City Profile: Brooksville

By VISIT FLORIDA staff
Published: February 26, 2008
Last Updated On: January 16, 2012

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Brooksville

Florida's Civil War Heritage Trail

Take a history lesson in scenic Brooksville.

Brooksville is a pleasant, scenic town located about an hour north of Tampa. The city was incorporated in 1880, but has an interesting Civil War history. When Union troops began blockading the Gulf Coast, Brooksville became a strategic location for supplying cattle, hogs, salt and foodstuffs to Confederate troops as far north as Virginia. Blockage runners became so adept and successful, a militia was formed under the command of Captain LeRoy Lesley to defend the runners from the augmenting Federal military presence developing around Bay Port. Toward the end of the war, everything in a 40-mile radius of the Bay Port area was plundered by Union forces, and a special convoy of 250 troops under the command of Captain J.W. Childs marched from the Anclote River to Brooksville.

Christmas, Halloween and Mother's Day festivals are reminiscent of Brooksville's Victorian heritage, and are complemented by creative costumes, tours, and ghoulish fun!

The Hernando Heritage Museum, located in downtown Brooksville, commemorates the Civil War era and provides a glimpse at the lifestyle and relics of a gone but not forgotten segment of American history. The Museum is host to a number of holiday festivals and Heritage Days held throughout the year. Christmas, Halloween and Mother's Day festivals are reminiscent of Brooksville's Victorian heritage, and are complemented by creative costumes, tours, and ghoulish fun!

The history and southern charm of Brooksville are a fresh breath of vitality that illuminates Brooksville and other small towns along Florida's Sun Coast.