Crime Scene & Biohazard Cleanup Near Morningside Park Pine Castle, FL

Pine Castle is an unincorporated census-designated place in Orange County, about 5 miles south of downtown Orlando, whose growth has always been shaped by the larger city to its north.

First settled in 1870, Pine Castle grew up along the South Florida Railroad mainline, which provided passenger and freight service from just before 1882 onward.

Pine Castle briefly had its own municipal government: it incorporated as a town on February 26, 1925, when it had only 425 residents, but reverted to unincorporated status in 1930.

Pine Castle had a population of 11,122 at the 2020 census, up from 10,805 in 2010, living in about 3,735 households.

Pine Castle is a majority-Hispanic community — 55.8% of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino in the 2020 census — with a median age of just 35.3 years.

Boat manufacturer Correct Craft, one of America's oldest boat builders, founded its original factory in Pine Castle in 1925 before building a larger facility in 2006.

In the mid-1940s, Bell Aircraft tested its X-1 supersonic rocket plane at Pinecastle Army Airfield, chosen for its remote location and 10,000-foot runway; that airfield later became Orlando International Airport.

Pine Castle Elementary School has roots going back to 1877, making it one of the oldest school sites in Orange County.

Passenger rail returned to Pine Castle in 2014 when SunRail opened its Sand Lake Road station, reconnecting the community to Orlando and Kissimmee by train.