Sebring, Florida, United States

🇺🇸 Sebring is a city in south-central Florida, United States, nicknamed "The City on the Circle", in reference to Circle Drive, the centre of the Sebring Downtown Historic District. It is the county seat of Highlands County, and is the principal city of the Sebring Metropolitan Statistical Area. The broader Sebring metropolitan area is the 21st largest metropolitan area in the state of Florida. The disparity in population between the city proper and the metropolitan area is due to the relatively small size of the annexed area of the city, with most all of the landmass west of Lake Jackson technically in unincorporated Highlands County

Sebring is centered around Lake Jackson, with the Downtown Historic District directly on the waterfront. Due to its Florida scrub terrain, Lake Jackson has natural white sand beaches, and is a popular boating and swimming destination. Sebring is the home of the Sebring International Raceway, best known as the host of the 12 Hours of Sebring, an annual WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race that attracts fans and teams from around the world. Nearby Highlands Hammock State Park is a popular attraction, and was the first state park created in Florida. The city features a large 1768-acre airfield, the Sebring Regional Airport. Additionally, Sebring became a popular development and tourist destination of the 1920s, hailed as the "Coral Gables of Central Florida". Many grandiose Mediterranean buildings of that time period still exist within the city, the most notable being the Harder Hall Hotel and Resort.

History Sebring was founded in 1912. It was named after George E. Sebring (1859–1927), a pottery manufacturer from Ohio who developed the city. He had a circular plan as the focal point for the city. It was chartered by the state of Florida in 1913, and was selected as the county seat of Highlands County when the county was created in 1921. The village of Sebring, Ohio, is also named for George E. Sebring and his family.

Sebring is known for its collection of historic and historically designated buildings. The Sebring Train Station, Sebring Fire Station, and the Highlands County Courthouse are all National Register of Historic Places buildings that are still in service, as well as the entire Sebring Downtown Historic District, consisting of shops, restaurants, offices, businesses and apartments all bordered by the water. Harder Hall Resort and the Kenilworth Lodge are both surviving examples of large, extravagant boom time hotels.

Culture Sebring has a number of museums and arts facilities, including the • Highlands Museum of the Arts, a multi media arts collection • Military Sea Services Museum, containing artifacts and exhibits relating to the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marines and U.S. Navy • Highlands Lakeside Theater, a waterfront performing arts center • Civilian Conservation Corps Museum at Highlands Hammock State Park, highlighting the history of the CCC, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, and the history of the park • Children's Museum of the Highlands, located in the heart of downtown featuring interactive activities for children ages 1–12 • Charles F. Weigle House Museum, administered by the Sebring Historical Society and highlighting the history of the city and its notable residents

Buildings • Central Station • Downtown Historic District • Edward Hainz House • Elizabeth Haines House • H. Orvel Sebring House • Harder Hall Hotel • Highlands County Courthouse • Highlands Hammock State Park • Kenilworth Lodge • Lakeshore Mall • Paul L. Vinson House • Seaboard Air Line Passenger Station • Sebring International Raceway • Sebring Regional Airport • South Florida State College

Geography Sebring is located in north-western Highlands County According to the Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.0 square miles (41.5 km²), 10.0 square miles (25.8 km²) of which are land and 6.1 square miles (15.7 km²) of which are water. Water comprises 37.8% of the city's total area.

The city's geography is dominated by 9,212-acre (37 km²) Lake Jackson, but 420-acre (1.7 km²) Dinner Lake and 137-acre (0.6 km²) Little Lake Jackson are also within the city limits. Highlands County has more than 84 lakes, most of which are located in unincorporated areas of the county. Sebring lies near the southern end of the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of ancient islands that is the native habitat for many rare plants and animals. Most of the area is rural and part of the Florida scrub ecosystem, with smaller areas of hammocks and cypress swamps, similar to those found at Highlands Hammock State Park, 4 miles (6 km) west of Sebring.

Education The School Board of Highlands County operates eight public schools drawing from the city of Sebring with a combined enrollment of approximately 6200 students; one kindergarten centre, four elementary schools (Woodlawn Elementary, Fred Wild Elementary, Cracker Trail Elementary, and Sun 'n Lake Elementary, serving students in 1st through 5th grades), two middle schools (Sebring Middle School, and Hill-Gustat Middle School, serving students in 6th through 8th grades), and one high school (Sebring High School). One of the elementary schools (Cracker Trail Elementary) received an "A" grade under Florida's A+ school grading plan; two of the elementary schools. Sebring Middle School received a "B", based on pupil results on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Sebring High School, home of the county's sole International Baccalaureate program, received a "B" grade.

