Further Research

• The history of Pasco County compiled by the late Jeff Miller and maintained by West Pasco Historical Society contains a history of Pasco County with towns and regions and local institutions identified, including: Dade City. One can access at: https://www.fivay.org  (Some photos are copyright, however many can be utilized with citation as each photo is attributed to the source which needs to be credited (i.e. Eddie Herrmann, Bill Dayton, Madonna Wise etc.); many scans come from the West Pasco Historical Society, Pioneer Museum & Village in Dade City, Abbey of St. Leo, the Depot Museum of Zephyrhills Historical Association, and private individuals. An extensive selection of historical photos is currently maintained on a connected Flickr photo area.

• Florida Memory from the archives of the Florida Department of State contains documents and photos for Florida history including many historical photos (often family or institutional collections; you will find some of these harvested on fivay.org above and credited to Florida memory); the source of each historical document/photo is referenced; access at: https://www.floridamemory.com. One may contact archivists at the site for questions and you may purchase high-resolution tiffs/photos for use.

• West Pasco Historical Society and Museum at 6431 Circle Boulevard, New Port Richey; access website and their map collection at: www.westpascomuseum.org The museum has an extensive display of indigenous people’s history and intricate displays of the film industry in the early 20th century in New Port Richey. They do possess a variety of artifacts from Pasco County and Dade City, for example the original marker of the 1892 Pasco Jail (now the Locke Inn B & B) is housed at the museum as well as many other artifacts from Dade City, the county seat and the population center of the county until the 1980s.

• African American Heritage Society of East Pasco: https://aahsepc.org/ is a valuable resource for Black history and the impact of key leaders, churches and institutions throughout Pasco and Dade City’s history.

• Find a grave is the world’s largest gravesite collection of burial sites of all nature, and is a useful site for budding genealogists or family members who are seeking information. You may search by name, cemetery, or location as the site is international; obituaries and birth and death information are sometimes incorporated as well as ancestors and descendants. One may access this at: https://www.findagrave.com.

• Access the archives of the Dade City Banner and Pasco News through the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative at: https://hcplc.org/ (Click on ‘Learning & Research’ and then, ‘Genealogy and History,’ next, scroll down to ‘Digital Florida Newspaper library’ followed by clicking on titles which include Dade City Banner, Pasco News and East Pasco News (the newspapers are downloadable and may be searched by date, not by topic or name) (You may also access the Dade City Banner, Pasco News, and Laker/Lutz archives as well as miscellaneous resources at the University of Florida’s digital library: https//ufdlc.ufl.edu.

• Access the Zephyrhills News/ Zephyrhills Colonist newspapers at the city of Zephyrhills website where you may browse old newspapers; not searchable, you will need a general idea of year and month; access at: https://archives.ci.zephyrhills.fl.us. (Note that the Zephyrhills Colonist and Zephyrhills News archives are housed in microfilm at the Zephyrhills Library where you will need to contact the librarian for access and use of the machines for microfilm and microfiche.

• Pasco Genealogical Society is at https://sites.rootsweb.com/ and the Facebook page by emailing: pascogensociety@gmail.com  Their monthly meetings include speakers and resources.

• Tampa Bay History Center at https://tampabayhistorycenter.org includes the Touchton Map library of 8,000 maps, charts and logs as well as the ‘Witt Research Center.’ To schedule a research experience, email: collections@tampabayhistorycenter.org. Also be sure to check schedules and events for the museum which focus heavily on Florida history as the community bulletin board and Sangria talks have often featured Pasco County and our own Madonna Wise and Clereen Brunty and Zephyrhills Chamber.

• East Hillsborough Historical Society at https://ehhsoc.org is a resource for local history. Contact: info@ehhsoc.org for local research which sometimes overlaps Pasco County history. An archive session on their website is very informative.

• The Hillsborough County Public Library has an extensive digital collection: https://digitalcollections.hcplc.org and the John F. Germany Public Library collection at 900 North Ashley Drive in Tampa has the largest collection of the region on their 4th floor of Florida history with an array of books and papers on Pasco County, government documents, genealogy and Burger Brothers photo collections. This library also has the largest collection of grants & fundraising research in the region (Note: many who research on the 4th floor, schedule an appointment and take along a portable scanner for scanning with permission; plan for a day trip because of the enormity of the collection which is unmatched.)

• The Tampa Historical Society at https://tampahistoricalsociety.com is a wonderful resource. The archives of the “Sunland Tribune,” the multi-page newsletters, are accessible and free for download. This resource is valuable for topical research and is  extremely scholarly and impeccably documented by the best historical scholars in Florida over-time and include regional topics on historical women, institutions, economy, key historical events and much more.

• The Historical Hernando Preservation Society at https://hernandopast.org is a valuable location and resource. As Pasco County was a part of Hernando County until 1887 and the county seat was in Brooksville, an array of resources about Pasco and Dade City can be found at the museum and in participation in their organizational events. (Note that the Hernando County courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1877 so many of the original records were lost, however, Hernando County historians have created collections, many of which are hands-on exhibits.)

• The Library of Congress has many documents and photos, often by the name of the city and county: https://loc.gov/.

• Family Search at https.//www.familysearch.org/ is a free site. It is simple to use and an easy resource for census records. It was created by the Church of Latter Day Saints as an international non-profit organization. There is a family tree section so you may find others researching your family history.

• For research on military records. Fold 3 at: https://www.fold3.com is a well-known resource. It is a fee-based resource but typically offers some free days during the year on key holidays. It can also be accessed at a few regional university libraries from within the library. One may also create a lasting memorial post for an ancestor who served in the armed forces on the Fold 3 site.

Other fee-based resources include https:///www.ancestry.com and http://www.findmypast.com. Similar to Fold 3, you may want to look for libraries or museums who offer use of the service. One can compile a family tree on ancestry.com as well of follow up from DNA information gleaned from ancestry.com or 23 and Me and locate connections.