Lake Mary, Florida

Lake Mary began its life as an agricultural community and was developed by a tight-rope walker and chemist named Frank Evans, who first came there in 1882. The city incorporated in August 1973.[5] Rated by Money magazine as the #4 best place to live in America in the August 2007 issue. It had its city hall created in 1946. It currently has a history museum in the Lake Mary Chamber of Commerce Building.[6]

Lake Mary City Hall

Lake Mary is located at 28°45′27″N 81°19′45″W (28.757622, -81.329038).[7]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.7 square miles (25 km²), of which 8.6 square miles (22 km²) is land and 1.1 square miles (2.8 km²) (10.96%) is water.

Lake Mary is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is approximately 19 miles from Orlando, Florida.

As of the 2000 census,[3] there were 11,458 people, 4,199 households, and 3,271 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,330.8 inhabitants per square mile (513.8/km²). There were 4,351 housing units at an average density of 505.4 per square mile (195.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 89.33% White, 3.60% African American, 0.24% Native American, 3.83% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 1.47% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.22% of the population.

There were 4,199 households out of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.8% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 16.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city, the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $83,921, and the median income for a family was $95,609. Males had a median income of $57,132 versus $32,439 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,094. 2.9% of the population and 2.5% of families were below the poverty line. 1.8% of those under the age of 18 and 3.6% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Seminole County Public Schools operates Lake Mary's public schools.

There are 7 public schools, 5 private schools, 1 State college (Seminole State College of Florida), and 1 library in the greater Lake Mary area.

Elementary Schools

• Heathrow Elementary School
• Crystal Lake Elementary School
• Lake Mary Elementary School

Middle Schools

• Markham Woods Middle School
• Greenwood Lakes Middle School

High Schools

• Lake Mary High School

The American Automobile Association, AAA, National Office is located in Lake Mary and is one of the largest business employers in the area. Also located in Lake Mary is the new Verizon Financial Center, Mitsubishi Motors along with multiple other nationally known companies. On a smaller scale, Scholastic Book Fairs, the book fair division of Scholastic Corporation, is headquartered in Lake Mary. In addition, the Orlando TV stations WTGL as well as WOFL and sister station WRBW (by way of Fox Television Stations) have studios located in Lake Mary. All of these are visible along Interstate 4. Prior to Emmis Communications selling WKCF to Hearst-Argyle (now Hearst Television), WKCF's studios were located in the studios that is now the studios of WTGL, before moving with now-sister station WESH in Winter Park.

Dixon Ticonderoga, one of the world's largest producers of pencils and art supplies, has put its headquarters in Lake Mary. Accesso, an English technology firm involved in the leisure industry, has its North American headquarters in Lake Mary, employeeing 220 people locally as of 2018.[9][10]

• Lee Corso, sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN
• Chris DiMarco, professional golfer in PGA
• Gigi Fernández, professional Puerto Rican tennis player who has played at Wimbledon, Olympics and the U.S. Open[12]
• Rowdy Gaines, Olympic gold medal winner and NBC swimming analyst
• Jesse Palmer, University of Florida quarterback, New York Giants quarterback, The Bachelor TV show contestant
• Keith Rivers, All-American linebacker for USC Trojans, 2004-2007; linebacker for the Giants in the NFL
• Toni Tennille, Grammy Award winner, singer, songwriter, author
• Stan Van Gundy, head coach of Orlando Magic (2007-2012), Detroit Pistons
• Rickie Weeks, professional baseball player for Milwaukee Brewers

• Lake Mary (SunRail station)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Mary, Florida.

• Official site