HISTORY OF PASCO COUNTY

Zephyrhills

The Rise and Progress of Zephyrhills

By SAMUEL E. NYCE

In February 1910 we made our first appearance at Abbott, now Zephyrhills. We arrived at 4 P.M. during a drizzling rain. The first impression was not an inviting one.

As we looked around, we found a few old and dilapidated buildings, about all of them paintless and lots of black walls. The buildings here were Hennington's old store, the house directly opposite the station, the house now occupied by J. F. Stebbins, and one in the rear of same located along what is now called 7th Street.

The only one occupied prior to the organization of the Colony Company was Hennington's store. There were also three R. R. houses about two blocks north from the station, and the shacks at the turpentine distillery occupied by Negroes. The distillery has now disappeared.

The main view before us were black oaks, on a tract opposite Hennington's old store which was at one time cultivated. The Colony Company office was in the old house now occupied by J. F. Stebbins, but faced the east, since turned so as to face 5th Avenue.

We made our appearance at the office of the Colony Company rather disgusted at the surroundings, and the conditions existing.

We were royally received by Captain Jeffries and Mr. Moore, and on inquiry we found that the only place for lodging etc., was with Mrs. Davis at the Colony House opposite the station and then we went and found her house was well filled, but that she would feed me, provided I was willing to sleep in the school house in the woods on the other side of the R. R.

Of course with the rain and night approaching we were ready to accept almost anything and we were reconciled to the conditions existing.

After supper we were told that a number of men were ready to go to the school house in the woods and I accompanied them, bringing up the rear. It was dark and as I followed them, stumbling, and tumbling a number of times, I was reminded of the night marches under similar conditions in the Army of the Potomac. At last we came to the school house, rather an ancient building and uninviting lodging place, surveyed the field and, being tired was soon in the embrace of Morpheus.

Next morning the sun rose before we did and soon disappeared behind the clouds, with threats of more rain. The schoolhouse was located on what is now 9th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues. We returned to the Colony House, had breakfast and then returned to the office of the company, not pleased, and felt like leaving at once.

We were invited to see an orange grove, in company of others just as we were. We were taken to Captain Renfroe's grove, about three miles from the office, and all hands were pleased. It seemed that this was the turning point, seeing what could be done in this wilderness. The sun came out in full glory and the day was a delightful one, and we had a better opinion of the surroundings.

At this time, no doubt fully convinced of the success of the colony, Mr. Hennington laid the foundation for, and commenced the erection of his new store, also a few new houses were going up and a number of men commenced operations.

The only streets opened were 5th Avenue, and this only partially, and a few cross streets, perhaps a block. Willis Geiger had erected a house on 6th Street above 5th Avenue, which was then among the oaks, and several were in the course of construction.

There were some tents, part tents answering for a habitation but no real homes had been erected, save those mentioned, and the greatest complaint existed. After a few days we secured lots and land and made preparations to build, then returned north for one month, and when we returned found great changes and all for the better.

In most every direction the saw and hammer were heard, mostly by amateurs. Geiger & Geiger's store, Orcutt's barber shop, the Zephyrhills Inn, Mr. Summy's home—these places had, Phoenix like, arisen, the black oaks were disappearing and general industry appeared to be on.

The newcomer made inquiry from the native and it seemed no two had the same idea or the same way of cultivating. In consequence, some colonists did one way and some another in planting, while some followed northern habits. Some started correctly, more incorrectly, and the errors were a great education to the tiller of the soil.

We had our ups and downs; not all the newcomers were desirable or beneficial. The place, being new, like all other new places received the adventurers and, for a time, raised more or less discontent. According to their ideas they had expected the streets paved with gold, and that they could lay under the orange trees, simply picking off the fruit. They had an idea it was no work.

For a time the growls were infectious, but they soon disappeared in one way or another for the colony's good. If any remain their places will be taken by these less in expectation but more industrious. Other places have received their growls or will receive them.

In these early days, nigh unto two years ago, colonists were ignorant of farming conditions in this climate, all being used to frozen soil in northern climates. This was a different proposition, but clearings were made by some and preparations to plant.

Zephyrhills Has Taken on a Splendid Growth

Is Handsome Little City of 1,500 People

Many New Settlers Arriving. Evidences of Substantial Prosperity on All Sides

Zephyrhills, Fla., Jan. 4—Zephyrhills is located in the highlands of Pasco County, about (illegible) feet above sea level; no swamps, and, best of all, no mosquitoes. There is plenty of good water and it is the healthiest place in the state of Florida. We are on the main line of the S. A. L. railroad, thirty-eight miles from Tampa by rail and twenty-seven by wagon road. Dade City is our county seat and is located nine miles north. The town was formerly called Abbott, in February, 1910, the colony was started. At that time there was but few buildings here. Today in the town site there are about 300 residences. The colony covers 35,000 acres and all told there are about 450 houses built. People from the north have come in and bought five and ten acre tracts and cleared, fenced and built on them and are now raising all kinds of vegetables, etc. We have a population of 1,500. New people are arriving every day. We have twenty-two business firms in town. Many new buildings are being built for businesses and dwellings. Mr. Francisco, our druggist, has just completed a large two-story cement block building for his drug store and ice cream business, on the north side of East Fifth avenue, and is now comfortably located in it.

One of the most beautiful places in the colony is a park which was put in by the colony company. This park is sixty feet wide and 300 feet long. The park was started in August, 1911, and has been kept up in the best of shape. They have now installed the overhead irrigation system. The town has now got what is called a Welfare league. The purpose of this league is to build up the welfare of the colony. They have made a great improvement in the streets, having hauled sawdust in and covered up the sand. This is much better for teams to haul heavy loads over.

The most important thing of our beautiful little city is our school house. A little more than a year ago there was a small one-room school building located on the hill south of Fifth avenue, where school was held. Only one teacher was employed, as there were but few pupils. In the spring the teacher was turned off, as there were not enough pupils to justify carrying on the school. Today Zephyrhills has a four-room, two-story frame school house, five teachers and 150 pupils. This shows very plainly that Zephyrhills is growing, and we are proud to say that we have one of the best schools in Pasco county, with Prof. J. W. Sanches at the head. We have tow churches—Baptist and Tabernacle—where services are held every Sunday morning and night.

Zephyrhills now has an up-to-date newspaper shop, where a weekly paper is published. This paper was started in October, 1911, and edited by George H. Gibson, who with his family moved here from Nebraska. The name of the paper is "Zephyrhills Colonist." Since October 3, the date of the first publication, up to the present date, there has been 55,000 copies issued. Next week's issue will be the anniversary number of the Colony, which will be 11,000 copies, eight pages, home print, printed on heavy book paper.

Next month (February) the G. A. R.'s will hold their state encampment here, and there is a large crowd of comrades expected.

Ground is being cleared for the erection of the new G. A. R. hall on Sixth avenue, east of the Colony house.

