How Sumter County got its name

Readers: Today we wrap up our list of Florida’s 67 counties and how they got their names. First of all, let’s get in Indian River, which accidentally was left out of our previous columns!

As a reminder, all facts are from this writer’s book, Florida Fun Facts, as well as the Florida Department of State and the Florida Handbook. Note: Years refer to each county’s formation.

Indian River (1925): The river for which the county is named originally was Rio de Ais, for a local indigenous group, then just named “Indian.”

Pasco (1887): Samuel Pasco was speaker of the Florida House when the county formed.

Pinellas (1911): The Spanish named the peninsula Punta Pinal: "point of pines."

Polk (1861): James K. Polk was president from 1845 to 1849.

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Putnam (1849): Either for Israel Putnam, Revolutionary hero, or Benjamin A. Putnam, an officer in the Seminole wars and an unsuccessful congressional candidate who was the first president of the Florida Historical Society.

St. Johns (1821): About 1590, missionaries founded Mission San Juan del Puerto, "Saint John of the Harbor," for John the Baptist. Under British occupation, 1763 to 1783, it was anglicized to "St. John."

St. Lucie (1844): Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established the Santa Lucia settlement, at either St. Lucie Inlet or Jupiter Inlet, on Dec. 13, 1565, the feast day of Santa Lucia. According to legend, she was born in the fourth century in Sicily of noble parents and was exposed as a Christian by a spurned suitor and later executed.

Santa Rosa (1842): For Rosa de Viterbo, Roman Catholic Saint. As a 12-year-old, she preached against submission to Emperor Frederick II.

Sarasota (1921): From the Calusa, perhaps for "Point of Rocks".

Seminole (1913): The word, given to the group which migrated from adjoining states in the late 1700s, is thought to derive from the Spanish word cimarron, meaning "wild" or "runaway."

Sumter (1853): General Thomas Sumter was a Revolutionary War hero.

Suwannee (1858): The waterway's name either is from the Cherokee world sawani, meaning "echo river", or is a corruption of San Juan. Songwriter Stephen Foster never laid eyes on it. His brother picked it from an atlas, rejecting Mississippi's Yazoo and South Carolina's Pee Dee, and arbitrarily shortened it to fit the song's metrics.

Taylor (1856): Zachary Taylor, president from 1849 to 1851, led U.S. troops at the 1838 Battle of Okeechobee in the Second Seminole War.

Union (1921): For the revolutionary theme.

Volusia (1854): Perhaps for an English or Belgian or French settler named Volus or Veluche who reportedly owned a trading post at a landing on the St. Johns.

Wakulla (1843): Probably a Timucuan word for "spring of water."

Walton (1824): George Walton was a secretary of the U.S. territory of Florida.

Washington (1825): For George Washington, the first president.

And a bonus: Fayette County, near Apalachicola in the Panhandle, was established in 1832, but only on paper; voters refused to approve its founding and it was gone by 1834. Two counties never were: Bloxham was rejected by voters and Call was vetoed by the governor and replaced with "Brevard."

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Next week: Alligator Alley

Eliot Kleinberg has been a staff writer for the past three decades at The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, and is the author of 10 books about Florida (www.ekfla.com). Florida Time is a product of GateHouse Media and publishes online in their 22 Florida markets including Jacksonville, Fort Walton Beach, Daytona Beach, Lakeland, Sarasota and West Palm Beach. Submit your questions, comments or memories to FloridaTime@Gatehousemedia.com. Include your full name and hometown. Sorry; no personal replies.