[7] Apopka is referred to as the "Indoor Foliage Capital of the World"[8] due to the many greenhouse nurseries there.

[9] The earliest known inhabitants of the Apopka area were the Acuera people, members of the Timucua confederation.

At the conclusion of the Second Seminole War, the U.S. Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act of 1842, forcing surviving natives at Ahapopka to abandon their village and seek refuge deeper in the wilderness of the Florida peninsula.

The early American settlers built a major trading center on the foundations of the earlier Indian settlement.

In 1859 the lodge erected a permanent meeting place at what is now the intersection of Main Street (U.S. Highway 441) and Alabama Avenue.

The settlers in the vicinity of "The Lodge" were largely isolated during the Civil War, but the area rebounded once peace was re-established, and a population boom followed the construction of railroad lines through the region.

[10] In 1882, the one mile in each direction of "The Lodge" or "Fudge Hall" was officially incorporated under the name "Town of Apopka City".

Councilman A.M. Starbird was appointed its manager, but it was not until voters approved a $9,000 bond in 1914 that he was able to contract with International Harvester Corporation to construct a power plant; as such, electricity was not available in the city until February 10, 1915.

Between 1937 and 1968, a town ordinance forbade Black residents from living north of the railroad tracks.

On April 8, 2014, Apopka City Commissioner Joe Kilsheimer won the election[14] to succeed John H. Land as mayor.

[15] The 2018 primary for mayor resulted in a landslide win for Bryan Nelson with 63.40% (4,103) of the vote to Kilsheimer's 36.6% (2,369).

[22] Expansion of the expressway, including an extension of Toll 414, known as Wekiva Parkway, created a junction at US 441 and Plymouth Sorrento Road.

Master plans take the Wekiva Parkway extension further north and then east connecting to Interstate 4 at Sanford.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 32.6 square miles (84.4 km2).

[32] Apopka is referenced in Zora Neale Hurston's famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Apopka takes place in and is prominently featured in Johannes Grenzfurthner's horror drama Masking Threshold that premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2021.