Plant City, Florida

Name: Plant City, Florida
Address: Plant City, FL

Everything Plant City is known for

2 artists from here Know a song about Plant City? Add it →

RoadyGoat plays music like this when you drive through Plant City. It's free on iPhone, and full songs play through Apple Music.

Music in Plant City

Songs About Plant City

No songs reference Plant City yet.

Know one? Add it →

Artists From Plant City

History of Plant City

The Element Inside Your Bones RoadyGoat

The same element they mine around Mulberry is built into every cell in your body. Phosphorus is one of the true elements of life. It forms the backbone of your DNA, the twin rails of the double helix are held together by phosphate links. It's the P in ATP, the molecule every living cell burns for energy, so every heartbeat and every thought runs on it. And about eighty-five percent of the phosphorus in you is locked into your skeleton, where it teams up with calcium to make the hard mineral in your bones and teeth. Phosphorus is the second most abundant element in the human body, right behind calcium. So that gray Bone Valley rock isn't some alien industrial material, it's the same stuff that stiffens your spine, codes your genes, and powers your every move.

12.0 mi away

A Megalodon Graveyard in the Dirt RoadyGoat

They don't call it Bone Valley for nothing. Mulberry's phosphate didn't form in a lab, it formed in the sea. Millions of years ago this was warm shallow ocean, and as marine creatures lived and died, their remains and the phosphate settling out of the water built up layer by layer. So the fertilizer rock is literally fossilized ocean. When the draglines tear into it, they pull up the bones too: prehistoric whale and dugong skeletons, mammoth and mastodon teeth, and the prize of every fossil hunter, the giant serrated tooth of the megalodon, a shark longer than a school bus. Many Bone Valley megalodon teeth are small, from juveniles, hinting this region was a shark nursery. That makes Mulberry one of the most famous fossil grounds on Earth, where you mine fertilizer and find monsters.

12.2 mi away

The Tree That Named a Phosphate Town RoadyGoat

1885

You would guess Mulberry, Florida, was named for a fruit or a mineral, and the fruit guess is dead right. A railroad cutting through Polk County passed a single big red mulberry tree, and crews used the spot to drop and pick up freight. Boxes and barrels got marked 'the mulberry tree,' the stop stuck, and the town that grew up around it took the name. Here's the twist: that pretty fruit name sits on top of the richest phosphate ground in the world. Mulberry is the self-styled Phosphate Capital of the World, planted in central Florida's Bone Valley, the heart of America's phosphate-mining district. So the name is a tree, but the town's real substance is the gray rock dug from beneath it.

12.2 mi away

Things to Do in Plant City

food 20.1 mi away

Columbia Restaurant

Florida's oldest restaurant in Tampa's Ybor City since 1905. Spanish cuisine in a tile-covered palace. The 1905 salad is a tableside ritual.

Everything Near Plant City

18 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Plant City Union Depot · 0.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Pulling into Plant City? This spot was a vital hub that shaped the town you see today, all thanks to the railroad. Back in 1909, this Union Depot sprang up, a joint effort by several railroad companies. It served both…
Downtown Plant City Commercial District · 0.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Pull over here for a second—this spot was once the bustling heart of Plant City! It's the historic commercial district. Back in 1993, this area, bordered by Baker and Wheeler Streets and the old Seaboard Coast Line…
Standard Oil Service Station · 0.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Before interstates and gas station chains, filling up your tank was an adventure! This unassuming corner in Plant City marks the spot of a Standard Oil Service Station that dates back to a time when car travel was still…
Polk Theatre (Lakeland, Florida) · 9.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Pull over and prepare to be transported back to the Roaring Twenties! The Polk Theatre is a stunning reminder of Lakeland's glamorous past. Built in 1928, this 1,400-seat theater was a bold statement for a town of only…
Henley Field · 10.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Built in 1922, Henley Field isn't just another baseball field; it's a living link to baseball history. Clare Henley championed the construction of this field hoping it would attract a professional baseball team to…
Frances Langford Promenade · 10.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder where Lakeland residents go to relax and enjoy the beautiful Lake Mirror? It's right here on the Frances Langford Promenade. This spot isn't just a pretty walkway; it's a piece of Lakeland history. Built in…
Child of the Sun · 10.2 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Prepare to be amazed! You're approaching the largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world: Child of the Sun at Florida Southern College. In 1938, Frank Lloyd Wright received a…
Lakeland, FL · 10.2 mi · Local history
Lakeland, Florida, owes its existence to the Florida peninsula's gentle tilt. Eons ago, as the sea slowly receded, it left behind a series of sandy ridges. Between those ridges, rainwater collected, forming the…
Fort Foster (Florida) · 11.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Imagine life as a soldier during the Second Seminole War at this reconstructed fort, a key site in the conflict. Fort Foster was originally built in December 1836 under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel William S.…
The Element Inside Your Bones · 12.0 mi
The same element they mine around Mulberry is built into every cell in your body. Phosphorus is one of the true elements of life. It forms the backbone of your DNA, the twin rails of the double helix are held together…
A Megalodon Graveyard in the Dirt · 12.2 mi
They don't call it Bone Valley for nothing. Mulberry's phosphate didn't form in a lab, it formed in the sea. Millions of years ago this was warm shallow ocean, and as marine creatures lived and died, their remains and…
The Tree That Named a Phosphate Town · 12.2 mi
You would guess Mulberry, Florida, was named for a fruit or a mineral, and the fruit guess is dead right. A railroad cutting through Polk County passed a single big red mulberry tree, and crews used the spot to drop and…

Show all 18 nearby places

The P That Feeds the World · 12.3 mi
Look at a fertilizer bag and you'll see three numbers, N-P-K: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium. The P is phosphorus, and most of the world's supply is dug out of ground exactly like Mulberry's. Here's what makes it…
The Glowing Element From Urine · 12.4 mi
The phosphorus under Mulberry has a wild origin story as an element. Its name comes from the Greek for 'light-bearer,' because pure white phosphorus literally glows in the dark and bursts into flame the moment it…
Oak Hill Cemetery (Bartow, Florida) · 18.5 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Pull over here for a second; this old cemetery holds more stories than you might think. Oak Hill Cemetery is the final resting place of some of Bartow's most influential figures. One notable person buried here is…
Old Polk County Courthouse (Florida) · 18.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Pull over here for a minute – this courthouse isn't just a building, it's a time capsule! It was built in 1908, and it’s called the Old Polk County Courthouse, or sometimes the Imperial Polk County Courthouse. Edward…
South Florida Military College · 19.0 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Ever wonder how the University of Florida got its start? You're near one of its key ancestors. In 1895, Evander M. Law founded the South Florida Military and Educational Institute right here in Bartow. By 1903, it…
Lawrence Brown House · 19.2 mi · Scraped Hmdb
Right here, a testament to resilience stands tall. This is the L.B. Brown House, built by Lawrence Bernard Brown, a former enslaved man who became a successful businessman and master carpenter in Bartow. Born into…

Explore Plant City on the Map

All music from Florida → Find another town Vote on city songs