Jenkins and Hennington, who have been operating a hardware store on East Seventh street, have sold out to J. H. Stewart & Son of Ohio. The new firm took charge at once.

B. F. Gilbert, formerly postoffice inspector for Pennsylvania, is now located in his new residence in the northeast part of town. Mr. Gilbert came here in November and at once commenced building him a new home to spend the balance of his life here. He thinks there is no place like Zephyrhills, and that there is a bright and prosperous future for it.

A. E. Stebbins, president of the Zephyrhills Colony company, is now living in his new residence on Fifth avenue. This is one of the best residences in Zephyrhills.

Many new buildings are under construction in the colony now. New arrivals are coming every day. Some who have already purchased and others who come here for that purpose are building.

The handsome new residence of Mr. Lean is fast nearing completion. Mr. Lean, with his wife and daughter, arrived here from Washington state in November.

Mr. Gear, who recently arrived from Pennsylvania, is erecting a handsome residence in the southeastern part of town. Mr. Gear and wife were here last winter and were not very favorably impressed with the place and returned home, but as this winter slowly came on they decided that Zephyrhills was not so bad after all and in December they returned and since have concluded to build them a home here.

Charles Larson of Loup City, Neb., arrived in the colony Sunday evening for a month's visit. Mr. Larson says when he left Nebraska there was six inches of snow on the ground and the thermometer stood six below zero. This makes the cold chills run up your back to stop and think of it.

Dr. E. A. Lyman and wife of Red Wood Falls, Minn., arrived in Zephyrhills Wednesday evening for an extended visit with the former's father, E. A. Layman, also sister, Mrs. E. C. Cook. They expect to visit St. Petersburg, Tampa and other cities of the south before returning home. [...]

Zephyrhills Scene of Much Activity

Winter Visitors Rapidly Filling City

New Buildings Being Erected by Homeseekers Adding to Appearance of Town

Zephyrhills, Fla., Jan. 13.—Zephyrhills has as fine a lake of water as any community would desire. Since the last two rains the upper lakes have filled up and run over, thus sending the water down this way and filling up the lake in the western part of town. This lake covers about ten acres and is surrounded by beautiful live oaks. The grounds used for a ball diamond are covered with the high water.

Charles Larson, who has been visiting friends and looking over the soil in the colony, returned to his home in Loup City, Nebraska, this week. While here he bought two lots in the business part of town on Fifth avenue. When Mr. Larson left his intention was to return with his family to Zephyrhills.

A joint installation of Garfield Post and Garfield Relief corps was held at the Tabernacle last Saturday afternoon. After the installation the president, Mrs. Leekley, gave a short talk. Mrs. Prisk, on behalf of the corps, presented Mrs. Leekley, Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Calvert with recognition pins. Mrs. Lowry then presented Mrs. Prisk, the retiring president, with a recognition pin. Mrs. Prisk then presented the corps and post with the history of the stars and stripes, to be framed and hung in the lodge hall. Mrs. Laura B. Prisk, the retiring president, was the founder of the corps here and has done much for the society.

J. E. Jones, a young man who came to the colony about ten days ago from Indiana, died Thursday afternoon. He was a young man about twenty-three years old. The body was shipped to his home in Indiana on Sunday. He leaves a mother and one sister.

Zephyrhills is to have a new restaurant in a few days. W. M. Davis and Floyd Hemmington are the promoters. They will occupy the old drug store building on East Fifth avenue.

W. I. Jenkins and George Siggins are starting in the auto liberty business in Zephyrhills. People wanting to make a hurry-up drive now have an opportunity. Mr. Jenkins was formerly in the hardware business before selling to J. H. Stewart & Son.

Mr. Maxwell is building a home on West Fifth avenue, just back of Hennington's department store. Mr. Maxwell arrived from Ohio a few weeks since, suffering very much from asthma, but is greatly improved.

Mrs. Theodore Johnson died at her home in Zephyrhills Saturday night. Mrs. Johnson, with her husband, came to Zephyrhills about two months since to spend the winter, in the hopes of regaining her health, which has been very poor for a number of years. Mr. Taylor, her son-in-law, and Fern Taylor, a grandson, were here spending the winter with the couple. Mr. Johnson and Mr. Taylor returned to their home in North Dakota with the body Sunday night.

School opened Tuesday morning after the Christmas holidays.

E. A. Lyman and wife, who are visiting relatives here, visited Tampa and St. Petersburg this week, returning to Zephyrhills Wednesday.

Why do so many people form the north come to Zephyrhills for their health? Because this is high, dry and free from all disease.

Work has commenced on the new G. A. R. hall on Sixth avenue and Eighth street.

Mr. Willard, who sold his tract of land north of town a few days ago, has commenced the erection of a large two-story frame dwelling on Ninth street, north of the Tabernacle.

Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Nicodemus of Newcomerstown, Ohio, arrived in the city Wednesday night. Mr. Nicodemus is a breeder of thoroughbred English bloodhounds, and seems to bear the distinction of producing the finest dogs in America.

Miss Daisy Fuller, the actress, who was visiting her parents in the city a few days last week, went from here to Atlanta to fill an engagement.

George P. McMillen is building a residence in the southern part of the city.

George Orcutt, our newsboy, has won the prize for the month of December for selling the largest number of the Saturday Evening Post in the state of Florida.

V. D. Burt and wife, of Sheridan, Ohio, arrived in the city Friday noon.

Mr. Shepherd, an old gentleman living in the northwest part of Zephyrhills, is desperately ill.

Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Hart visited Tampa Wednesday.

Roy Elgin and wife, of Jennings, Kansas, arrived in the city Monday to make this their future home.

Zephyrhills, the Town of Much New Building

165 New Structures Are Counted from One Spot.

Electric Light Plant Installed. Many Other Signs of Substantial Progress.

Zephyrhills, Fla., Feb 9.—Work began on the roof of the G. A. R. hall to get the building cover by the end of the week. This hall is 34x100 feet, with a covered porch 14x30.

The hall is 14.6 in the clear inside. This is a big undertaking for an organization no larger than the local post, but the work is going forward as though there was thousands behind it. Great credit is due the old veterans for undertaking so large a proposition and finishing it along as they have done.

Chas. Soper is building a residence on Eighth street, south, with the assistance of Shapbell & Ogden.

Rev. E. E. Gray will have the frame up for a fine dwelling on Fourth street, near Sixth avenue, before the end of the present week. But, what's the use? There is so much of this class of work going on that there is no keeping track of it.

The Colonist of February 1 quotes E. E. Brown of Grand Rapids, Mich., as saying that he counted fifteen dwellings from a certain coign of vantage when he was in Zephyrhills a year ago, but counted 165 the other day from the same spot. He claims that his eyesight was "about the same" in both cases.

Our merchants reports business exceptionally good in all lines with trade in wire fencing very heavy. This feature of trade points to great activity in improvement of acreage.

W. Francisco has installed a 150-light dynamo and recently turned on at his drug store the first electric lights ever seen in Zephyrhills. The plant proved a success in every respect.

