| Lantana, Florida | |
|---|---|
| — Town — | |
| Location of Lantana in Palm Beach County | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Florida |
| County | Palm Beach |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.9 sq mi (7.5 km2) |
| • Land | 2.3 sq mi (5.9 km2) |
| • Water | 0.6 sq mi (1.6 km2) |
| Elevation | 10 ft (3 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 9,437 |
| • Density | 4,134.9/sq mi (1,596.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP codes | 33460, 33462, 33465 |
| Area code(s) | 561 |
| FIPS code | 12-39375[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0285344[2] |
Lantana is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 9,437 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 10,389.[3]
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The first settlers came to the area after Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act of 1842 at the end of the Seminole Wars during the Administration of President John Tyler. The M.B. Lyman family is credited with founding the town. Lyman arrived with his family in 1888 and within a year started several enterprises including a general store, Indian Trading Post and a post office. As postmaster, Lyman named the post office – Lantana Point – for the wild Lantana plants that grew in abundance in the area. The word Point was later dropped.[4]
One of the other Lyman businesses was the Lantana Fish Company. In the early 1900s the gathering and marketing of oysters became the town's leading industry. The Town of Lantana was incorporated in 1921 with 22 residents voting in the first election. At the time of incorporation, the area of Lantana was one square mile with a population of 100 residents.[4]
After World War II, Lantana, like the rest of South Florida experienced a tremendous building boom which continues to this day. Interstate Highway 95, which was completed through Lantana in the mid-1970s, brought a surge of commercial development to the town.
Since 1950, the town has been the home of the A. G. Holley Hospital,[5] the last of the old state-run sanitariums for patients with tuberculosis. The facility now treats about fifty patients at a time, those with the most obdurate forms of the disease.[6]
From 1974 until 1988, Lantana was home to the tradition of hosting the largest decorated Christmas Tree in the World. Every year, a huge tree would be shipped from the Pacific Northwest to Lantana by rail to the grounds of the National Enquirer, adjacent to the Florida East Coast Railway tracks. The event would attract thousands of visitors every night, and grew to be one of the most spectacular and celebrated holiday events in South Florida. This annual festivity ended in 1989 due to the sale of the National Enquirer following the death of founder Generoso Pope Jr. at age of 61 in October 1988.[7]
Today, Lantana covers 2.25 square miles (5.8 km2) and boasts a year round population of about 10,000 residents. During the winter, the population swells to around 14,000 residents.[4]
Lantana is located at (26.582797, -80.057587)[8].
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.9 square miles (7.5 km2). 2.3 square miles (6.0 km2) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km2) of it (21.31%) is water.
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 9,437 people, 3,850 households, and 2,294 families residing in the town. The population density was 4,134.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,598.1/km²). There were 4,432 housing units at an average density of 1,941.9 per square mile (750.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 80.33% White (69.8% were Non-Hispanic White,)[9] 10.72% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.83% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 4.67% from other races, and 2.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.14% of the population. The ancestry of a portion of the population was 10.9% Irish, 10.7% German, 8.0% West Indian, 7.6% English, 7.0% Finnish, 6.9% American and 5.8% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. Lantana has the largest Finnish population in Florida.[10]
There were 3,850 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were non-families. 31.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.06.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 104.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $35,645, and the median income for a family was $40,089. Males had a median income of $29,443 versus $25,050 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,204. About 5.9% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 12.6% of those age 65 or over.
As of 2000, English as a first language accounted for 73.24% of all residents, while Spanish was found to be the first language of 13.95%, French Creole made up 6.82%, and Finnish was the mother tongue of 5.01% of the population (the highest percentage in Florida.) Also, French was spoken by 0.62% of residents and German was spoken by 0.34% of the populace.[11]
As of 2000, Lantana had the 111th highest percentage of Finns in the US, which accounted for 5.4% of all residents (tied with two US areas in Michigan,) [12] while Haitians had the thirty-fifth highest percentage, with 5.20% of the population. [13]
Lantana has a public library, with a collection of 19,376 volumes, as of 2005. In the same year, the library circulated 16,920 items, and it served a population of 9,574 residents.[14]
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