Thank you for supporting the West Pasco Historical Society by purchasing this book. This book contains 166 pages of fascinating historic pictures of Western Pasco County from the 1920s to the 1970s. These photos are either in our collection or have been loaned to us for scanning. The pictures taken by Angelo Deciucies were donated to the WPHS. They are from about 1958 to 1962. Our photo collection began with a large album of photos contributed by Roscoe Henderson. Many of the post cards which are pictured here were scanned by Henry Fletcher from his collection of local post cards. All of the photos in this book and more can be viewed on line by visiting the web site of the West Pasco Historical Society. If you have photos to donate, or photos we can borrow and scan, please contact Jeff Miller at the email address on our web site. We thank you in advance! Captions for the photos in this book were written by Jeff Miller. Layout and design of the book are by Dennis Miller.

In a land occupied for thousands of years, mystery and unrest linger. Anguished soldierly figures dot the landscape of Pasco County, from the doomed march of Major Dade and his haunted hill to the ghost of Captain Jeffries standing watch over his homestead in Zephyrhills. A pair of spirits drifts about near a Dade City pond, perhaps the brother and sister cut down during the infamous Bradley Massacre. Echoes of the once rugged frontier rebound from the Ellis-Gillett feud, vigilantism and Sheriff Bart's justice. Obliterating the mounds of indigenous people cast an ever-present and ominous tone over sacred grounds throughout the county. Author Madonna Wise shares ethereal accounts of the Meighan Theatre, the treacherous Road to Nowhere, the Edwinola Hotel and more.

New Port Richey, Florida, like many cities between Jacksonville and Tampa, can thank Henry Plant's 1885 railroad for its phenomenal growth. Thirty-five miles northwest of Tampa, in West Pasco County, New Port Richey eventually hosted its own railway connection right through downtown. City planners constructed the community in a grid, naming north-south streets after Presidents and east-west streets after states. The arrival of the U.S. Post Office in 1915 confirmed this city's importance and put New Port Richey on the map. Hotels, banks, and businesses sprang up in the downtown area to serve those who came in search of a better life. Fishing on the Pithlachascotee River and in the Gulf of Mexico attracted many visitors, as did the construction of golf courses. Businessmen then and now recognized that this area had "that special something" to catch the attention and the hearts of people from all states north of Florida.

A fun- and fact-filled investigation into why the Sunshine State is the weirdest but also the most influential state in the Union.