NEW PORT RICHEY & PORT RICHEY

MAIN TOWNS OF WEST PASCO


Banner for New Port Richey


WEST PASCO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
WEST PASCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CITY OF NEW PORT RICHEY


PORT RICHEY AND NEW PORT RICHEY, West Pasco's dual coastal communities, are best known today as booming retirement centers, but both towns had more basic origins. PORT RICHEY was started in 1883 by Missourian Captain A. M. Richey, who homesteaded on an island at the mouth of the Pithlachascottee River. NEW PORT RICHEY, once Hickory Hammonds, made the name concession in 1914 when the Port Richey Company began heavy development. In the 1920's screen actor Thomas Meigham and actress Gloria Swanson joined local leader George Smith to build the Hacienda resort and a theater to attract California investors. This colorful history is captured along the buildings on Main Street in larger than life murals.



WHERE TO START: Drive NORTH ON FL 595 (South Boulevard) from FL 518 (Trouble Creek Road), which connects with US19 five miles south of Port Richey. This was the original route from Saint Petersburg to New Port Richey and goes into the town of Elfers.

On your right after a mile you'll see at 5509 Olympia Street on the right (east) the FIRST BANK OF ELFERS (1925), a Boom Town bank in the town started by J. M. Mitchell, developer of the first sizing citrus machine. Just south of High Street, on the right is OLD GULF HIGH SCHOOL (1922), used later by Pasco-Hernando College. It became the Schwettman Educational Center.

If you drive around Elfers, you should look at: OLD EDENFIELD STORE(1932), 4049 Grand Boulevard, a landmark of native rock and concrete; the OLD ELFERS SCHOOL (1914), 4136 Barker Drive, a two-story limerock and white brick Adult Center; and the PORTER L. PIERCE HOUSE (1913), 4121 Redleaf Drive, a frame house with tongue and groove walls.

A worthwhile sidetrip is to Centennial Park at 5740 Moog Road to see the SAMUEL BAKER HOUSE, the oldest Cracker vernacular in West Pasco County and a unique house with no structural frame.

Crossing the Pithlachascotee River into the commercial district of New Port Richey, you'll note at 315 South Boulevard,) THE NEW PORT RICHEY TOURIST CLUB. By Nebraska Avenue is the THOMAS MEIGHAN THEATER (1925), 203 South Blvd., named for a silent film star and brother of architect James Meighan who also built the Palms Theater in 1927 on East Main.  It was Meighan who brought a group of Hollywood celebrities to the town to vacation and invest. The theater has for 39 years held the Black Mara Film Festival, named for Meigham's New Jersey studio viewed by many to be the first in the United States.

At 5327 Grand Boulevard is the 1920 CEMMIE BUTLER BUILDING, a business complex built with native rock.

  Hacienda Hotel/ Elfers Bank

   Museum/ Theatre

Parking behind the Main Street buildings will allow you to walk around downtown New Port Richey.

Across the street is another fine Mediterranean Revival structure, the PASCO BUILDING (1921), at 6228 Grand, with an octagonal corner tower. It is a neat building with some nice shops. Down Main Street at 5743 is the CHASCO INN, built in 1924 and the oldest downtown commercial structure – a building that has served as post office, hotel, and bus station.  

 At 5728 Main Street is the MICHAEL MILBAUER BUILDING (1919), the first brick building in New Port Richey.

At 5805 is the ARCADE BUILDING (1927), another structure that once housed the post office.

TURN If you drive or walk west on Main Street past Grand, you will see the murals on the walls of the stores on the southside. The MURALS OF NEW PORT RICHEY are located along the Main Street and are a history of the town. The giant mural of the hotel in the 1920's show the huge number of celebrities who came to New Port Richey. Amazing.. On your right a few blocks, park near the entrance of the: HACIENDA HOTEL (1927), 5621 West Main Street, once a 55 room tourist complex designed by James Meighan. Early investors may have included Gloria Swanson, Joe E. Brown, and Mary Pickford. Ed Wynn emceed the grand opening and for two decades it was a social center. As the Christian Hotel in the 1940's, Rev. Billy Graham was a waiter.

The hotel is undergoing renovation by preservation groups and once it has been noted that the owners of the Lakeview Inn in Mount Dora are planning to convert the place back into a rustic resort. It is tragic that a new use for the structure has not been discovered..

EXIT VIA BANK STREET GOING NORTH toward the PORT RICHEY MUSEUM, 6431 Circle Boulevard, once the SEVEN SPRINGS SCHOOL and open on weekend afternoons. An old church has been added to this historical park. The WEST PASCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY meets here. On your left is SIMS PARK and the lake is ORANGE LAKE surrounded by Circle Boulevard. The playground next to the new outdoor theater is one of the best in the region.

DRIVE AROUND THE LAKE to note the fine homes and the abundance of older churches. At 217 Circle Boulevard is the FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH (1923) started in a store. .

Just two blocks east at 506 Jefferson at Pennsylvania Avenue is the METHODIST CHURCH (1916).

DRIVE NORTH on NORTH BOULEVARD along the east bank of the Pithlachascotee River, past Mediterranean Revival homes and newer tract models. There are some spots to park and walk along the river. The 1925 big Mediterranean Revival mansion with the enclosed boathouse right on the river is known as the Gloria Swanson Florida house, but it is also known as the home of Colonel George D. Emerson.

TURN RIGHT ON US19 and turn LEFT ON BAY BOULEVARD which shirts the northern limits of MILLERS BAYOU.

Off Bay Park Drive is WILMSLOW PARK with a good view of the Bayou. Continue down Bay Park Drive to end your trip at RITTER POINT on the Gulf of Mexico.

Off Sunset Boulevard is the OELSNER MOUND, the remains of a late Weeden Island Indian mound first opened in 1879 by S. T. Walker of the Smithsonian Institute.