Ruskin

Ruskin is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The area was part of the chiefdom of the Uzita (Florida) at the time of the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1539.U.S. Route 41 currently runs through the center of Ruskin. The community was founded August 7, 1908, on the shores of the Little Manatee River. It was developed by Dr. George McAnelly Miller, an attorney and professor at Ruskin College in Trenton, Missouri, and Addie Dickman Miller. It is named after the essayist and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900). Miller established the short-lived Ruskin College. To gain a sense of the founding philosophy around the community, note that in the old Ruskin City area there is a Carlyle Boulevard, named for Thomas Carlyle, and there once was a Morris Park, named for William Morris. Ruskin remained largely agricultural, including large tomato crops, until recent decades when it expanded with suburban housing developments. The population was 17,208 at the 2010 census, up from 8,321 at the 2000 census. The town is home to Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve.