Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker: Pasco

Pasco

CHRISTMAS DAY, 1835

Location:1204 State Rd 52, Pasco Comprehensive High School
County: Pasco
City: Dade City
Description: On Christmas Day, 1835, Major Francis Langhorne Dade and his command of 111 men bivouacked near here by Fort King Road, which stretched 125 miles from Fort Brooke (Tampa) to Fort King (Ocala). Three days later, at a point about twenty miles north of their Christmas campsite, Major Dade and all but four of his men died in an ambush by Seminoles resisting removal to the West. This battle largely precipitated The Second Seminole War.
Sponsors: Pasco Comprehensive High School and Francis Dade Ladies' Auxiliary 4283 Veterans of Foreign Wars in Cooperation with Department of State

FORT DADE

Location:Treiman Blvd. between Johnny B and Globe Rd.
County: Pasco
City: Dade City
Description: Located one mile east of this point on the south bank of the Withlacoochee River at the crossing of the Fort King Road. The Fort, built in 1837, named for Major Francis Langhorne Dade, served for many years as a depot and observation post in the heart of the Seminole Indian settlement. Here, March 6, 1837, the Seminole leaders, Jumper and Alligator, met General Thomas S. Jesup to sign the "Ft. Dade Capitulation."
Sponsors: Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials

FORT KING ROAD

Location:U.S. 301 north of Dade City.
County: Pasco
City: Dade City
Description: Construction on Fort King Road, first known as the Military Road, was begun in 1825 north from Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay. By the 1830's penetration had been made to Fort King near present day Ocala, and the road assumed strategic military importance. Along this route occurred "Dade's Massacre" on December 28, 1835. Attacking near Bushnell in Sumter County, the Seminoles wiped out the detachment of Major Francis L. Dade and set off the Second Seminole War.

PASCO COUNTY

Location:on Courthouse grounds in Dade City.
County: Pasco
City: Dade City
Description: Pasco County was created from Hernando County on May 12, 1887. The are was first inhabited by Muscogee Indians and the first white men in area came with Spanish explorer Panfilo de Narvaez in May, 1528. Narvaez fought the Indians near the Withlacoochee River before moving northward. Few white settlers were in the area until the 1840's. It is home of St. Leo College and is noted for citrus and naval stores.

THE BRADLEY MASSACRE

Location:intersection of S.R.581 and 578-A (Darby Road).
County: Pasco
City: Darby
Description: On the evening of May 14, 1856, one-third of a mile northeast of this spot a Seminole war party attacked the home of Captain Robert Duke Bradley, a member of the Florida Foot Volunteers and one of the first white settlers south of the Withlacoochee River. Two of the Bradley children were killed before the Indians were driven off. This skirmish took place during the Third Seminole War, the last Indian uprising east of the Mississippi.
Sponsors: Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials in Cooperation with Pioneer Florida Museum Association

ZEPHYRHILLS RAILROAD DEPOT

Location:39110 South Ave
County: Pasco
City: Zephyrhills
Description: The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACLR) Depot was built in 1927 and was used as a station/depot for passenger service and for shipping citrus, produce and other goods, thereby stimulating economic development and residential settlement. Railroad stations served as major community, commercial and social centers, linking each of the small towns with the rest of the world. With its wide overhangs and high ceilings, the depot represents the southern architectural style of the first quarter of the 20th century. Built at a cost of $13,207.21, the building was constructed of red brick and hard pine. It featured segregated waiting rooms, an office, a ware (freight) room, a raised outside platform and concrete concourses. ACLR trains traversed through Florida serving Zephyrhills from Jacksonville and Ocala to southern cities including Tampa, Bradenton and Miami. Famous trains such as the “Orange Blossom Special” and “Gulf Coast Limited” were among those stopping at the Zephyrhills station. With assistance from state and federal grants, the City of Zephyrhills acquired the depot in 1988 and restored it to its original appearance. In October 1998, it opened to the public as a local railroad and historical museum.
Sponsors: CITY OF ZEPYHYRHILLS AND THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE

