Wimauma

Wimauma was founded in the early 1900s, and its unusual name is said to combine the first letters of the names of three early settlers' daughters — Wilhelmina, Maude, and Mary. For over a century it remained a small agricultural community anchored by strawberry fields, tomatoes, and other row crops, with a workforce deeply tied to the region's farming economy. That rural character persisted until the 2010s, when Tampa's southward growth reached the area and developers began building large master-planned communities on former agricultural land. The arrival of the Metro Lagoon at Southshore Bay and a surge of new-home construction have rapidly transformed Wimauma into one of the area's most active growth frontiers, even as farms continue to operate nearby.