopian, founded the Guild of St George, a celebration of workmanship that underpinned the Arts and Crafts movement of William Morris. Ruskin was a passionate educator. In 1907, Dr. George McAnelly Miller, a former Chicago prosecuting attorney and professor, and former president of Ruskin College in Trenton, Missouri, relocated his family to the area, along with his brother-in-law Albert Peter Dickman's family. They purchased land and started to set up homes, a sawmill, and a school. Addie Dickman Miller, Dr. Miller's wife, founded a post office on August 7, 1908. This day is recognized as the official founding day of the town. The Ruskin Commongood Society platted Ruskin on February 19, 1910, and filed the plat on March 9, 1910, in the Hillsborough County Court House, with lots for the college, the business district, two parks, and for the founding families, with only white people allowed to own or lease land in the community. Albert Dickman's house, finished in 1910, on the banks of the Little Manatee River, is one of the few structures left standing from the founding of Ruskin. The Millers began a new Ruskin College in 1910, with Dr. Miller serving as president and Adeline Miller serving as Vice President. Continuing with the college's former practices, students worked a portion of each day as part of their education and as a way to pay for tuition and board. It offered three years of preparatory classes, after which students could attend the college, taking classes in art, drama, language, literature, music, shorthand, social sciences, and speech. At the peak of the college's prosperity it had 160 students. By 1990, changes to the downtown had occurred. The end…

Geography

Ruskin is located in south-central Hillsborough County, on the north side of the Little Manatee River. It is bordered to the north by Apollo Beach and to the east by Sun City Center. U.S. Route 41 passes through the center of town, leading north to Gibsonton and southwest to Bradenton. Interstate 75 runs along the eastern edge of Ruskin, with access from Exit 240 (State Road 674/College Avenue). I-75 leads north to Brandon and south to Sarasota. Downtown Tampa is to the north via I-75 and the Selmon Expressway. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Ruskin CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 7.80%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,961
• White Ibis

  Eudocimus albus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,894
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,767
• Osprey

  Pandion haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,147
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,739
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,331
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,147
• Laughing Gull

  Leucophaeus atricilla (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,143