A big deal is on of which your scribe is not permitted to speak in detail at present, which means much to Zephyrhills, but the deal is certain to go through.

An up-to-date moving picture machine for the Post & Holbook show room is on the way from New York city. W. Francisco will furnish the electric "juice" for operating the same.

The foundations are laid for the Post & Holbrook building on the corner of Eighth street and Sixth avenue. This structure is 25x50 feet and two stories high. The first floor will be fitted up as a moving picture theater and the Masons will fit up a lodge room on the second floor.

The Incorporation of Zephyrhills (1914)

Mayors of Zephyrhills

Recollections of Mrs. Melville Hall

On the eve of Zephyrhills Founders' Day celebration pioneers are recalling the good old days.

Fifth Avenue, where the festivities will be held, was a sand street and the only sidewalks were wooden. Horses and oxen were hitched to oak trees where the Chamber of Commerce building now stands and wagons and buggies parked in the shade. The large oak in front of City Hall was a mere switch way back when.

Electricity was provided by a one cylinder gas engine with belt-driven generator, operated by Waldo Francisco. Plumbing was in the Chic Sale manner, and the pure water for which Zephyrhills is now famous was pumped by hand. There was no telephone service.

Copies of the Zephyrhills Colonist, printed by the father of present Mayor Floyd Gibson, who is also publisher of the Zephyrhills News, on a plant brought here from Nebraska, wended their way back North to tell kinsfolk in wintry climes of life in sunny Florida, and gave folk on their homefront the news. There were no radios then, either.

The Seaboard Railroad, which came through in 1896, had a whistlestop north of town called Herndon. Part of the present depot was built in '96. Greer's Mill, north of town, was a major industry and Jim Greer had sawmilled the townsite and sold it to Capt. J. B. Jeffries to start the Zephyrhills colony.

Grand Army hall, Garfield Post, now the American Legion hall, was an imposing porchless edifice on 8th Street where the town's few Model Ts had difficulty negotiating the deep sand. The Zephyrhills Cornet Band, forerunner of the Citizen Band, cut a figure in parade circles from St. Petersburg to St. Cloud. Without uniforms for two years, they blossomed forth in spic and span white shirts, pants and caps in the third year as they continued to tootle their way into the hearts of a music loving citizenry. Young couples spooned 'neath the moss hung oaks by Zephyr Lake and Professor Morris' Museum was a cultural center.

Mrs. Ruth Isadora Marsh, who will be 94 years of age October 10, and who is active in church, Chamber of Commerce and civic circles as well as in the management of her apartment properties, related interesting sidelights on the area as she first knew it to the Tribune.

Aunt Dora, as she is affectionately known, is credited by Earl Hart—himself a pioneer, a realtor and presently serving as publicity chairman for the Lions Club which sponsors the annual celebration -- as having started Zephyrhills on its way up following the collapse of the boomtime era.

Coming to Pasco County from Lawrenceville, Ill., in 1913, Aunt Dora first settled in Dade City and lived in the old Lanier house. She later operated restaurants at the present site of the Dade City hotel and in the Wettstein building. Urged by Dr. Parker, a retired dentist, to reopen Hotel Zephyr, which had been closed for two years, she decided to cast her lot with the struggling town of Zephyrhills. With the town's only bank closed and drummers off the road because of the economic situation, this gentlewoman pioneer, assisted by her nephew James Fyffe, renovated the hostelry and opened for business.

A Dr. Sanburn, connected with the University of Florida at Gainesville and owner of grove property in the Lake Pasadena area near the present Jim Hammett grove, was the first customer of the new venture.

At the time the Lake Pasadena area, located between Zephyrhills and Dade City on historic Fort King Road near LeHeup Hill—the brow of Florida, overlooking the sea—was a flourishing Winter resort with large lakeside hotels. The Ernestville store and postoffice, located on the hillsite where Henry Bozeman is presently building his home, was the community shopping center where another pioneer, Mrs. Reese Knapp, recalls buying her first pair of shoes.

Having boarded at Aunt Dora's in Dade City, Dr. Sanborn advertised her good cooking along Fifth Avenue and Mrs. L. M. (Neukie) Neukom who, with her son, George Neukom, presently operates the oldest business in Zephyrhills, was one of the first local customers. Through Dr. Sanburn's good offices a crew of ten Florida Power workmen came to put up at the hotel. From that time on the business has prospered.

Earl hart had a grocery store in the hotel building where Roy Kaylor now has his hardware business, and the late beloved Uncle Jim Geiger operated a general merchandise store on what was later to be Gall Boulevard, named in honor of Walter R. Gall, former State Road Board member, and now a prominent grove owner, realtor and operator of a sand and silica business.

Gall arrived in Jacksonville with his wife and children from Edwardsburg, Mich., on Thanksgiving Day, 1922 after making the trip in a Model T Ford. It is related that what with struggling through deep sand and fording unbridged streams the trip from Jacksonville to Lakeland, where his father, the late Edward Gall, wintered, consumed two days. On this two-day jaunt the dream to build highways in the state of his adoption, which was later to reach fulfillment, was born.

Aunt Dora recalls having gone by train to Tampa from Dade City to buy groceries. She described the trip, when ventured by automobile, as arduous. There seemed to be more rain then than now, she said, and as we went the 12th Street route by Greer's Mill through Crystal Springs we were always glad to reach Hillsborough County and travel on their fine eight-foot paved road.

Emil and Amalie Reutimann had come over from Switzerland and settled in Tampa. It was recalled that in moving here to open the town's first garage they stopped their car on the Crystal Springs road to put water in the radiator. The family cats jumped out and disappeared into Six Mile swamp. After being retrieved by the children, who balked at the thought of leaving their fine pets to be killed by bobcats licking their chops atop cypress stumps, the cats were hauled aboard and the family came on to Zephyrhills, where the garage they established is still being operated as a modern automobile dealership by their son Emil "Buzz" Reutimann, former city councilman, who is also well known in auto racing circles.

Reese Knapp, another pioneer who knew Zephyrhills when, came here from West Virginia in 1899. He recalled that the first general store here was run by a man named Moates; that Downing and Blount ran a turpentine still where Herman Chenkins' big Natural Food Products building now stands, and that there was a sawmill where Walter Vogel has his Standard Oil station. Floyd Hennington ran the old general store on the corner where the Gall real estate office is now located.

Time has marched on and Zephyrhills is a progressive little city now. Many of the oldtimers still take active parts in business, civic and church affairs. Civil War veterans with flowing beards, chin whiskers and handlebar moustaches no longer parade down Fifth Avenue. In their stead tomorrow will march Legionnaires, Veterans of Foreign Wars, United Spanish War Veterans and many young and not-so-young citizens, all proud to be a part of community life in the town that grew from A to Z—Abbott to Zephyrhills."

Golden Anniversary of Zephyrhills

This article appeared in the Tampa Tribune on Mar. 9, 1960. It was provided by Monica Wise.

