Editing Sumter County, Florida (section)

==History==
Sumter County was created on January 8, 1853.<ref>{{cite web|title=Florida: Individual County Chronologies |url=https://publications.newberry.org/ahcb/documents/FL_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |website=publications.newberry.org |publisher=The [[Newberry Library]] |date=2008 |access-date=April 14, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Publications of the Florida Historical Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZQ-AAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA34 |year=1908 |publisher=[[Florida Historical Society]] |page=34 |access-date=June 6, 2015}}</ref> It was named for General [[Thomas Sumter]], a general in the American Revolutionary War.<ref>{{cite news|title=Indian heritage runs deep throughout Central Florida |first=Freida Ratliff |last=Frisaro |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C7hPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CQcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2347%2C3456475 |date=February 21, 1988 |publisher=[[Ocala StarBanner]] |page=63 |access-date=June 6, 2015}}</ref> The county in the past, and to this day by some, is nicknamed "Hog County" most likely because it is home to a large population of wild hogs. Hog hunting is still a favorite pastime of locals in the more rural portions of the county.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

Although long extremely rural, in recent years Sumter County has sustained an exceptionally large increase in population, almost solely due to the expansion of [[The Villages, Florida|The Villages]] retirement complex, a significant portion of which is in the county. This has dramatically changed the demographics of the county and has brought in significant income.

Sumter County was affected by the massive [[2007 Groundhog Day tornado outbreak|Florida tornado outbreak of February 2, 2007]], and a [[state of emergency]] was declared.