Mount Plymouth is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, Mount Plymouth had a population of 4,417. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The focal point of a golf resort for the region was the Historic Mount Plymouth Hotel, which was constructed in 1926 at a cost of $350,000. The hotel became a center of activity in the area. Guests such as Al Capone, Connie Mack, Babe Ruth and Kate Smith were able to utilize the hotel's airfield for arrival.
Four 18-hole golf courses patterned after the St. Andrews course in Scotland were originally planned for the resort. However, the Florida real estate crash of 1926 prevented completion of three of the four courses. The first course, called Mount Plymouth Golf Club, closed in 2007. Lucia Mida would use Mount Plymouth as her temporary place of residence while participating in Florida state golfing tournaments.
In 1959, Florida Central Academy occupied the building and grounds of the 150-room hotel. Originally a boys boarding school, in 1971 the academy began accepting girls. The school remained operational until June 1983. The building, condemned by county health officials, quickly became the target of vandals. In 1986 and 1987, fire destroyed the building.
Mount Plymouth was developed during the Florida land boom of the 1920s as a planned golf resort community centered around the Mount Plymouth Hotel and Country Club. The area was designed to attract tourists and seasonal residents, with amenities including golf facilities, recreational spaces, and residential cottages built around the resort.
Geography
Mount Plymouth is located in eastern Lake County. It is bordered to the south by the city of Apopka in Orange County. Florida State Road 46 passes through the center of the community, leading east to Sanford and west to Mount Dora. Tavares, the Lake county seat, is west of Mount Plymouth. Florida State Road 429, the Wekiva Parkway, passes east and south of Mount Plymouth, leading south around the west side of the Orlando area to Interstate 4.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the Mount Plymouth CDP has a total area of , of which are land and , or 4.91%, are water.
Climate
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Mount Plymouth had a population of 4,417. The median age was 40.2 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.5 males age 18 and over.
97.5% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.5% lived in rural areas.
There were 1,666 households in Mount Plymouth, of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.4% were married-couple households, 19.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 20.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.