Inverness, Florida, United States

🇺🇸 Inverness is a city in Citrus County, Florida, United States. It is the county seat of Citrus County and is home to the Citrus County Courthouse and near the 10,950-acre (4,430 ha) Flying Eagle Preserve.

Inverness is located in eastern Citrus County, on the western shore of the connected Tsala Apopka and Henderson lakes. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.7 square miles (19.9 km²), of which 7.6 square miles (19.7 km²) is land and 0.08 square miles (0.2 km²), or 1.01%, is water. Within the city are 330 acres (130 ha) of land reserved for passive and active park usage.

Archaeological digs showed that the Seminole resided in the area that is now Inverness. The Seminole leader Osceola made his wartime camp, known as Powell's Town, in the area during the Second Seminole War.

The city of Inverness was originally named "Tompkinsville". White settlement of the area dates back to 1868. Tompkins, later known as "Uncle Alf", started the community. To attract newcomers to the town, he established a mail service and helped erect the first sawmill in the county. He gave his brother-in-law, Frank M. Dampier Sr., a lot to build a store, with Dampier becoming the first merchant in town. Dampier is credited with laying out the town and naming it Tompkinsville.

Not many years later, the town of Tompkinsville was sold to a firm in Jacksonville, and the name was changed to "Inverness". According to the late historian Mary McRae of Homosassa, Inverness is named directly after a Scottish city of the same name. Inverness is Great Britain's most northerly city, and "the capital of the Highlands", with a population of 46,870. The story goes that Inverness, Florida got its name from a lonely Scotsman, far away from his home, who gazed upon the blue waters of the Native American-named Tsala Apopka Lake and thought the area looked like the headlands and lochs of the area surrounding Inverness in Scotland. Inver is a Gaelic word meaning "mouth of the river", the River Ness flows through the Scottish city Inverness, so Inverness literally means the mouth of the River Ness, which flows from Loch Ness, which is one of Scotland's most visited areas. Since the Florida city lies at the foot of one of the chain of lakes in Citrus County, Inverness seemed an appropriate name.

According to official city documentation, Inverness was incorporated on September 18, 1919.

Over twelve downtown buildings have been recognised by the historic plaque program and are presently active places for business. Central Business Development grants have helped to retain the historic character of the city. In 1961 the historic courthouse downtown was used to film the courtroom scene of "Follow That Dream", featuring Elvis Presley.

The city has been designated a "Gateway Community" by the Florida Trail Association. Since 1995, Inverness has been recognised as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation and the US Forest Service. In 2009, Inverness was named "City of the Year" by the Forty and Eight, a national veterans' organization.

Events The last full weekend in October is reserved for the Great American Cooter Festival, named after the Florida cooter turtle. A family-focused event of music, games, crafts and more is held at the adjoining Liberty and Wallace Brooks parks on Lake Henderson.

Since 1971 the first weekend in November marks the Festival of the Arts, a juried fine art show that has grown to include over 100 artists.

Every year in March, there is a Seminole War re-enactment at Fort Cooper State Park called Fort Cooper Days.