Is Pasco County really the weirdest place in Florida? One writer for Slate seems to think so. Pasco County is a semirural area just north of Tampa. It has a unique history and a vibrant present.
Pasco County was carved from Hernando County in 1887. The southern part of Hernando found it tiresome to travel great distances for legal business. Dr. Richard Bankston and Judge J.A. Handley led the charge to divide Hernando. The legislators favored the split. They did not like the proposed name Banner County. As a compromise, they chose the name Pasco. It honored U.S. Senator Samuel Pasco.
Dade City was selected as the county seat. The first Pasco County Commissioners met there on July 18, 1887. E.G. Liles was the chairman. The first census of Pasco County occurred in 1890. The population was 3,249.
The railroad came to Pasco County in 1887. The South Florida Railway steamed into the new depot. It was near the Dade City Cemetery. Construction had begun in 1885. The railroad kept one man working a few hours a day. This gave Plant time to find investors. By 1887, the run from Wildwood to Dade City existed.
Coleman and Ferguson General Store owners lobbied for a second railway line. The railway station was built on Meridian Avenue. This was close to their store. This railroad became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. It still operates in Dade City and Land O’ Lakes.
The railroad helped orange growers and farmers. They could get produce to markets faster. There was less risk of spoilage. Oranges became a good money crop. A grower with a 100-acre grove could retire on one crop.
The big freeze of 1894-95 hurt some growers. Others made a comeback. The railroad also opened the door for the timber boom. The lumber community of 5-A laid its own spur lines. It was easier to tap the virgin timber.
Peter A. Demens financed the Orange Belt Railway. The railway ran from Sanford to Trilby to St. Petersburg. The Orange Belt provided access to the timber in the county’s forests.
5-A had a booming operation from the turn of the century until the 1920s. Thousands of folks came to the area. They counted on the wealth of West Pasco’s pine trees. The lumbermen couldn’t conceive of the trees ever running out. So they sold only the best pine. They destroyed the lesser grade pine.
The boom ended when the lumbermen depleted the virgin timber. They moved on. Ghost towns remained. Sawdust fires burned for years afterward. The big pines also produced turpentine. Small turpentine towns appeared. Harvesting turpentine was a rough business. Violence was a fact of life in the labor camps. The turpentine industry also helped wipe out the pine trees. Crude extraction methods killed the trees. The towns then folded.
The 1900s brought Florida’s boom. It was built on land speculation. Pasco had its share. Ralph Bellwood said a frame house close to the railroad station in New Port Richey sold three times. The price increased each time.
The railroad, automobiles, electricity, and telephones expanded tourism. Hotels opened. New Port Richey’s Hacienda Hotel opened. Investors included film stars Thomas Meighan and Gloria Swanson.
Meighan launched a plan to make New Port Richey the movie capital of the South. He built a large estate home overlooking the Pithlachascotee River. A golf course was built at Jasmine Point. Champion golfer Gene Sarazen became the golf pro. Sarazen influenced many wealthy people to come to the area.
Pasco attracted other celebrities in the early 1900s. Babe Ruth fished in Aripeka. Jack Dempsey trained there. Ed Haley transformed Moon Lake into a playground for the rich. Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. was entertained there.
The gas shortage during World War II hurt Moon Lake. In 1962, the property was divided into homesites. The big change in Pasco came after World War II. Retirees began to come from the north. Affordable housing and warm weather changed Pasco. Pasco’s standard two-bedroom house cost $5,990.
Northern tourists saw the “$5,990” signs. They stopped and bought homes. Pasco’s population more than doubled. The median age leaped from 38.5 to 53.4. By 1980, 70 percent of Pasco residents lived in a 3-mile swath along U.S. 19.
The influx of the elderly shaped Pasco’s economy. Growth became the growth industry of Pasco County.
Today, Pasco County continues to evolve. It balances its history with modern growth. Perhaps it’s not the weirdest place in Florida. It is certainly one of the most interesting. Pasco County offers something for everyone. It is a place where the past and present intertwine.