Brandon Wedding

Brandon is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the community had a total population of 77,895. However, a 2004 estimate by Rand McNally placed the community at 85,529. While there have been several attempts to incorporate Brandon, these attempts have received little fanfare from those in the community. In 1997, Brandon became the largest unincorporated community in the state of Florida.

Its history began on January 20, 1857, when John Brandon arrived at Fort Brooke (now Tampa) from Mississippi with his wife Martha and six sons. At first he moved his family to what is now the Seffner area. Then in August 1858, John Brandon purchased 40 acres of land in the New Hope area (now Brandon) south of Hopewell Road (now SR 60), between Parsons Avenue and Lithia Road. Nine years later, after his wife died, John left everything he owned to his son James Henry Brandon and moved to Bartow. In 1876 James built a home for his wife Joanna. It is still standing today and is now Stowers Funeral Home, a well-known landmark on Brandon Boulevard.