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Highland City, Florida

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1949 and the latest in 1988. It stands in the Lakeland census division. It lies in ZIP code area 33812. The Survey maps it on the Mulberry quadrangle. 12,355 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 118 feet above sea level.

Highland City within Polk County

Then and now

1949 to 1988

The same ground, surveyed 39 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Highland City, surveyed 1988
Topographic sheet of Highland City, surveyed 1949

Population over time

3 figures

Highland City grew from 2,051 to 12,355 between 2000 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20002,051
201010,834+8,783 (+428%)
202012,355+1,521 (+14%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

228 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 228 fires within 5 miles of Highland City between 1992 and 2020, burning about 3,605 acres in total. 18 started naturally. 7 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Railroad operations and maintenance70
Debris and open burning28
Equipment and vehicle use27
Misuse of fire by a minor25
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Recreation and ceremony24
Natural18
Arson/incendiarism7
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Smoking2

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
23 September 1995Railroad operations and maintenance2.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
21 September 2011Natural3.0 acresFlorida Forest ServiceRANCH AND FARM (53)
6 August 2014Debris and open burning1.0 acresFlorida Forest ServiceNURSERY (53)
5 August 2000Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
5 August 1994Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
4 August 1994Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreFlorida Forest Servicenot named
14 August 1993Natural2.0 acresFlorida Forest Servicenot named
6 July 2009Debris and open burning5.0 acresFlorida Forest Service53 BRAMBLE RIDGE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Polk County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Highland City: 3 plants, 2 past producers, 2 occurrences, 1 unknown. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Phosphorus-Phosphates, Diatomite, Magnesite, Uranium, Iron, Aluminum, Water, Free, Fluorine-Fluorite, Fluorine-Fluorite, Iron, Magnesite, Uranium, Aluminum. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bonny Lake MinePhosphorus-Phosphates, Magnesite, Uranium, Iron, Aluminum, Water, Free, Fluorine-FluoritePlant1958
Saddle Creek Tailings Dam, HydroPhosphorus-Phosphates, Aluminum, Water, Free, Fluorine-Fluorite, Iron, Magnesite, UraniumPast Producer1941, 1977
Stuart-Griffin TractsPhosphorus-Phosphates, Fluorine-Fluorite, Iron, Magnesite, Uranium, AluminumOccurrence
Unnamed Diatomite DepositDiatomiteProspect
Unnamed Diatomite ProspectDiatomiteOccurrence
Bartow #1 Phosphoric Acid PlantPhosphorus-PhosphatesUnknown1965
Bartow MillPhosphorus-PhosphatesPlant
Bartow UssacPhosphorus-PhosphatesPlant
Bartow Ussac Phosphoric Acid Pl.Phosphorus-PhosphatesPast Producer

Every working recorded in Polk County

Storms near this place

7 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Highland City in 7 storm reports between 2000 and 2020: 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2010Thunderstorm WindHighland City$112,500Straight line winds blowing west to east knocked down 15 power poles, two distribution lines, and one high-voltage transmission line along Highway 98 South, from near Clubhouse Road or County Road 540 to Winter Lake Road or State Road 540.
April 2019Thunderstorm WindHighland City$30,000Several large trees and power lines were reported down in Highland City.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindHighland City$25,000Emergency Management reported a tree toppled onto house.
July 2002Tornado (F0)Highland City$20,000Tornado damaged roof of a former fire station and downed or damaged nearby trees.
June 2005Tornado (F0)Highland City-A Sheriff's deputy reported three tornado touchdowns but no damage.
May 2000HailHighland City-Quarter sized hail that covered the ground and lasted for five minutes was reported by a Skywarn Spotter in Highland City of northwest Polk county.
July 2002HailHighland City-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Polk County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Eaton Park3.4 miles13
Lyle Corner3.6 miles17
Lakeland Highlands3.8 miles17
Gordonville4.3 miles17
Fountain Heights4.6 miles17
Medulla5.1 miles17
Tancrede5.1 miles17
Bartow5.1 miles17

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Highland CityAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2429031The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 284002. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.