Miss Lynn Nichols was crowned Miss Zephyrhills tonight after winning the contest staged at the Municipal Auditorium to climax the two-day, golden anniversary Founder’s Day Festival. The new queen is the daughter of Mrs. R.R. Nichols and the late Mr.Nichols, and won the title over nine other girls competing in the finals of the contest, one of the features of the 11^th annual Founder’s Day event. Chosen first maid was Miss Delores Jones, whose guardian is Mrs. Elizabeth Flemming, Miss Linda Freeburg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Freeburg, was named second maid. More than 8,000 spectators jammed the city’s main street this morning to watch the longest parade in Zephyrhills history. Music of three bands—Pasco High School of Dade City, Gulf High School of New Port Richey and the hometown pride, Zephyrhills High School—enlivened the line of march.

Parade Officials: J. Robert Hinds was parade marshal; Freddy Peterson, famed Danish-born artist was the master of ceremonies for the fun and frolic event. He was joined on the reviewing stand by R.L. Bryan, Bartow, first secretary of the Zephyrhills Colony Company, the initial developer of the town; Mrs. Harry L. Rice, Mayor of Zephyrhills, and Pasco County Sheriff Leslie Bessenger. F. Earl Hart and C.A. (Biff) Hough were co-chairmen of the annual event sponsored by the Lions Club.

Judges for the parade entries were Mrs. G.H. Whitman, Joe Collura and Pasco County Agricultural Agent, J.F. (Jimmy) Higgins, all of Dade City.

Prizes Awarded: Prizes were awarded by the Lions club in these categories: Best decorated out-of-town floats—Plant City Queen/Strawberry Festival, first; Dixie Lily Milling Company, second; and Culligan Soft Water Service, San Antonio, third. Hometown floats included: Bufferteria, Inc., first; Bank of Zephyrhills, second; and Joe Herrmann’s Inc, third.

Best decorated automobile—Gold Star Mothers of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; oldest vehicle in the parade-PeniSaver stores oxen-driven rare schooner brought here by L.W. Wilson of Arodarko, Oklahoma; best decorated bicycle—David Guthrie; most typical mounted cowboy in the parade-Sandy Simons; most typical mounted cowgirl in the parade—Linda Reece.

Best pioneer costumed man in the parade—Owen Lefevre; best pioneer costumed woman in the parade—Mrs. Martha Windnagle.

Oldest in Residence: Woman living longest time in Zephyrhills was Mrs. Edwina Beaver, who came here as a baby from her native Hudson on March 10, 1910, eight days before Abbott changed its name to Zephyrhills. Man living longest time in Zephyrhills was G.R. (Bob Williams, who moved to Abbott from his native Delhi, Louisiana, on November 9, 1909.

Best matched horses and riders as a group were the Egypt Temple Shrine Patrol. Residents and visitors found themselves tossed into the “lions den” hoosegow and had to “fine” themselves out with coin of the realm, which went into the sponsoring group’s eyesight conservation fund. Everyone either watched of “joined” in as kiddies rode all manner of time-honored contraptions, ate cotton candy and popcorn and patronized food and drink booths manned by members of local organizations.

Talent Show: Miss Alice Zimmerman directed a talent show in the early afternoon and there was a pie-eating contest for youngsters. Mrs. Jody Evans pounded the ivories for the corn-huskers who furnished music for square dances and Virginia reels.

The festival got under way yesterday at the Zephyrhills West Elementary School in ceremonies in the new cafetorium at which County School Superintendent, Chester Taylor of Dade City officiated.

Street Dancing: Street dancing and community singing to lively music by Mrs. John Thompson on her electric organ played on the reviewing stand along with a 100-year old foot pedal reed organ played by Mrs. T.O. Mays who were also on the afternoon agenda. Mrs. Wynn Jones led the singing.

Preliminary judging of 27 beauty queen contestants took place at intermission time of “Scandals of “60,” a follies production by Zephyrhills Junior Woman’s Club with Mrs. Robert Ahrens as director in municipal auditorium last night.

Merle M. Bright, Mrs. A.J. Thompson, Mrs.Henry L. Kinnard, Jr. and Ralph Barefoot, served as judges and selected the finalists from whom the queens and maids were chosen. The ten finalists were: Karen Etter, Lynn Nichols, Linda Freeburg, Alice Faye Bembry, Sandra Pricher, Delores Jones, Margaret Ann Johnston, Ann Fazio, Carolyn Maddux and Janet Weicht.

Simon Geiger, Member of Oldest Family, Recalls Town as It Was

By JAYNELL LEHEUP

Zephyrhills has enjoyed its 54th birthday party and a man whose four grandparents came to this spot nearly a hundred years ago recalls the old days.

Simon J. Geiger of nearby Knights Station, a retired depot agent, was born and reared here. He was a young man of 18 when the crossroads village of Abbott became Zephyrhills, a colony paradise for Civil War Veterans and their families.

Simon Geiger was born (Jan. 11, 1892) on the farm of his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John David Spivey, who in 1871 began homestead claim to 160 acres about two miles east of the present Zephyrhills.

The Spiveys came here by covered wagon from Georgia because their home had been destroyed by Sherman's Union forces during the Civil War.

Mr. Geiger's paternal grandparents were Mr. and Mrs. Abram Elias Geiger, who homesteaded 160 acres west of Zephyrhills. Geiger Cemetery is on part of what was this original Geiger property. Abram Geiger's family had moved to the Plant City area about 1860. Abram, at the age of 15, joined the same Florida Company in the Civil War to which his father belonged. Also in this group was a Captain Renfroe and the Rev. H. D. Ryals from what is now Zephyrhills.

Abram and Sarah homesteaded their west Zephyrhills property about 1880. They raised six sons and seven daughters. All deceased now, most are buried in Geiger Cemetery and their descendants make up quite a portion of the present Zephyrhills area population.

Each first Sunday in May a reunion for this branch of the Geiger family is held in the city park in Lakeland.

Simon Geiger started to school in Abbott in 1899 in a one-room school. The teacher was “Professor” Sealey. [Probably actually Staley —jm] At a wood rack south of the railroad depot, Simon would meet his father, who brought in loads of wood to see to the wood-burning trains. If Simon missed the ride home in his father’s wagon, he had a 2-mile walk home through the woods ahead of him.

In 1911 Simon helped haul many loads of lumber drawn by oxen for the buildings going up in Zephyrhills. In 1910 he helped unload the first two railroad cars of lumber for the colony.

The first load went to his two uncles, James and Dallas, for their new grocery and general store.

The other load of lumber went to F. C. Orcutt for his Orcutt Building, which housed the first barber shop in Zephyrhills. Simon received his first “store haircut” there on a bright Saturday in 1910. Mr. Orcutt treated him because he had helped with the lumber for the building.

Also in 1910 Simon helped haul lumber for the first Zephyrhills High School, where he completed his schooling in 1911. J. W. Sanders was principal and he later was county judge for many years.

