St. Cloud, Florida

Saint Cloud is a located in  the  of Florida, in Osceola County. It was in 1911, It is on the southern shore of  in, about 26 mi southeast of Orlando. The population was 35,183 in the, and 54,579 in the 2019 census estimate. The city is part of the metropolitan area.

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

History
During the 1870s, of Philadelphia took an interest in developing the region while on fishing trips with, founder of the city of Sanford. Disston contracted with the, then in receivership, to pay $1 million to offset its and  debt. In exchange, Disston was awarded half the land he drained from the state's swamps. He dug canals and, in 1886–87, established St. Cloud, named after St. Cloud, Minnesota, although many longtime locals claim the town was named after , France.

Disston opened the Sugar Belt Railway to the in 1888 to carry his product to market. But the dropped land values, and the  of 1894-95 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, the Seminole Land & Investment Company acquired 35,000 acre as the site for a 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."

On April 16, 1909, the Kissimmee Valley Gazette announced the "New Town of St. Cloud", a "Soldiers Colony" near Kissimmee. The newspaper called the 's purchase "one of the most important real estate deals ever made in the State of Florida." It was reported that the company had searched all over Florida for the perfect site for a veterans' colony, particularly one suited for "health, climate, and productiveness of the soil". It is believed that many of the streets were named for states from which the Civil War veterans had served, but the street names were already assigned to the platted land before settlement occurred.

Early St. Cloud is believed to have history as a  with a plot of land outside the city reserved for black residents officially dubbed “Colored Quarter.” This name is still active on official land records as the title of this section of land. Early newspaper records support the history of being a “Sundown Town” with firsthand accounts of local residents making attempts “to keep the colored folks in their own quarters outside the town.”

On June 1, 1915, the incorporated St. Cloud as a city. Its downtown features landmark buildings by the Orlando architectural firm &, a partnership consisting of two women. The buildings by Ryan and Roberts and others downtown are predominantly.

St. Cloud has tried to separate itself from neighboring cities, and particularly the theme parks, by promoting an image of small-town life, and by attempting to make itself economically less dependent on Kissimmee. On March 6, 2006, St. Cloud introduced the CyberSpot program, becoming the first city in the United States to give residents free high-speed wireless Internet access, but the program ended in 2009.

Geography
St. Cloud is located at 28.24667°N, -81.2875°W (28.246590, -81.287540).

According to the the the city has an area of 9.2 sqmi where all 18 sqmi are covered by land, of which 0.11% is water, St. Cloud is on the southern shore of, an exceptionally clear lake, with good visibility to depths of 7 to 9 ft. East Lake is nearly circular in shape and covers approximately 12000 acre. It is a perfect example of what is often called a "dish-pan" lake. It produces many trophy bass annually. A familiar sight along the shores of East Lake Toho is the rare, protected Florida.

The major highway is running in tandem with  east and west. This six-lane road is intersected by avenues running north and south. Many have names of US states in no particular order.

2000 census
According to the 2000 census, St. Cloud had 20,074 people, 6,716 households, and 5,424 families residing in the city. The was 2,190.8 PD/sqmi.

There were 7,716 households out of which 34% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.8% were living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.

The racial makeup of the city was 90.27%, 2.07% , 0.47% , 0.95% , 0.07% , 4.10% from , and 2.06% from two or more races. or of any race were 13.36% of the population.

12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 23.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.00.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,467, and the median income for a family was $41,211. Males had a median income of $30,955 versus $22,414 for females. The for the city was $17,031. About 6.2% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census
According to the, its population is 35,183 families residing in the city and the is 1,981 PD/sqmi It is the least populated location in Osceola County, although it has had the highest population growth in the county in 10 years. It has 14,544 housing units, which results in a density of 8.2 /sqmi.

The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 62.1% non-Hispanic white, 7.2% at least partly African American, 1.0% at least partly Native American, 2.5% at least partly Asian, 0.3% at least partly Pacific Islander, 0.4% non-Hispanic reporting some other race and 29.2% Hispanic or Latino. Puerto Ricans by themselves made up 18.7% of the population and were by far the largest Hispanic group.

The median age of St. Cloud's population was 36.8 years. 7.8% of the population was 65 or older. There were 12,565 households with 9,145 of them constituting families.