First settled in 1889, Inverness supposedly got its name from a Scotsman who was lonely for his homeland. This location between what is now Withlacoochee State Forest and the Tsala Apopka chain of lakes reminded him of Inverness, Scotland, in a place between the headlands and the lochs.

Inverness has recently been under-going a renaissance with the historic Citrus County Courthouse being refurbished and evolving into a musem as the centerpiece of a re-invigorated downtown. Just a few blocks from downtown is the paved, 46-mile-long Rails-to-Trails route of Withlacoochee State Trail. This is a premier linear state park oriented towards bicyclists and long distance hikers. In the redesign and rebuild of downtown Inverness, the developers added a very walkable and bike-friendly makeover to the plan. Inverness is now rated as a "bicycler's paradise."

For a relatively small city, Inverness has more than 300 acres of city parks with baseball fields, basketball, tennis, racquetball and shuffleboard courts, playgrounds, seven miles of jogging/nature trails, fishing piers, two boat ramps and even a nice public swimming pool with a toddler pool and water playground at Whispering Pines Park. On the shore of Lake Henderson you'll also find Liberty Park with picnic pavilions, grills, tables, benches, walkways and sand volleyball courts.