Welcome to Ocala / Marion County, Florida
N 29° 12.609 W 082° 04.041
17R E 396247 N 3231740
This Welcome to Ocala / Marion County sign is located in the U.S. Highway 40 divider strip.
Waymark Code: WM4ME4
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 09/06/2008
Views: 26
Ocala /Marion County claims to be the "Horse Capital of the World" and is the "Home of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association."
From Wikipedia:
Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida, United States. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the Primary City of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.
Horse country
In 1956, the Ocala area Thoroughbred industry received a boost when Needles became the first Florida-bred to win the Kentucky Derby. In 1978, Marion County-bred and -raised Affirmed won the Triple Crown. Today, Marion County is one of the major thoroughbred centers of the world, with over 1,200 horse farms in total and about 600 thoroughbred farms. Ocala is well known as the horse capital of Florida.