BlockFrom the record
One of 4 National Register listings published here for Sumter County · listed in 2026 · category: District.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Community of Royal Rural Historic District
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2026. 9 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1893.
The listing
- Address. Bounded by Cty. Rd. 475, Cty. Rd. 216A, Cty. Rd. 223, and US Hwy 44, Wildwood, 34785
- When was it listed? February 2026
- Category. district
- Census division. Wildwood
- National Register reference number. 100009226 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Then and now
1893 to 1955The ground this property stands on, surveyed 62 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Fires near this property
53 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 53 fires within 5 miles of Community of Royal Rural Historic District between 1992 and 2020, burning about 926 acres in total. 10 started naturally. 3 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 14 |
| Natural | 10 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 9 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 8 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 3 |
| Other causes | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 August 2003 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | HOBO FIRE 1129 |
| 4 July 2019 | Natural | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | CYPRESS TREE (60) |
| 19 July 2007 | Natural | under an acre | Florida Forest Service | 60/HIGHWAY FIRE/0889 |
| 18 July 2016 | Natural | 3.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | NW 14TH TERRACE (60) |
| 8 June 2014 | Natural | 10 acres | Florida Forest Service | OAK HILL [60] |
| 7 June 2008 | Natural | 3.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | 60/LOW BRANCH FIRE/0575 |
| 3 June 1999 | Natural | 5.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | not named |
| 29 June 2020 | Natural | 2.0 acres | Florida Forest Service | SOUTHBOUND (60) |
Storms near this property
18 since 1993Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Wildwood, the town this property stands in, in 18 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 3 hail, 2 lightning. The reports record 1 death and 2 injuries. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1997 | Lightning | Wildwood | 1 killed, 2 hurt | Lightning from the cirrus anvil of a distant thunderstorm struck and killed a nine year old child and injured two other children ages eleven and fifteen. The children were standing along the sidelines of the Wildwood High School football practice field. The nine year old male child died ten days after the strike.The nine year old child took the direct lightning hit and sustained major burn injuries to his forehead, chest, back and down the left side of his body to the soles of his feet. The two older children's injuries from the lighting were minor. The lightning struck nearly 35 minutes after a thunderstorm had passed over the field. |
| April 1997 | Tornado (F0) | Wildwood | $200,000 | A tornado touched down along State Road 44 west of U.S. Highway 301 and damaged up to 24 buildings in the city of Wildwood. The tornado touched down on the Wildwood High School and caused roof and window damage. Numerous trees were uprooted and power lines downed by the tornado before it lifted and dissipated. |
| May 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wildwood | $70,000 | Sumter county sheriffs department and emergency management reported that thunderstorm winds caused minor roof and awning damage to six homes and downed numerous trees and power lines which blocked County Roads 114, 116, 117, 118, 121, 125, 153, 155, 163 and 468. Most of the damage to homes occurred in the Lake Miona, Orange Home and Lake Deaton areas of Sumter county. |
| August 2025 | Flash Flood | Wildwood | $35,000 | FDEM relayed report from Sumter County ECC of flooding in Wildwood as a result of heavy rainfall totaling 3 to 5 inches, resulting in several vehicles becoming stranded in flood waters requiring assistance. |
| January 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wildwood | $25,000 | Thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines along several streets in northeast Wildwood. |
| September 1997 | Flood | Wildwood | $15,000 | Three to six inches of rain caused localized street flooding in a band from Wildwood in Sumter county southwest to Brooksville in Hernando county and continued south and east to Dade City in eastern Pasco county. A few stalled vehicles and low-lying mobile homes received water damage. |
| July 2023 | Lightning | Wildwood | $10,000 | Lightning struck a home on Crego Court. It started a small fire in the attic and blew the water main which lifted up the driveway and part of the roadway. |
| April 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wildwood | $10,000 | Sumter County Emergency Management relayed a report of a tree and power lines down on a mobile home on Legion Road in Wildwood. Time was estimated based off radar. |
| March 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wildwood | $10,000 | Damaging thunderstorm winds knocked down the traffic light at the intersection of State Road 44 and Highway 301. There were numerous reports of trees and power lines down in the area. |
| July 1998 | Flood | Wildwood | $10,000 | Heavy rainfall of up to four inches in less than an hour caused localized flooding of low lying areas between Wildwood and Bushnell. A few vehicles incurred water damage along U.S. Highway 301 in Wildwood from the heavy rain. |
| February 1998 | Flood | Wildwood | $10,000 | no account filed |
| February 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wildwood | $5,000 | Thunderstorm wind destroyed a barn and downed trees and power lines at County Road 237 near State Road 466. |
| February 1993 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wildwood | $5,000 | Strong thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines south of Wildwood. |
| March 2014 | Hail | Wildwood | - | A report was received from the general public of quarter sized hail with a thunderstorm one mile southwest of Wildwood. |
| April 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Wildwood | - | Trees were blown down and were blocking the roadway on Interstate 75 near the Florida Turnpike split. |
| August 2006 | Hail | Wildwood | - | A trained spotter reported mothball size hail. |
| April 2005 | Hail | Wildwood | - | Hail was reported by a trained SKYWARN spotter. |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Wildwood | - | Four inches of rain in one hour was reported by city officials. Flooding shut down U.S. Highway 301and a two block area near the Wildwood shopping center. |
Maps showing this location
9 surveysUnited States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
- 1893 USGS Panasoffkee quadrangle1:62500
- 1895 USGS Panasoffkee quadrangle1:62500 - 5 printings
- 1955 USGS Plant City quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Tarpon Springs quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Plant City quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Plant City quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Plant City quadrangle1:250000
- 1966 USGS Oxford quadrangle1:24000
- 1979 USGS Inverness quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100009226 in Record Group 79. |
| Sumter County | All 4 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- 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.
- 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.