The county was named after an English nobleman who owned much of the land but never set foot in Florida.
By RUBA URI
Published July 25, 2003
The county, river and bay of Hillsborough get their name from Lord Wills Hill, Earl of Hillsborough and British secretary of state for the colonies in 1768.
Early in its history, Florida was governed by five countries. One of those countries, England, granted many of its land holdings in Florida to its nobleman. The Earl of Hillsborough was given one of the largest portions of land in South Florida.
Although Hill owned a large amount of the land, the Englishman never set foot in Florida.
Florida was chartered in 1834, but the county predates that. Dutch cartographer Bernard Romans mapped out Hillsborough in 1772.
The county of Hillsborough was created Jan 25, 1834. It included most of southwest Florida, including Pinellas, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee and Highlands counties, as well as part of Lee County. Despite its large size, the county's historic population was only 836.
Today, Hillsborough County's population exceeds 1 million.
