Seffner, Florida
Seffner, Florida, is one of Hillsborough County’s earliest communities. Because it sits three miles north of Brandon and ten miles northeast of Tampa, as the crow flies, this still-rural area is rapidly becoming a bedroom community, with most folks commuting to Brandon, Tampa or areas east and south. Seffner’s population is 5,500 and growing, with an estimated 35,000 people in the region at-large. It is known by locals for its towering oaks, strawberry farms and bass-stocked lakes.
In the mid 1840s, Seffner was known as Simmon’s Hammock, a name that changed in the 1880s when the city’s first postmaster, F.P. Seffner, decided to call it Lenna City—Lenna being the name of his daughter. In 1884, the year the community’s first school and store opened, the town was renamed again, this time after Seffner himself. Despite numerous wars, fires, epidemics and other disasters, Seffner held on to its reputation as an affluent town. A pamphlet from the town’s heyday marketed Seffner this way:
Situated twelve miles from Tampa, on the South Florida Railroad, is the new and thriving town of Seffner, a town destined to be one of the important points on that road… Two magnificent lakes lying just east of the town afford all the piscatorial sport one wants and give boating and bathing facilities. Around their margins can be found as fine grazing for stock as is to be had anywhere. Luxurious orange groves, here to be seen on every hand, give evidence of the superior quality of the land, which, by the way, is not to be spoken of simply as an orange growing country, but one that will grow almost anything–in fact, everything that can be raised in semitropical Florida.
Although by 1925 Seffner was considered the 4th largest town in Hillsborough County, the city today is not quite the thriving center of prosperity and pleasure its early developers had expected. Seffner today is beginning to feel enough growth that residents are forming community alliances and working with the county on a new community vision plan. And while Seffner’s rural roots may still be found by way of old farms and buildings hidden among the back roads, the community is largely considered an upscale “suburb” of its larger neighbor to the south, Brandon.
Living in Seffner
Homes in Seffner include upscale ranches and contemporary, single-family homes on large lots in gated subdivisions; pools are common in new-home communities. Seffner living is still considered affordable, with most homes in the $170,000 to $350,000 range, and with luxury waterfront estates for under one million. Lower priced homes may be found in the Gold Coast and Mango Hills neighborhoods, while homes in the high $200s to mid $300s are in Wheeler Groves and the Hammocks at Kingsway. Other communities include Bloomfield Hills, Lake Shore Ranch, Seffner Ridge Estates and Chestnut Forest.
Seffner Schools
Children in Seffner attend one of five elementary schools: Colson, Lopez, Mango, Mcdonald and Seffner, four of which are “A” and “B” schools. Middle school students attend either Burnett or Jennings Middle, while high school students attend Armwood High.
Shopping and Dining in Seffner
Being just three miles north of its sprawling neighbor Brandon, Seffner residents are within arms’ reach of all the amenities of city living. As one resident said, “There’s a Cracker Barrel and a Wal-Mart; what more do you need?” A few local dining favorites include Pot Bellies Restaurant, Windham’s Family Restaurant near Lyle Flagg Stadium and S & D Country Kitchen across from Wal-Mart.
Another popular although niche “shopping” spot in Seffner is the Lazy Days RV Supercenter, billed as the world’s largest single-site RV dealer. The center, right off I-4, also hosts an RV park, a popular meeting space for RV’ers.
Leisure and Play in Seffner
Seffner is within an hours’ drive to the playgrounds of Orlando and Tampa, for always-on fun at Disney, Busch Gardens, Lowry Park Zoo and other area mainstays. Closer to home, Seffner residents enjoy fishing on Lakes Hooker, Mango and Weeks, the latter being a 53-acre lake with an abundance of fish and local wildlife. Burnett and Mango Parks together offer athletic fields, basketball, playgrounds and a recreation center. Mango Park is also a favorite of dog lovers, thanks to its five-acre puppy playground, which includes doggy drinking fountains, dog washes, and doggie “mitt” receptacles.
Nearby Eureka Springs Park, off Hillsborough Avenue, is a local treasure—and one most locals don’t even know about! Eureka Springs is a 31-acre botanical-garden-turned-county-park filled with plant-lovers’ delights, rare and exotic plant species, a greenhouse, trellised walkway and screen pavilion, picnic area, interpretative trails and boardwalk. The Park’s five springs were inadvertently created in the mid 1900s when blasting to remove stumps. Today the springs flow only during rainy season.
And let’s not forget—Seffner is just an hour or two away from the finest play America has to offer: Tampa, with its sports and culture, as well as the Florida Aquarium, Lowry Park Zoo and Museum of Science and Industry; Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties with their world-class, white-sand beaches; Orlando, with more Disney and other-type fun that you could possibly ever experience; and the Atlantic beaches, popular with sun-worshippers and surfers alike.
|