In the summer of 1911 Simon's father was foreman of the crew who marked out the right-of-way for the Fort King Road in this area.

In 1912, Simon Geiger was employed at Hennington's general store, which stood where the A&P supermarket is today. In the mornings Simon would take his order book and set out on foot to cover one section of town, east or west, while Floyd Hennington, Jr., took the other section. They returned to the store about noon, put up the orders and then delivered them by wagon and mule.

Nov. 13, 1912, Simon began work with the Seaboard Airline railroad and he retired several years ago.

The first car Simon Geiger remembers seeing in Zephyrhills was owned by a Mr. Stauffer. The car had high wheels and solid tires and was a single-seat International. The best baseball game he ever saw in his life, Simon Said, was at Lake Zephyr on the 4th of July, 1915, when Zephyrhills beat Dade City, 1-0, in the 11th inning. Before World War I, Zephyrhills held big community celebrations on Washington's Birthday and on Independence Day each year. On these two days the cattlemen of the area would donate beef for a big barbecue and there would be horse races and a baseball game. The whole community turned out for these big occasions.

What is now the First Baptist Church on Fifth Avenue was begun as the Oak Dale Baptist Church in a brush arbor west of here in the 1870s. In 1902 it was organized as Lake View Baptist Church and was located across the street and west of the present church. It was there on March 8, 1914, that Simon joined. This Sunday marks his 50th anniversary as a Baptist church member.

Cattle drivers usually made their headquarters at the pens at Branchland where they camped out. ...

Zephyrhills’ History Is Recalled

ZEPHYRHILLS — Residents of Zephyrhills are eagerly awaiting the 63rd anniversary March 12-13 of the founding of this community.

Founders Days Festival, sponsored annually by the Lions Club of Zephyrhills, commemorates the changing of the name from Abbott to Zephyrhills, March 10, 1910.

The small community, which grew up on both sides of the Florida Railway and Navigation Co., was named in honor of a Dr. Abbott, who ran a drugstore and practiced medicine.

Abbott was platted and recorded in Plat Book Number 1 on page 5, April 17, 1888. It became a voting precinct before 1893, and candidates for county offices conducted much campaigning here deeming the Abbott vote important.

The first settler here, Alias E. Geiger, coming from Ocala just after the Civil War, purchased land from Simon J. Temple, who originally purchased the land Nov. 11, 1886, from the railway. Pasco County was formed in 1887.

Geiger's descendants still live in and around Zephyrhills. His son, James L. Geiger, ran a store here and with Zeb Bramlett operated a sawmill south of town at the Childers settlement. James was later to be one of five signers of the charter granted by the Florida Legislature in 1915 for the Town of Zephyrhills, which later was ratified in a special election on Feb. 15, 1916.

The price paid by Temple back in 1886 was $1,026 for 280 acres.

James Greer, W. Mote, and J. E. Geiger were other pioneer settlers. Greer operated a sawmill, planing mill, and turpentine stills at the foot of Greer Hill several miles north on what is now U. S. 301. He helped construct the seaboard depot, which vanished several years ago when the seaboard Coast Line Railroad discontinued service here.

Capt. H. B. Jeffries, who had served in Pennsylvania's 28th Cavalry, spent several summers and winters here and conceived the plan of establishing a community for retired Civil War veterans and their families. He and his son-in-law, Raymond Moore, purchased the 3,500 acres on which Zephyrhills now stands from the Stebbins Realty Co. of Tampa.

Tradition has it that while being cooled by the gentle zephyr breezes blowing into Zephyrhills from neighboring Greer and LeHeup Hills on the north, Jeffries coined the name “Zephyrhills.” On March 10, 1911, the town of Abbott moved from A to Z.

Hundreds of old soldiers bought land, coming from New York, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ohio, Nebraska, and Illinois. John Zanette even came from Alaska.

Jeffries and Moore organized the Zephyrhills Colony Co., and as early as March 1910, additions were being made to the town. Moore platted Moore's First Addition south of South Avenue on Dec. 20, 1910, and M. Yingling filed his First Addition to Zephyrhills east of 20th Street on Dec. 13, 1911.

By the end of 1912, the population of Zephyrhills was more than 1,500, and the city was incorporated in 1915.

Zephyrhills is still growing. Thousands of new homes have been built, and some 85 mobile home parks are now located in and around the city.

Zephyrhills Economy Traveled Rocky Road

Century Saw Change from Agricultural Town to Retirement Community

By JAY BOHREN

The 20th century has seen Zephyrhills progress from an agricultural town to a tourism and retirement community with an economy based on services.

Actually, says longtime resident Owen Gall, retirement is what got Zephyrhills started. In the early 1900s Capt. E. B. Jeffries founded the Zephyrhills Colony Company to promote retirement lots to Civil War veterans. (Union veterans, that is.)

Throughout the '20s and '30s farming remained the base of the local economy. "There was a cotton gin here when we came (in 1922), and a turpentine still, and a tobacco barn in Dade City," Gall said.

The Depression hit Florida even before the rest of the country, says Fred Gill, who's lived in Zephyrhills for 63 years. When the Florida land boom busted in '27 or '28, it hit Zephyrhills hard. The only bank in town closed, and so did the main local industry, the Greer lumber mill on old Wire Road.

But 1936 did bring U. S. 301 through Zephyrhills, and it's been a major link between East Pasco and Tampa ever since. The '40s, Gill says, brought at least one industry to town—the Hercules Powder Company, a firm that ground up pine stumps and sent them to Brunswick, Ga., to be made into turpentine, rosin and charcoal. The Closest thing Zephyrhills got to a war industry was the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, built in 1942 as a training ground for the Army Air Force. In 1947 the airport was deeded to the city, which has run it ever since.

The '50s had their ups and downs for Zephyrhills business. The Hercules company left town, and lots of workers went with it. But it gave the School Board its plant site, on which Zephyrhills High School was built in the mid-'70s.

And in 1952 Kentucky dairy farmer Jack Linville came to Zephyrhills to found what was to become its biggest single business: the Zephyr Egg Co. "We started off with 500 chickens and we have more than 2 million now," says Danny Linville, Jack's son and now Zephyr Egg's general manager. Jack Linville's strength, Danny says, lay in running his own feed mill, from which he marketed feed to all the neighboring counties. Now Zephyr Egg employs 200 people and daily sends off 22 truckloads of eggs all over Florida.

The '50s saw the beginning of what is now a well known fact about Zephyrhills: it attracts an influx of retirees and tourists from the North.

That really got going in the '60s. Back then, says Gill, "When retired people came here, they could buy a real nice home for $7,500." And, Gill says, the '60s was when Pasco started to get an overflow of people from Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. They could live here and be close to city amenities without paying such high taxes.

In 1961, Don Robinson took advantage of Zephyrhills' one important natural resource: good-tasting water. He founded the Zephyrhills Corp., which through its bottled water has spread the name of Zephyrhills all over Florida. With 50 workers, Zephyrhills Corp. ranks only after Zephyr Egg as a local employer.

