NEWS

Villa Sorrento’s boutique community is strategically located in the city of Haines City Florida.

Haines City is conveniently located in Central Florida and is referred to as the Heart of Florida.  Farmers planted citrus trees, starting an industry that sustained the region until the present day.

In 1909 a small group of farmers formed a citrus growers association. Still in business today, Haines City Citrus Growers Association became the city’s largest employer and one of the state’s largest co-ops.

In 1915 Florida Fruit Products Co. pioneered production of bottled grapefruit juice. In the 20’s Ralph Polk established a grapefruit sectioning plant. His company was Florida’s leading citrus processor throughout the 20’3 and 30’s.

His success led to construction of the Polk Hotel, now restored and home of the LandmarkBaptistCollege in historic downtown.

Much of the downtown’s buildings were constructed during this period and are now listed on the National Historic Register. HainesCity’s Clay Cut Centre served more than 55 years as the community’s grammar school and then as our high school.

In the late 1940’s another pioneering venture changed the citrus industry’s character and future when HainesCity businessmen began experimenting to develop frozen citrus concentrate. Even as frozen concentrate became widely available, the fresh citrus market remained the leading economic driver in central Florida for decades.

In the last 40 years, entrepreneurs have started a wide variety of businesses, expanding the community’s economic base into manufacturing, service and retail sectors.

In the early 70’s, Walt Disney’s purchase and development of Disney World, just 15 miles north of HainesCity, changed the entire region’s economy. Tourism now ranks among the area’s top economic engines.