ZEPHYRHILLS

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ZEPHYRHILLS
Known as the "Friendly City" and the "City of Pure Water," semi-rural Zephyrhills offers the vistas of hills and gentle breezes off the Gulf of Mexico from its vantage point northeast of Tampa in the southeast corner of Pasco County. Close to major cities yet distant from the hustle and bustle, the city is known for its pastoral cattle ranches, colorful citrus groves, and productive poultry farms as well as its community events, shopping opportunities and recreational activities. Zephyrhills Bottled Water, pure spring water drawn from seven wells and bottled and sold around the world, has put the city on the map to those who've not been exposed to its winter warmth. Others have come to know Zephyrhills through its year round excellent skydiving facilities. Several newspapers serve the city with its own weekly paper supporting the community for nine decades.

The second largest city in Pasco County, with a popu­lation of 51,000 year-round area residents, this Tampa Bay community is just 35 miles from down­town Tampa. US Hwy 301 runs through the center of the city, connecting the city to the county seat, Dade City, nine miles to the north. A 15-minute drive connects residents and businesses to Interstates 4 and 75 and US 98, which provide easy access to Orlando, 84 miles to the northeast, and to Clearwater and St. Petersburg, respectively 40 miles and 50 miles to the southwest. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico and its sandy beaches are less than an hour's drive to the west. Through responsible government, concerted civic planning, a friendly and safe atmosphere, warm climate, and the ready access to plentiful restaurants and other shopping opportunities, Zephyrhills welcomes new and old alike to savor its charms.

LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION

Ideally located in west central Florida at the center of a network of state, interstate, and US highways, Zephyrhills' convenient location provides quick and ready access to modern commercial centers, world-renowned recreational opportunities and sophisticated educational resources. Within a short drive is Disney World, Busch Gardens and major league ball games plus the professional Broadway traveling shows or symphony concerts.. Tampa International Airport, located 35 miles to the south, serves 25 passenger airlines, which schedule almost 300 daily domestic and international flights from 48 airline gates, plus 8 cargo only airlines. Over 15 million passengers are served annually. Similar service is offered at Orlando International Airport, an hour away. The Port of Tampa, 30 miles to the south and the closest full-service port to the Panama Canal, accommodates more than 4,000 vessels per year, which transport more than 50 million net tons, worth $5 billion dollars. The Port's bulk cargo facility has newly renovated berths, the addition of new cargo handling and tracking technologies, state-of-the-art pavers and wharves, rail line expansion, and road upgrades. Tampa has a new focus on the Caribbean and Latin American cruise destinations with Carnival's two vessels based at the Port offering unique 4 and 5 day itineraries plus mini-cruise vacations.

Bypass roads around center city that also provide industry and business connections to the larger highways ease automobile travel in Zephyrhills. Pasco County Transit Service buses transport area residents around the city and to neigh­boring communities. Taxis, small buses, limousines and other carriers provide personalized travel service. Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, in the southeast section of the city, next to the Airport Industrial Park with available rail service, provides a well maintained 5,067 foot runway. The airport provides businesses and residents with convenient flights and shipping opportunities, charter flights, hangar and aircraft rentals, and flight instruction.

ENTERTAINMENT

FESTIVALS
Zephyrhills provides visitors and residents with a number of special events held throughout the year, including Christmas-lighting ceremonies and holiday festivals, Halloween on Main Street, Tasting Away in Zepheritaville, Celtic Festival, Senior Citizen's Day festivities and the annual Auto and Antiques Winterfest, bring the community together with musical entertainment, amusements, and often sky diving action. The Founders Day Parade has been recognized by the U.S. Congress for inclusion in the Library of Congress's Local Legacies Project "This is more than just a parade, it is an impressive example of community pride in action." The Depot Museum has become a focal point for art exhibits and historical programming. Fairs and festivals abound year round in nearby locations including the Kumquat Festival, Senior Extravaganza, Florida RV Supershow, Gasparilla Invasion and Festival of the Arts, Pasco County Fair, Florida State Fair, Florida Strawberry Festival, Tampa Bay Blues Festival, Pioneer Museum Festival, and Church Street Christmas. The Tampa Bay area has hosted the NFL Superbowl and NCAA Final Four numerous times.

ENTERTAINMENT
Zephyrhills offers after-hours fun with a number of sports bars, brew pubs, and entertainment centers including two bowling alleys offering 32 lanes worth of strikes and spares as well as pool tables for the billiards fan. Two movie theaters-Home Twin Theater and Zephyrhills Cinema 6-with a total of eight screens, draw audiences with the latest releases and special screenings of just-for-kids films. With downtown Tampa just 35 minutes away, the many cultural activities at the Ruth Eckard Hall, Ice Palace, Tampa Museum, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and Tampa Museum of Art compliment the exhibits at the Holocaust Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Florida International Museum, Florida Aquarium, International Sport Aviation Museum, and Lowry Park Zoo.