In 2021, the county's high school graduation rate was 84.4%, reflecting a increase every year over the previous 11 years

During segregation time, E. O. Douglas High School, Home of the Mighty Tigers, was located in this city for Black people throughout Highlands County. The last graduating class from this school was in 1967. After desegregation, students from E.O. Douglas transferred to schools which were formerly whites-only. The E.O. Douglas campus now houses the headquarters of the School Board of Highlands County.

Transport U.S. Route 27 (cosigned with U.S. Route 98 in Sebring) is the major artery providing access to the rest of the state. State Road 17 begins in Sebring and heads north to its terminus in Haines City. State Road 64 (to the north) and State Road 66 (to the south) are important secondary roads. Sebring is the largest populated area in the country to not be serviced by an Interstate Highway.

Several of Sebring's streets are named after automobile manufacturers or their models, as is evident in Peugeot Street, Ferrari Drive, Porsche Avenue, Vantage Terrace, Corvette Avenue, and Thunderbird Road, to name a few.

Sebring Regional Airport is located a few miles south-east of the city and provides general aviation facilities for Sebring. The airport is also the home of the Sebring International Raceway, the host of the 12 Hours of Sebring, second round of WeatherTech SportsCar Championship automobile race series, held annually in March. The airport has also hosted the annual US Sport Aviation Expo for eight years. The nearest regularly scheduled passenger service is provided at Orlando International Airport, 86 miles (138 km) by road to the north.

The city is served by Amtrak from the Sebring station, a depot built in 1924 by the Seaboard Air Line and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Amtrak's daily service to Sebring consists of two trains each from the Silver Meteor and Silver Star, heading south to Miami and north to Tampa, Orlando and New York City. CSX Transportation owns the track over which Amtrak operates. The South Central Florida Express railroad connects to the CSX line in Sebring, allowing transportation of sugar from Clewiston to the rest of the country.

Sport • The major sporting event in Sebring is the annual 12 Hours of Sebring race, although the Sebring International Raceway hosts races of all types year round. • The famed Newark Bears played their Spring Training games in Sebring in the 1930s and 1940s. The Bears, a New York Yankees minor league affiliate, began their stint in town shortly after Jacob Ruppert purchased the Yankees. The team's 1937 season in Sebring is covered in the book The 1937 Newark Bears: A Baseball Legend by Ronald A. Mayer • Sebring is known for its golf, with its many courses comprising the Citrus Golf Trail. Courses include Sun 'N Lake Golf Club (two courses), the Country Club of Sebring, Golf Hammock Country Club, Sebring International Golf Resort and the Sebring Municipal Golf Course • Lake Jackson hosts an annual stop on the Liqui Moly Pro Watercross Tour. In 2023, the race became the season kickoff • The Sebring Gran Fondo is an annual 95 mile endurance professional cycling race, billed as Florida’s longest and toughest • Starting in 2021, Spartan Race and Tough Mudder joined for a combined series of events now held annually in the city • The Highlands County Multisports Complex is a 52 acre, five field facility used for soccer, baseball, softball, and football games, events and traveling tournaments • The Sebring Recreation Club is a shuffleboard complex in downtown Sebring, featuring both covered and open air courts. The club has hosted a number of tournaments, including the Florida State Masters • The Highlands County Horseshoe Club features 18 blue clay courts just one block off the "Circle" in Downtown Sebring • Boating and swimming are primary activities in and on Lake Jackson, with 3 public beaches and a public boat ramp • Fishing is popular throughout the town, with a number of tournaments regularly held. Popular fishing destinations include Lake Jackson and Lake Istokpoga

Media: Television Sebring is located in a fringe viewing area of the Tampa-St. Petersburg television market (DMA). In addition to the primary Tampa-market television signals, local services offer signals from WFTV, the ABC affiliate in Orlando and WINK, the CBS affiliate in Fort Myers/Naples.

Media: Radio Sebring is the largest city in the Sebring radio market, which is ranked as the 288th largest in the United States by Arbitron. Radio stations broadcasting from Sebring include WAVP (1390AM), WWLL (105.7FM/Adult Contemporary), WITS (1340AM/Religion), and WJCM (1050AM/ESPN). The latter three are co-owned with WWOJ (99.1FM/Country), licensed to neighboring Avon Park and WWTK (730AM/News-Talk), licensed to Lake Placid, to the south. The five stations together operate from studios in Sebring on Highway 27 near the town's northern city limit.