Zolfo Springs is a town in Hardee County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Florida Heartland region. The population was 1,737 at the 2020 census.
Etymology
The name of the town got its name in the early 1800s, when a crew of miners from Spain and Italy looking for phosphate were sailing along the Peace River and came upon the spring, noting it had a strong sulfuric smell. Because of this, the Italians decided to call the area "zolfo", which means "sulfur" in the Italian language.
History
thumb|left|Zolfo Springs Pioneer Park Museum
Early prosperity in the area (where the settlement was known as "Zolfo") was due to its location along the Florida Cracker Trail, a cattle trail from Bradenton to Fort Pierce. Cattle herded from this area and the Florida Heartland was run to the coasts along this route as early as 1850. The Florida Cracker Trail today includes parts of State Road 64 and State Road 66 through Zolfo Springs.
In 1886, transportation improved through Zolfo when the Florida Southern Railway (which later became the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad) was built through the town on its way from Bartow to Punta Gorda. The railroad built a depot in the town and a post office was established the same year. The railroad was removed in the early 1980s. Today US 17 runs along the former railroad right of way (with Main Street being the original alignment of US 17).
| align = right
| align-fn = center
Racial and ethnic composition
{| class="wikitable"
|+Zolfo Springs racial composition<br> (Hispanics excluded from racial categories)<br> (NH = Non-Hispanic)<br>
!Race
!Pop 2010
!Pop 2020
!% 2010
!% 2020
|-
|White (NH)
|547
|498
|29.94%
|28.67%
|-
|Black or African American (NH)
|74
|51
|4.05%
|2.94%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native (NH)
|2
|5
|0.11%
|0.29%
|-
|Asian (NH)
|11
|8
|0.60%
|0.46%
|-
|Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)
|4
|0
|0.22%
|0.00%
|-
|Some other race (NH)
|0
|1
|0.00%
|0.06%
|-
|Two or more races/Multiracial (NH)
|12
|39
|0.66%
|2.25%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|1,177
|1,135
|64.42%
|65.34%
|-
|Total
|1,827
|1,737
|
|
|-
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Zolfo Springs had a population of 1,737. The median age was 31.4 years. 31.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 12.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 109.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 104.6 males age 18 and over.
90.6% of residents lived in urban areas, while 9.4% lived in rural areas.
There were 543 households in Zolfo Springs, of which 46.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.9% were married-couple households, 21.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
2010 census
As of the 2010 United States census, there were 1,827 people, 648 households, and 552 families residing in the town.
2000 census
As of the census