Valrico is an unincorporated community along State Road 60 about 14 miles east of Tampa, between Brandon to the west and FishHawk across the Alafia River to the south. It grew up around the railroad and citrus in the 1890s and is now a suburb of established subdivisions, anchored by River Hills Country Club, with ZIP codes 33594 and 33596.
Valrico's history
Before the Civil War the settlement was called Long Pond. It took the name Valrico in the 1880s, when William G. Tousey, a Tufts College philosophy professor, bought property there. The Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad reached the town in 1890 and growth followed. The 1895 freeze and the 1929 crash stalled it, and it picked up again in the mid-1950s once State Road 60 linked Valrico to Tampa's Adamo Drive.
Golf, parks and the Alafia River in Valrico
River Hills Country Club, founded in 1989, is a private club built around an 18-hole, par-72 course designed by Joe Lee, measuring 7,007 yards from the championship tees. It sits in the River Hills community next to FishHawk.
County parks include:
- Valrico Park on South Miller Road, with a basketball court, playground, picnic shelters and a concession stand.
- Stearns Road Park, with a paved walking loop, a basketball court, a street hockey rink, picnic shelters and an open field.
The Alafia River runs along the south side of Valrico. Just across it, Lithia Springs Conservation Park has a spring that stays about 72 degrees for year-round swimming, plus hiking trails and a campground. Farther southeast, Alafia River State Park draws mountain bikers, hikers and riders.
Getting around and shopping
State Road 60 is Valrico's main road, running west to Brandon, I-75 and the Selmon Expressway, where Brandon Exchange and the big shopping centers along Brandon Boulevard sit. River Hills Country Club puts Brandon about 15 minutes away and downtown Tampa about 30. To the south, Lithia Pinecrest Road connects Valrico with FishHawk and Lithia.
Homes in Valrico
Valrico is mostly single-family homes in established subdivisions such as Buckhorn Preserve and River Hills, including homes on or near the River Hills golf course.