In the late '60s and early '70s, "downtown completely died out," according to Linville. There's some disagreement about that, of course. No doubt the new outlying shopping centers drew business away from 5th Avenue, the old retail shopping district. You can't get groceries downtown anymore, and it's almost impossible to do your shopping on foot. But Neukom's Drug Store and Jim's 5 and 10 are still holding on strong.

It was in the '70s that Zephyrhills really acquired its look of today: large, sprawling subdivisions of manufactured homes and mobile homes, with restaurants and shopping plazas lining the main roads, and a population that nearly doubles in winter. Betmar Acres started in the '70s, says city Councilman Jim Bailey. "It began to snowball after that, and commercial growth came to keep up with it," he said.

The '80s brought more of the same—plus doctors to take care of the retirees. In the '70s, Bailey says, there were only two or three doctors in town. Now there are 60 or 70. East Pasco Medical Center opened in 1984 and has spawned a host of surrounding medical offices. "What it's brought to this community has been tremendous," Bailey said.

Zephyrhills has been less successful in attracting new industry. The only tenant of the municipal airport industrial park, the E Systems electronics firm, closed down in 1987. And Zephyr Rock and Lime, a mine southeast of town that sells crushed limestone for use in concrete, has filed for bankruptcy and may shut down unless the Iafrate Construction Co. of Detroit is willing to buy it. The mine once employed 36 locals but is down to a skeleton crew of eight.

The freezes in 1982 and '83 damaged the citrus industry in Zephyrhills and made it even more reliant on a recreation and service economy.

As for the future? Bailey predicts Zephyrhills will continue as a retirement town but is also on its way to becoming a bedroom community for Tampa. He figures only 15 to 20 percent of Zephyrhills residents now commute to Tampa to work but notes that "the growth on 581 and 587 is up to the county line now and coming this way."

"Wesley Chapel and Saddlebrook will continue to grow," he predicts.

City Manager Nick Nichols has expressed hopes that the inflow of working-age people, fleeing overcrowded Tampa for a more comfortable small-town life, will provide a local labor base and make the airport industrial park a workable proposition after all.

Zephyrhills Preserving Historic Buildings

by CHRIS CURRY

ZEPHYRHILLS—Not so long ago, the "Aunt Dora" Marsh at 38344 Fifth Ave. was a tangible link to Zephyrhills’ past. Built before 1895, it was the city’s oldest standing house according to the 1992 book "Historical Places of Pasco County." It was also a longtime home to one of the area's more well-known residents, Dora Marsh, a Lawrenceville, Ill. native who ran the Zephyr Hotel from 1933-43. After retiring in 1943, Marsh bought the house, living there until she died at age 104 in 1965. Today, this house—interwoven in the city’s history—is gone, torn down in the last decade without any consideration of its significance.

When I got here we had a couple of historical buildings come down because we had no review policies that had to be followed before a historical property could be torn down," said Zephyrhills development director Todd Vande Berg. Following the loss of some significant historic properties, Zephyrhills has spent the last two years working on local, state and federal levels to preserve its old buildings. Using grant money, the city hired an architectural consulting firm to prepare a detailed inventory of 443 buildings that were 50 years or older. Buildings that met United States Department of the Interior criteria were selected as "contributing" structures in a state historic district, roughly bordered by 11th Avenue in the north, South Avenue to the south, 7th Street to the west and 12th Street in the east. In this state district, seven buildings that date back to the early 20th Century have been identified for possible inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. They are:

• The Grand Army of the Republic Building (GAR) Building, at 5340 Eighth St,. directly across the street from the current city hall. Union veterans of the Civil War built the G.A.R. Hall in 1910 as a meeting place. It was the site for the signing of the city charter in 1914. Bill Hansberger, the first vice commander of the Zephyrhills American Legion, said that when the Civil War veterans turned the building over to the city, they included a stipulation that it serve as a home for the next veterans' group to form in the city. The GAR Building has been home to the American Legion since the late 1930s.
• The Captain Jeffries House at 38537 Fifth Ave. Built in 1910, it was home to Capt. H.B. Jeffries, who brought many Union army Civil War veterans to settle in the Zephyrhills area. The renovated two story yellow building is now the office for the Steve Herman law firm.
• The Mayor’s House at 38632 Fifth Ave. This house, built in 1914, was home to four of the city’s mayors, including the first mayor, W.C. Boggs (1914-1917), the second mayor, JC Whitehall (1917-20), Frank Tomlinson (1922-24) and Zephyrhills only woman mayor Willa Rice (1957-60). Current owners, George and Billie Joe Peder, have put the house up for sale.
• The Zephyrhills Woman's Club, on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street. Built in 1915, the building is currently undergoing a $55,000 renovation, funded by a state grant for historic preservation.
• The Berean Bible Church building, on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street. This building, which housed the city’s first church, is now the Crossroads Pentecostal Church.
• The Stebbins-Miller house at 38544 Third Ave. According to "Historical Places of Pasco County," this three-story, 14-room, home with a wraparound porch was originally built for Jesse Stebbins, the first pastor of the Bible Gospel Chapel, and the son of A.E. Stebbins, a realtor who promoted the area when its name was being changed from Abbott Station to Zephyrhills.
• The old city hall building at the southeast corner of Seventh Street and Fifth Avenue. Several of these properties underwent historic renovations even before the city focused on protecting old properties. The American Legion, for example, used a historic preservation grant from the state to install new windows, a new roof and paint G.A.R. Hall.

We tried to keep the exterior as close to the original as possible, which you have to do to receive the state grant," Hansberger said.

We've done pretty good. It looks a lot better than it used to." If the building is put on the National Register Historic Places, more federal grants and tax credits will be available. But Hansberger said there are too many rules involved to make it worthwhile.

It’s a pain in the neck to be in the historic register," he said.

We’re not planning on it at all. If we wanted to fix up the building, we’d have to conform with all these guidelines. If you want to tear down a building, not that we’d ever want to, you need an act of Congress." While getting properties on the National Register is not one of the city's imminent goals, Vande Berg said Zephyrhills' own Historic Preservation Board, formed by a January 2001 ordinance, is currently working on guidelines for a planned local historic district that would have the same boundaries as the state district. The local district, which will also have to be established by a city ordinance, will probably base its standards on those of the Department of the Interior.

We’ll look at major things like demolition, add-ons and that new buildings be compatible with the goal of historic preservation," he said. In October, the Historic Preservation Board will present guidelines for historical preservation to the Zephyrhills City Council in a draft of the historic district ordinance.

Essentially, if the structure has a historic value, no changes can be made to alter that value," said preservation board chairperson John Geiger.

