Avon Park is a city in Highlands County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population in 2006 at 8,879. It is the oldest city in Highlands County, and was named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

History
The first permanent settler in Avon Park was Oliver Martin Crosby, a Connecticut native who moved to the area in 1884 to study the wildlife of the Everglades. By 1886, enough people had followed that the town of'Lake Forest'was founded. An English woman who had settled in the area convinced Crosby that the area was reminiscent of her home of Stratford-upon-Avon, and persuaded him to change the name...

Avon Park is a city in Highlands County, Florida, United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population in 2006 at 8,879. It is the oldest city in Highlands County, and was named after Stratford-upon-Avon, England.

History
The first permanent settler in Avon Park was Oliver Martin Crosby, a Connecticut native who moved to the area in 1884 to study the wildlife of the Everglades. By 1886, enough people had followed that the town of'Lake Forest'was founded. An English woman who had settled in the area convinced Crosby that the area was reminiscent of her home of Stratford-upon-Avon, and persuaded him to change the name of the settlement to Avon Park.

In 2006, then-mayor Thomas Macklin proposed City Ordinance 08-06, which that would have blocked the issuance or renewal of city licenses to businesses that hired illegal aliens, fined any property owner who rented and leased property to illegal aliens, and established English as the city's official language, banning the use of other languages during the conduct of official business except where specified under state or federal law. The ordinance was narrowly defeated by the city council, on a 3-2 vote.

Geography
Avon Park is located at (27.594418, -81.503437).According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.65 square miles (14.6 km²). 4.64 square miles (12 km²) of it is land and 1.02 square miles (2.6 km²) of it (18.1%) is water.

Demographics
At the 2000 census, there were 8,542 people, 3,218 households and 2,114 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,841.8/mi² (710.8/km²). There were 3,916 housing units at an average density of 844.4/mi²(325.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.90% White (U.S. Census), 29.2% African American (U.S. Census), 0.32% Native American (U.S. Census), 0.69% Asian (U.S. Census), 0.05% Pacific Islander (U.S. Census), 8.35% from Race (United States Census), and 2.28% from two or more races. Hispanic (U.S. Census) or Latino (U.S. Census) of any race were 18.71% of the population.