Ocala, the city

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Ocala is a center for tourism in Florida.

Important attractions included the Silver Springs Nature Theme Park, Wild Waters water park, and the now-defunct Western-themed Six Gun Territory, all in nearby Silver Springs, Florida. Silver Springs is a 350 acre nature theme park that surrounds the headwaters of the Silver River, the largest artesian spring formation in the world.

The first thoroughbred horse farm in Florida was created by Carl G. Rose in 1943.

Earlier, in 1916, Rose had come to Florida from Indiana to oversee the first asphalt road ever constructed in the state. When he ran into problems with the asphalt, he improvised and experimented with one of Florida's abundant resources: Limestone. He also realized that the Limestone would be a good source of nutrition for raising strong horses, so he took a gamble in 1943 and bought acreage along State Hwy 200 at $10.00 per acre, which became Rosemere Farm.

The next year one of his horses, Gornil, won at Miami's Tropical Park, making him the first Florida-raised thoroughbred to win a Florida race.

Close on Rose's heels, the entrepreneur Bonnie Heath soon set up his own thoroughbred horse farm and produced the state's first Kentucky Derby winner. Both of these men have prominent Highways named after them in Ocala. Bonnie Heath Farm is now owned and operated by his son Bonnie Heath, III, and his wife Kim. Rosemere Farm was sold long ago, and Ocala’s Paddock Mall and Central Florida Community College were built on the site.

In 1956, the Ocala area Thoroughbred industry received a boost when Needles became the first Florida-bred to win the Kentucky Derby. In 1978, Marion County-bred and -raised Affirmed won the Triple Crown.

Today, Marion County is one of the major thoroughbred centers of the world, with over 1,200 horse farms in total and about 900 thoroughbred farms totaling some 77,000 acres. Ocala is well known as the horse capital of the world, one of only five cities (four in the USA and one in France) permitted under Chamber of Commerce guidelines to use this title based on annual revenue produced by the horse industry. There are some 44,000 jobs created by the breeding, training and related support brought about by the equine industry that generates over 2.2 Billion dollars of annual revenue.

In other words Horses are to Ocala/Marion county what Disney is to Orlando, FL. Ocala and "Postime Farms" also play host to one of the largest horse shows in the country. H.I.T.S or "Horses in the Sun" is a Dressage/Jumper event lasting about two months and brings with it some 6 to 7 million dollars to the local Marion county economy each year.

Weekly and at times daily shows and trail rides can be found due to the permtting Florida weather. There are over 100 different breads aside from thoroughbreds including the Tennessee Walker, Paso Fino, Morgans, SaddleBreds, Drafts, and of course the beloved American Quarter Horse.

Other equine events in the area include cowboy mounted shooting by the Florida Outlaws,as well as endurance rides, barrel races, extreme cowboy events, jumper shows, trick shows, parades, draft pulls etc. Other farms such as "Walker Run Farm" provide training for search and rescue needs and mounted patrol horses for police work.

Ocala/Marion County is known as the Horse Capital of the World.[9]
Ocala began undergoing rapid growth in the 1970s with the development of the Interstate 75 and the founding of Disney World, located some 70 miles southeast.

In the last decades of the twentieth century, the greater Ocala area experienced one of the highest growth rates in the country for a city its size.

The population of Marion County in 2000 was over 250,000, up from under 100,000 in 1975. Much of the county's growth is attributable to the area's growing popularity as a retirement destination, primarily in two areas southwest and south of the city: the SR 200 corridor and The Villages, respectively.

Many historic homes are preserved in Ocala's large residential Historic District, established in 1984.

A focus of this district is East Fort King Street, featuring many excellent examples of Victorian architecture. Ocala structures on the National Register of Historic Places include the Coca Cola Building, the E. C. Smith House, East Hall, the Marion Hotel, Mount Zion A.M.E. Church, the Ritz Historic Inn, and Union Train Station.

The original Fort King site itself was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2004.