The idea is to identify some properties that are old and preserve them before something will happen to them." Geiger should be well versed in the history he is working to preserve. His family's history in the area goes back to the mid 19th century. His great-grandfather, A.E. Geiger, was one of Zephyrhills' founders. His grandfather, James "Uncle Jim" Geiger, was prominent general store owner and a city councilman. Some buildings significant to the family history have disappeared from the Zephyrhills landscape, including James Geiger's old store and the "Aunt Dora" Marsh house, where, according to "Historic Places of Pasco County," James Geiger married his wife, Jo. In addition to the guidelines and rules for protecting historic properties, the proposed ordinance will also include incentives for preservation.

Our opinion is it’s good and dandy to have all these tools in place, but when you get down to it, folks want some incentive for what you want to accomplish," Vande Berg said.

FOUNDER’S DAY 1994

A Visit with Three Zephyrhills Founding Families
— Smith … Gall … Krusen

Christine Krusen Douglas remembers when she would go over to Neukom’s Drug Store and order a vanilla cake, “and there was another drug store named Skinner’s,” she said.

“We came here in 1932 from Daytona Beach and moved into an apartment house behind the Baptist Church. We couldn’t find a house big enough to rent, so we lived in all four of the apartments. Dad’s mother, Christine Krusen, lived with us.”

According to Christine’s husband, Henry Douglas, Mr. Krusen bought 13,000 acres, mostly on credit, for two dollars and seventy-five cents per acre. This was the beginning of Krusen Land and Timber Company. He built a sawmill and paid off the land by selling lumber. As popular as it is now, there was no market for pecky cypress back in those days.

Henry Douglas said that the Atlantic Tank Company of New York was an important buy of what was called tank cypress. It came from the heart of the old trees. It was used to build water tanks on the top of buildings, storing water to be used in case of fire. Henry said some of those tanks can still be seen atop old New York City buildings. The wood was also used for brewer’s tanks, oil tanks and tanks for canneries. It was called “The Wood Eternal.”

Christine said her father, known by his friends as Andy, first bought 40 acres where he built the sawmill, their family home and a number of tenant dwellings. This was near the recently restored Atlantic Coastline depot. Mr. Krusen also built a company store. “I used to work there on Saturday mornings, sacking up sugar, beans and grits. They really loved them and asked where they could buy some. My dad loved to tease people and he gave them a bag of grits. He said when you go home, plant them and you can grow grits like anybody else can.”

The above reminded Henry Douglas of a story in which one of their grove employees also liked to be a tease. Friends who sampled Krusen-grown oranges remarked that they were the sweetest oranges they have ever tasted. It happened that the company supplying fertilizer to Krusen experienced a shortage of bags and brought a surplus of discontinued Dixie Crystal Sugar sacks and used them to package the fertilizer. By showing the pile of empty bags to his friends, he convinced them that the sweetness of the fruit was because they fertilized the fruit with sugar. The old virgin strands of cypress contained some extremely large trees. From one of these trees Krusen was able to saw out nine thousand board feet of lumber. At the height of his business, Krusen employed three hundred men, turning out a million feet of lumber per month.

Christine (her father called her Mitz or Mitzie) told of a man who bought lumber on credit. He owned the money for years before finally showing up one day with a chest full of silver dollars to satisfy the debt. “It looked like a pirate’s chest and my daughter, Andra, still has it.”

A steel smoke stack over Krusen’s mill was 151 feet high and weighed nine tons. Because cypress was so dense and took over a year to air dry, the company kept an inventory of three to four million feet.

After being a B-17 pilot in World War II, Henry, in partnership with Ed Madill, started a flying school at the Zephyrhills airport. One of his students was Christine Krusen. It was this meeting that led to their marriage. They both graduated from the University of Florida, Henry with a degree in agriculture. His education made for another good marriage with the Krusen operation which expanded into cattle and citrus.

“I met Mr. Krusen before meeting Christine,” Henry recalled. He hired me to fly Otis Allen to Okeechobee to pick up cash for a shipment of cattle. The husband and wife brought out a dishpan full of ten and twenty dollar bills and counted them out at the kitchen table.

Now known as the K-Bar Ranch, Henry and Christine spoke of the pasture which extended just north of Tampa Palms. Pebble Creek is on land that used to be part of the original 13,000 acres.

“That area was what we called Red Brook Hammock, and when we sold it, we rounded up the cattle right where now is the clubhouse,” Henry said. Henry and Christine are reminded of the early sawmill days as they enjoy handsome cypress wood accessing their Saddlebrook home.

The Galls-Owen Gall’s father, the late Walter Gall, bought for three dollars per acre per about 30,000 acres under the old Florida Murphy Act. This was back well over fifty years ago. He timbered the land and resold much of it for seven and eight dollars an acre. Some of this land became Saddlebrook.

With his wife, Ann, Owen lives on the north edge of town on what remains of his citrus grove after selling most of his land for the new Publix, Wal-Mart and the East Pasco Medical Center.

He remembers back to when his mother, Lola, owned a local restaurant called the Orange Blossom Café. This was the stop where busloads of eager real estate buyers would come in from St. Petersburg. During this time of inflated prices in the 1920’s, hundreds of lots that were sold for around ten thousand dollars a piece came back to the city, during the Great Depression, for non-payment of taxes.

In the 1930’s Owen said that a man who did some publicity work for the City was paid, not in money, but by receiving a deed for 300 city lots. Owen’s father got a letter from the man offering the 300 lots at twenty-five dollars a piece, but turned him down because he said they weren’t worth it.

Owen stated that also in the 1930’s father Walter along with Dr. B. A. Thomas owned the Zephyrhills News. One of the writers for the News had been a publicity man in the political campaign of President Woodrow Wilson. In thinking of that reporter, Owen posed the rhetorical question, “Do all newspaper men like to drink?”

A man by the name of Gibson later bought the News. “I went down one day to look up an article,” Owen recalled, and “found that Gibson had thrown out all the old newspapers.”

A graduate from Zephyrhills High in 1930, Owen said that their sixtieth reunion four years ago was attended 100%. He’s looking forward to the sixty-fifth next year “to see what they all look like.”

A Gator, he went on to study agriculture in Gainesville at the University of Florida. It was a boys college then with an enrollment of 2,500. Former Governor Dan McCarty was a classmate.

His early school days were interrupted when the old wooden Zephyrhills School burned down. Grace Cripe Dew, who still lives on top of LeHeup Hill north of town, was one of his teachers.

Owen’s father’s parents came from the south of France. On his mother’s side the name was Riggenberg and they came from Riggenberg, Switzerland. Walter’s father was Edward Gall. He spent his last days in Zephyrhills as did the Riggenbergs.

Owen joined the Arkansas National Guard in March of 1941. The company was activated and sent to Alaska shortly before the Pearl Harbor attack. He was surprised the Pearl Harbor base was not standing ready because in Alaska they were on alert every day, well in advance of December 7th.

“The United States was not prepared for war,” Owen said. “Our mortar ammo was left over from World War I and would not fire accurately.”

“Dad was on the Florida State Road Board when Highway 301 was brought through town,” Owens recalled and said that his mother, Lola, was the Zephyrhills Postmaster during many of those early years.

