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St. Cloud, Florida

St. Cloud, Florida
City
City of St. Cloud
St. Cloud City Hall
St. Cloud City Hall
Official logo of St. Cloud, Florida
City logo
Nickname(s): Soldier City
Motto: "Celebrating Small Town Life"
Location in Osceola County and the state of Florida
Location in Osceola County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 28°13′50″N 81°17′7″W / 28.23056°N 81.28528°W / 28.23056; -81.28528Coordinates: 28°13′50″N 81°17′7″W / 28.23056°N 81.28528°W / 28.23056; -81.28528
Country United States
State Florida
County Osceola
Founded April 16, 1909
Incorporated January 3, 1911
Government
 • Type Council–manager
 • Mayor Nathan Blackwell
 • City manager Joseph Helfenberger
Area
 • Total 18.065 sq mi (46.79 km2)
 • Land 18.054 sq mi (46.76 km2)
 • Water 0.011 sq mi (0.03 km2)  0.061%
Elevation 75 ft (23 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 35,183
 • Density 1,981.2/sq mi (764.9/km2)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code(s) 34769, 34771, 34772, 34773
Area code(s) 321, 407
FIPS code 12-62625
GNIS feature ID 0290167
Website www.stcloud.org

St. Cloud is a city in northern Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is located on the southern shore of East Lake Tohopekaliga in Central Florida, approximately 26 miles (41.8 km) southeast of Orlando. The city population was 35,183 in the 2010 census, and 40,918 in the 2013 census estimate. The city is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford metropolitan area.

St. Cloud was founded as a retirement community for Civil War union veterans, and gained the nickname "The Friendly Soldier City".

During the 1870s, Hamilton Disston of Philadelphia took an interest in developing the region while on fishing trips with Henry Shelton Sanford, founder of the city of Sanford. Disston contracted with the Florida Internal Improvement Fund, then in receivership, to pay $1 million to offset its Civil War and Reconstruction debt. In exchange, Disston would be awarded half the land he drained from the state's swamps. He dug canals and, in 1886-1887, established St. Cloud sugarcane plantation, named after St. Cloud, Minnesota, although many long-time locals state the town was named after Saint-Cloud, France, located fairly close to Paris.

Diston opened the Sugar Belt Railway to the South Florida Railroad in 1888 to carry his product to market. But the Panic of 1893 dropped land values, and the Great Freeze of 1894-1895 ruined the plantation. Disston returned to Philadelphia, where he died in 1896. The Sugar Belt Railway merged into the South Florida Railroad. An attempt to cultivate rice in the area failed, and for several years the land remained fallow. Then in 1909, 35,000 acres (14,000 ha) were acquired by the Seminole Land & Investment Company as the site for a Grand Army of the Republic veterans' colony. St. Cloud was selected because of its "health, climate and productiveness of soil." It was first permanently settled in 1909 by William G. King, a real estate manager from Alachua County who had been given the responsibility "to plan, locate and develop a town."


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