Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved. AS OF SEPTEMBER 2009, SPONSORSHIP OF THIS TRAIL HAS CHANGED. PLEASE DIRECT ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT IT TO CUB SCOUT PACK 7 NEW PORT RICHEY, RAYTHEON NETWORK CENTRIC SYSTEMS, MAIL STOP 1500 ATT: MATT O&R, 7887 BRYAN DAIRY ROAD, LARGO, FL 33777, pack7den1@yahoo.com.
In the 1840s, Samuel Hope surveyed this area, which was once an Indian hunting ground called Alafia. It has been known as Alfiers, The Neck, Sapling Woods, and Elfers. The town's post office was established in 1909, and it was incorporated from 1925 to 1933.
Samuel Baker built this Cracker style house in 1882, making it the oldest survivor of its type in the western part of Pasco County. Baker had purchased this 40-acre tract for $1 per acre. It was surrounded by an orange grove which grew to 70 acres. Baker was involed in the sponge business and in 1880 moved from Key West to Baillies Bluff near Tarpon Springs.
The house has a dog trot hallway, separating the downstairs bedroom from the living room. The first kitchen and privy were not attached to the house. In 1910, the house was bought by Mr. Gribbel, and in 1937 by Charles B. Anderson. He built a two-story house about 50 yards to the east, and the pair was known as the Anderson-Baker house.
During the 1980s, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners bought the property from Anderson's granddaughter for $112,000, and renamed the site Centennial Park. The Anderson house became the headquarters of the Pasco Fine Arts Council.
In the early 1900s, Peter O. Knight planted 100 acres including what is now a busy commercial intersection as one of the earliest citrus groves in the western portion of the county. Next door, he raised cattle and hogs.
Knight was a founder of the Tampa Electric Company in 1899. In 1936, Tampa named its municipal airport on Davis Islands after Knight.
On this site was located the Union Church building, the pastor of which was Methodist Rev. John W. Wells, beginning on January 9, 1876. In 1885, the Methodist congregation split from this church and those who stayed became the Anclote Baptist Church, which no longer exists.
This property was later owned by New Port Richey realtor Michael L. Milbauer, who donated this land for the cemetery. His family is buried here.
The Methodists who split off formed the Sapling Woods Baptist Church (later known as the First Methodist Church) on five acres donated by the Lake Butler Villa Company on Trouble Creek Rd. near the river. Their concrete block building was sold in 1910 and the East Elfers Cemetery located near it was designated as a State Historic Site in 1980.
This bank opened here in 1969 as Peoples State Bank.
The Westside Baptist Church organized with six members in 1876 at the site of West Elfers Cemetery, and later moved to this location. Its first pastor was Rev. R.E. Belle. The first church burned in 1886, and a second was built on Orange St. in Elfers in 1912, called the Elfers Baptist Church. That building was sold in 1963 to Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, and the congregation moved to this location. Later called the Riverside Fellowship, the congregation moved to another location on Perrine Ranch Rd. (where 20 acres was purchsed in 1999 for construction of a new sanctuary), and this building became the Michaels-Rundquist Funeral Home.
This church was established in 1913 when the first mass in the western part of Pasco County was held in the home of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Casey. The first sanctuary, which still stands at 6710 Washington St. in New Port Richey, was dedicated on March 9, 1919. It later was superceded by this building.
This church was founded as a mission in December of 1926. Initially, it was located in a building at the corner of Missouri Ave. and Jefferson St., which had included a former railroad depot that had been moved there. A new church building was completed here in December of 1964, and six church school rooms were added in 1973.
In 1926, Clarence E. Craft erected a building here, and rented half of it to Charles Thorpe for a grocery store. Three years later, Thorpe acquired the entire building. He left it in 1941 to Zane Rankin, who ran the store until 1966.
The high school was completed here on September 18, 1922, at a cost of $40,000. Prior to that, classes were held in the Community Church. Later, this building became the headquarters of Pasco-Hernando Community College.
Grand Blvd. was formerly known as Dixie Blvd., and in 1921 was the only paved street in New Port Richey.
The native rock used to construct this house was taken from the bottom of the Pithlachascotee River. For over three decades, it was the home of Clemmie Butler and her daughter, who made their living taking in laundry. It was later converted to offices.
Between 1913 and 1918, Augustus Veal built this home. He and his family lived in it initially, and later sold it to the Moore family from Fulton, Mississippi. The home still has a tin roof, but the siding was added later.
This building was begun in 1925 and completed in 1926 to house the Elfers State Bank founded by J.M. Mitchell, who also developed the first citrus sizing machine. However, the Florida Boom ended and the bank never moved in. It has been used for stores and residences, including the Maimaris Apartments.
Native rock and concrete were used to construct this building in about 1932. It belonged to Lot and Daisy Edenfield, who lived across the street in a two-story home built in 1932, which burned in 1990. They used it for their grocery and feed store, which they sold in the early 1950s to the Kening family. This building later housed an auto parts store.
In 1913, this house was built for Porter L. and Charlie Mae Pierce from Fulton, Mississippi. The wood was milled in Tarpon Springs. The original cypress roof burned, and was replaced with tin. The crawl space under the house for ventilation and to reduce the number of insects is typical for that period.
The Pierce Grammar School on Main St. in New Port Richey was named after Mr. Pierce.
This was the Elfers School, built in 1914. Four teachers covered all grades. It is constructed of limerock white brick with a facing of red clay brick. It is the oldest of its type in the western part of the county. It was replaced in 1966 by another school at the corner of Evans Ave. and SR 518.
For a time, this served as a pre-kindergarten for the Head Start program. In 1979, it was renovated by the Pasco County Council on Aging.
Jack and Mary Sheffield Brown built this home in 1914. Originally ten feet high, the ceilings were later lowered to eight feet to more easily heat the interior. The original exterior siding was covered with vinyl. The floors are the original hard yellow pine.
In about 1910, after the Sapling Woods Methodist church sold its concrete block building, it received a gift of other land from J.M. Mitchell. The wood for its construction came from his sawmill. That building ws turned into a social hall when a new sanctuary was erected in 1917-18. A parsonage was added in 1925. That church held its last service on August 24, 1940.
In 1944, the church buildings were leased and then sold to the Baptist congregation, which is now known as the First Baptist Church of Elfers.
This building erected by 1914 served as the first Elfers Elementary School. Later, it was the home of the Swann and Davis families, and was then converted to a store.
A History of Hernando County, by Richard J. Stanaback (Daniels Publishers 1976)
The Genesis of New Port Richey, by Elroy M. Avery (The Avery Library and Historical Society 1924)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
The Historical Places of Pasco County, by James J. Horgan, Alice F. Hall, and Edward J. Herrman (Ralard Printers, Inc. 1992)
The Illustrated Guide to the Florida West Coast, by M.C. Bob Leonard (Purple Islands Production 1992)
The Pioneer Churches of Florida, by The Daughters of the American Revolution (The Mickler House 1976)
Tales of West Pasco, by Ralph Bellwood (Lisa Printing 1973)
West Pasco's Heritage, by West Pasco Historical Society, Inc. (Lisa Printing 1974)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)