Walter was personnel director of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in Jacksonville during some of the depression years. He recruited thousands of unemployed men and put them to work on various government projects.

Another project of Walter’s was the Gall Silica Sand Mine located about thirty-five miles east of Zephyrhills. At different times, Owen and his brother, Louis, looked after the operation.

Owen finally requested, “Don’t make this article too flowery.” He joked and said that he wouldn’t want to come down to the paper and have to call us liars.

The Smith’s

“I pulled up our water from a forty-foot open well,” laughed Matilda Reutimann Smith, widow of Cullen Smith, Sr. “Didn’t even have a crank, just pulled it up hand over hand with that old rope—no electricity in the house either.” The two-seater outhouse was equipped with a well-used Sears Roebuck catalogue. The pages were softened by crumpling a couple of sheets and rubbing them together, according to Mrs. Smith who is known to her friends as Tillie.

From her comfortable house in the middle of Silver Oaks, Tillie told of how Cullen finally piped water to the cow barn and as an afterthought, brought a pipe and faucet up to the back porch. “We still didn’t’ have water inside,” Tillie exclaimed!

Her grandson, Lance Smith, who is active in the local Silver Oaks development, said that the golf course is on land that was formerly called the “Little Pasture of the Smith Cattle and Grove Company.” Smith Cattle and Grove is still the name of the company, but it now has no groves and only one cow.

Number two hole at Silver Oaks Golf and Country Club is where the cow pens stood when a younger Lance Smith, now 31, was a helper in the cattle operation.

Landscaping surrounding luxury homes could benefit from the rich soil left behind form the hundreds of cows that grazed there for decades, and residents of East Pasco County will benefit from the YMCA to be built on almost six acres of land donated to the City by the Smith family.

In Silver Oaks on a site east of the new bypass and north of Geiger Road, construction of the “Y” will begin next month. According to Lance Smith, the facility is scheduled for completion this fall. Tillie, a bright and cheerful 84, was happy they were able to donate the land.

“No,” she probably won’t be personally using the “Y,” but the boys probably will.” Tillie could be one of the reasons Zephyrhills is called “The Friendly City.”

She speaks fondly of her family, remembering when her parents, Emile and Amalie Reutimann, in 1925, started the first Zephyrhills Chevrolet dealership.

The former Amalie Waffler married Emile in 1910 after which they came to the United States from Switzerland, settling in Tampa, where he worked as a machinist. In 1915, Zephyrhills was the next stop, with Emilie setting up shop as an auto mechanic, which evolved into the Chevy dealership.

Tillie grew up in Zephyrhills as a classmate of her husband-to-be. They were in school together until Cullen went off to nearby St. Leo which was then only a high school. He graduated in 1928, the same year Tillie finished at Zephyrhills High. She then went to Florida State College for Women (now FSU) but was glad to come home after a year and one-half.

She was twenty-three and he was a year older when they were married by Judge Sanders in the Pasco County Courthouse. “I was 39 when Susie was born,” Tillie said when she mentioned the youngest of her six children. “We were still using kerosene lamps when Brantly was born (in 1940), then finally the house was wired for electricity.” This was out in the “Big Pasture” by Handcart Road. The pasture was an area of around 3,000 acres. Lance’s great grandfather, Brantly Smith, hauled timber for railroad cross ties to the old Greer Sawmill, just north of town. The transportation was a team of oxen.

The “Big Pasture” saw the beginning of the Smith Cattle and Grove Company. It was stocked with Florida range cattle, also known as piney woods cattle. These were descended from some of the animals originally brought over centuries ago from Spain.

Brantly, the patriarch of the Smith family, was one of the original members of the Florida Citrus Commission. The freeze of 1895, according to family lore, was thought to end the citrus business in the area. In the freeze of the 1980s, the Smith family’s citrus business did end.

Thinking back again, Tillie remembers shopping in town when there were no paved streets and when sidewalks were made of boards. She recalls Edmondson’s Livery Stable where you could rent a surrey with a fringe on top—and Zephyrhills had a fence around it to keep the cows out, and when bread was ten cents a loaf at Floyd Hennington’s grocery.

So, as Tillie Reutimann Smith looks out her window over the fairways that used to be the “Little Pasture,” it’s a long way and a long time from the “Big Pasture” where she would do the family laundry by building a fire under the backyard iron wash kettle.

Tourist Homes, Rooming Houses, Boarding Houses, Cabins or Hotel

This article is reproduced with permission from the Southern Genealogist's Exchange Quarterly, Vol. 47 No. 199, September 2006.

I was born and reared in Zephyrhills, Fla. It seemed to be "a perfect square mile."

Actually my twin brother, James (Jim) Donald Ferguson and I were born at home just west of town on Ryals Road on May 21, 1934.

We soon moved into town and lived in several locations before finally settling on Third Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenue. The house number was 712 until it was changed to comply with the 911 directions.

The population was small and neighbors knew neighbors...and everyone was your neighbor! We grew up being able to recognize a stranger. We knew the names of most of the citizens and even adopted some as aunts, uncles or grandparents.

The city was "protected" by having a cattle guard (cattle gap) on the north, south and west side of town. The airport and dump were on the east border and a fence on the city limits on the west fully defined our hometown.

Streets were pretty much straight, but not necessarily parallel. For instance. North First Street began at U. S. Highway 301 at the cattle gap. The highway was also known as Seventh Street. So Sixth, Fifth, Fourth, Third and Second Streets angled off of First before it reached the South end at Highway 54 at the cattle gap. None of these streets were paved until much later. There were only 20 Streets. Life was good.

Zephyrhills has always been known for its good drinking water and was a destination for tourists since it was founded. Many winter visitors pulled their trailer homes to a park in or near the city, but if you came to spend a short time, where could you stay?

Well, if you were related, or a personal friend, you might find hospitality in someone's home for a few days. Other alternatives were in homes designated as "Tourist Homes." Often the owners lived in the house and simply rented a room or two to guests. There were several of these scattered around town.

Another alternative was the Boarding Houses. Perhaps the most famous was "Aunt Dora Marsh's Boarding House" on Fifth Avenue. Many single men loved to stay there where they could get good meals, and have their lunch packed for them to carry off to work.

I suppose that "Hotel Zephyr" was always part of downtown, but I don't recall it ever being the hub of activity. I knew a few folks who stayed there for a long time, and even remember back when I worked at the bank downtown, when they tried to revive a buffet there.

Stone Cabins Court, south of town, and on the west side of Highway 301, was an innovation. The cabins were individual rooms (perhaps with a bath), built of stone.

The office may have been in a service station or bar. This was a forerunner of motels, which came along much later.

Of course some folks who stayed for a season would share their house with others. Perhaps that is where the idea for building duplexes and triplexes came from.

Garage apartments were popular. Then a true innovation: garden apartments. The first one I remember was on about Sixth Street and Third or Fourth Avenue behind Reutimann's Garage. Accommodations change, yet life is good.