CHIPCO TOWNSHIP

Location:16675 Jessamine Road
County: Pasco
City: Dade City
Description: The former town of Chipco was located here, less than six miles west of the former site of Fort Dade #2, built in 1849 during the Seminole War era. The town rose to prominence after the Civil War as an economic center. It was named in honor of Chief Chipco, a Seminole leader and uncle of Chief Tallahassee, whose band traded in the Tampa and Fort Dade area. Chief Chipco was an opponent of the Third Seminole War and later became known as a "friend of the whites." The town of Chipco boasted a cotton gin and press, as well as grist and planing mills, built in 1874-75. In 1877, a frame schoolhouse was built, which doubled as a church on Sundays. There was a post office and a thriving general store that supplied goods to local farmers. In 1887, a station for the Orange Belt Railway was built and began operating as Chipco Train Station #21. The town likely declined due to multiple factors. The Great Freeze of 1895 killed many citrus groves, and the exhaustion of the virgin pine forests negatively impacted the area’s lumber and turpentine industry. The Chipco school continued to operate until 1901. By 1909, the town had disappeared from most maps.
Sponsors: Drs. Karen and Eric Hannel, and the Florida Department of State

THE COW PALACE

Location:13431 Bull Road
County: Pasco
City: Dade City
Description: This club, located within the African American neighborhood of Carver Heights, was built in 1957 without heat or air conditioning. The club featured a spacious dance floor, and a bar with native cypress woodwork and ornate Spanish tiles. At various times, it operated under different names, including Jake's Lakeside Tavern, and The Cow Palace. The club served as a stop on the fabled Chitlin' Circuit, a network of African American music venues throughout the southeastern United States that National Public Radio stated “provided employment for hundreds of black musicians and brought about the birth of Rock ’n’ Roll.” The club attracted some of the biggest names in blues, soul, and R&B music including internationally famous performers as James Brown, B.B. King, Ray Charles, and Buddy Guy. The Cow Palace is recognized as one of the state's last surviving stops on the Chitlin’ Circuit in Florida, and served not only as a top entertainment venue, but a point of pride for the local African American community.

CHARLES B. ANDERSON HOUSE

Location:5740 Moog Road
County: Pasco
City: Holiday
Description: Side One: Charles B. Anderson was born in Illinois on February 16, 1864. Around 1918, the Anderson family purchased a citrus grove in the small community of Lake Hamilton. Anderson immediately immersed himself in the citrus industry. In 1919, Anderson co-founded the Lake Hamilton Growers Association and, within five years, they were packing over 130,000 boxes of citrus per season. In 1920, he helped establish the First National Bank of Lake Hamilton and served as its first president. In 1921, he served as Director of the Massachusetts and Florida Realty Company, which was organized to promote any development that would benefit South Central Florida. As a result of these efforts, Lake Hamilton was formally chartered in 1925. In 1937, Anderson purchased the 70-acre St. Austelle Grove from the estate of Major John Gribbel and renamed it Elkhorn Groves. The property included the Baker House, which the Andersons occupied for a brief time. In 1938, Anderson commissioned Tampa architect Garry Boyle to design a new, modern home to be built in the same location. Anderson’s son-in-law, Swedish immigrant Godfrey “Guy” Kuenzi, built the home with innovative features that were uncommon in Great Depression-era Florida homes. Side Two: Features included a basement, laundry chute, continuous electrical outlets, telephone room, elaborate mahogany paneling, electric garage door opener, trash chute to an incinerator, walk-in shower and closets, solar-powered water heater, and other amenities. Outside, an elaborate five-foot-long doghouse stood with its own foyer and concrete walk. Anderson died in his home in 1943 at 79, and was survived by his wife Mary, two daughters Ruth Wetmore and Margaret Kuenzi, two sons Donald Anderson and Charles Anderson, Jr., ten grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. The family continued to live in the home, but by the 1970s, it began to fall into disrepair. Pasco County purchased the property for $112,000 in 1981 with hopes of converting both buildings for public use. The Anderson house was repurposed as the Pasco Fine Arts Center and the Baker House was renovated in the early 1990s by a group of volunteers led by Samuel Baker’s grandson, Gordon, and Charles Anderson’s granddaughter, Mary Vinson. By 1996, both were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Anderson House was demolished in 2022 following years of vacancy, but the location has been repurposed and dedicated as the Anderson Family Park.