In 1926, department store pioneer J. C. Penney founded the community of Penney Farms. He planned to develop an experimental farming village. The State of Florida charted his town in 1927. The real estate decline and stock market crash, however, caused Penney to scale back his ambitions to a community for retired ministers in honor of his minister father. Today, the Penney Retirement Community is a 192-acre home to Christian laypeople as well as clergy and missionaries.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 580 people, 266 households, and 171 families residing in the town. The population density was 160.0/km² (414.7/mi²). There were 290 housing units at an average density of 80.0/km² (207.4/mi²).
There were 266 households out of which 6.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.7% were non-families. 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 28.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.83 and the average family size was 2.23.
In the town the population was spread out with 5.7% under the age of 18, 1.9% from 18 to 24, 6.4% from 25 to 44, 10.2% from 45 to 64, and 75.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 76 years. For every 100 females there were 64.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 61.4 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $37,344, and the median income for a family was $46,875. Males had a median income of $31,875 versus $31,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,929. About 8.1% of families and 16.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 41.7% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.