DINING
Area restaurants serve up an extensive menu of palate-pleasing fare. Seafood and oyster bars fill diners' plates with fresh-from-the-gulf ingre­dients. Steak houses and Southern barbecue cafes satisfy hearty appetites, while ethnic eateries-from Spanish to Chinese-offer international gusto. Fast food establishments, bakeries, sub and pizza shops, and ice cream parlors make it easy to grab a snack or a meal on the run.

LODGING AND ACCOMODATIONS
A variety of motels and motor inns invite visitors to the Zephyrhills area to check in and stay awhile. With family-friendly prices and Southern hospitality, national chains and family-owned motels provide lodging, conveniently located near shops and dining. Within 100 miles of downtown Zephyrhills, 56 Florida State campgrounds accommodate tents and recreational vehicles in a variety of park like settings full of outdoor activity opportunities. Many local privately owned parks offer resort accommodations

SHOPPING

A wide variety of shopping opportunities are within easy access of Zephyrhills residents and visitors. The revitalized downtown offers a local flavor of hardware items, pharmaceuticals, crafts, specialty antiques, restaurants and boutiques along with services such as insurance and banking. Major retail discount stores, including Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Scotty’s, augment the many local providers of everyday needs placed strategically within the community. Several supermarket chains and local bakeries and grocers add to the unique Florida opportunity of local fresh produce outlets. Catering especially to the winter visitors are a host of support services for mobile homes and recreational vehicles and shops specializing in apparel, home accessories, computers, antiques and leisure activities. Investing in a home is made especially easy with the proliferation of mobile home and R.V. communities, real estate professionals, residential subdivisions, private homes and banking institutions. Equally distant within a 30 minute drive are several major shopping areas including Lakeland and University Malls and LazyDays-Camper World.

HOMES AND NEIGHBORHOODS

Homebuyers find a wealth of housing choices in Zephyrhills. First-time buyers, families, and empty nesters will find a residence that fits their budget and meets their housing needs. Early 20th-century homes, lined up on tree-shaded streets, recall Zephyrhills’ first citizens. Newer single-family developments, including mobile home communities, provide modern-day conveniences and kid-friendly streets or 55 plus relaxation, while golf course communities supply estate-style living along landscaped fairways. Town homes, condominiums, and apartments, both as rentals and for purchase, appeal to those with a yen for maintenance-free living. Ownership is facilitated by a plethora of customer oriented banking and other financial institutions with ready funding.

HISTORY

On November 11, 1886 Simon J. Temple purchased 280.74 acres of land for $1,026.69 from Florida Railway and Navigation Corp. He named the area Abbott after Dr. J. M. Abbott who ran a drug store and practiced medicine at the crossroads of what is now the intersection of US 301 and 5th Ave. The town of Abbott was laid out and the plot recorded on April 18, 1888 at the Pasco County seat, established at nearby Dade City a year earlier.

The future Zephyrhills became a voting district in 1893 and “Station” was added to “Abbott” in 1896 when the Seaboard Coast Line depot was built to facilitate the shipping of naval stores and lumber. In the early 1900’s Zephyrhills was covered with virgin pine. Old timers recall four major operational phases, each leaving its imprint on the community. Successively the pine trees were tapped for turpentine production, then cut for lumber, the stumps uprooted and pushed out, then the land was seeded to pasture or set in citrus groves. The community continued to thrive in 1902 with the establishment of the First Baptist Church and Hennington’s Department Store.

Captain Howard B. Jeffries, a Civil War veteran from Pennsylvania, chose the Abbott Station location in December, 1909, for a veteran colony because the land was high and fertile, there was an abundance of water, and the area had no swamps, maleria or mosquitos. While showing the countryside to prospective residents from the top of LeHeup Hill on historic Fort King road, he overheard a chance remark about the rolling hills and zephyr-like breezes. Impressed by the melodic combination, he coined a new name for this colony company. On March 10, 1910, Abbott Station changed its name to Zephyrhills and incorporated as a town in 1914. It became known for its citrus groves, poultry farms, cattle ranches, and of course, its world-famous pure water and as home base of one of the largest parachuting centers in the world. By 1980, the population had grown to 21,460 area residents, as citrus trees gave way to private homes and mobile home communities, with a projected growth to 56,370 area residents by the year 2003. Attracted by the area’s warm weather and verdant scenery the population swells from 51,000 year-round area residents to about 85,000 during the winter months when the snowbirds arrive.