In 1882, Reverend John F. Richmond wrote a booklet about Sumter County and said this: "Sumterville - This precinct is about 12 miles square.  It is an old farming district and has a population of 350 or more.  Its lands are well adopted to ordinary farm crops; also to the keeping of cattle, sheep, swine, poultry and horses.  Groves of orange trees are being planted in every direction; here are some of the oldest trees in the country".

Sumterville proper is a cozy old village of about 100 inhabitants and has been twice elected the county seat.  In the early days a stage line had operated from Tampa to Sumterville.  They even continued operations even after the railroad was built nearby; stage coaches took care of all transportation of passengers and freight items.

Residents soon learned that the limestone rock covering a large portion of this section was another source of income.  Better roads would be built with this limestone and this material was fairly cheap.  Sumter County furnished crushed limestone rock for road construction shipping it to far distant places.

Sumter Electric Cooperative Inc. was established in 1937.  In March of 1972, nearly 12,000 persons came to this small community to attend the Sumter Electric Co-op's annual meeting, the main speaker at the meeting was Spiro T. Agnew. 

Sumterville was declared the legal county seat on October 15, 1881.  The courthouse was finally completed on March 17, 1884 at a cost of $2,088.  On January 1, 1909, the courthouse burned.  A building was then rented from F. L. Rutland at a cost of $150 per year and served as a temporary courthouse.

The Sumter County Times was first published in Sumterville in 1881 and has been published continuously for 118 years.