In June 1919, a 74-year-old man arrived in a young river town on the Pithlachascotee. He had fought in the Civil War, written textbooks used in high schools across the country, served in the Ohio State Senate and published a sweeping history of the United States. He had come to New Port Richey to retire. He never quite did. Within five years Dr. Elroy McKendree Avery had given the town its library, helped lead its bank, written its first history and become its first mayor. Today two buildings at The Central on Orange Lake, the Elroy and the Avery, carry his name.

Dr. Elroy M. Avery at a Glance

  • Born: July 14, 1844, Erie, Michigan
  • Civil War: Enlisted at 17; rose to sergeant major in the 11th Michigan Cavalry
  • Education: University of Michigan, class of 1871
  • Career: Teacher, school superintendent, textbook author, historian and publisher in Cleveland
  • Public office: Cleveland City Council (1891 to 1892), Ohio State Senate (1893 to 1897)
  • Best-known work: A History of the United States and Its People
  • In New Port Richey: Arrived June 1919; founded the library that became the New Port Richey Public Library
  • First mayor: Chosen when New Port Richey incorporated in October 1924
  • Died: December 1935, in New Port Richey, at 91

A Soldier, a Teacher and a Historian

Avery was born in Erie, Michigan, in 1844. At 17 he volunteered for the Union Army, writing dispatches for the Detroit Tribune along the way, and he came home a sergeant major in the 11th Michigan Cavalry. After the war he enrolled at the University of Michigan and graduated in 1871.

He moved to Cleveland that year and became one of its best-known educators: superintendent of the East Cleveland schools, principal of East High School and later of the Cleveland Normal School. He wrote science textbooks, including Elements of Natural Philosophy and The Complete Chemistry, that taught a generation of high school students. He founded the Children’s Fresh Air Camp, served on the Cleveland City Council and spent four years in the Ohio State Senate. And he became a serious historian, producing The Averys of Groton, the three-volume History of Cleveland and Its Environs, and his life’s great project, A History of the United States and Its People.

Catharine Hitchcock Tilden Avery

Elroy Avery’s story is also the story of his first wife. Catharine Hitchcock Tilden, born in Dundee, Michigan, in 1844, was a teacher and principal of Battle Creek High School when the two became secretly engaged in 1869, while he finished his degree. They married in Battle Creek on July 2, 1870, and moved to Cleveland together, where she served as a high school principal while he ran the schools.

Catharine was a force of her own. In 1895 she was elected to the Cleveland City School Board, the first woman in Ohio chosen for an elective office. She founded and led the Western Reserve Chapter, the first chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in Ohio, became the DAR’s Ohio state regent and a national Vice President General, and edited the society’s official magazine, The American Monthly, from 1900 until her death. She and Elroy did their historical research and writing side by side. She died in Cleveland in December 1911, eight years before he came to Florida. In 1916 he married Ella Wilson, who came south with him and survived him.

The “Grand Old Man” of New Port Richey

Avery retired from publishing and arrived in New Port Richey in June 1919. He did not slow down. That December he organized the Avery Library and Historical Society, and he donated close to 1,000 books from his own collection, many of them his own titles, to fill it. The Avery Library opened on April 10, 1920, in the Snell Building on Main Street. It grew into today’s New Port Richey Public Library, and several volumes of his history of the United States are held by the West Pasco Historical Society in its museum in Sims Park.

He also helped lead the First State Bank of New Port Richey, opened in 1921 at Boulevard and Main, founded and presided over the Cotee River Boat Club, and belonged to the Congregational Church of New Port Richey. In 1924 he wrote The Genesis of New Port Richey, an account of how the town came to be.

New Port Richey’s First Mayor

In October 1924, residents voted 201 to 4 to incorporate the city of New Port Richey, and they wanted Avery to lead it. He was 80 and, by the historical society’s account, reluctant. But the town had taken to calling him its “Grand Old Man,” and he found it hard to say no. He was sworn in as New Port Richey’s first mayor and served until 1925. At its very first meeting, on December 2, 1924, his new council accepted the land George Sims had given the city for a park, today’s Sims Park, the green heart of Downtown that The Central on Orange Lake sits beside.

Avery died in New Port Richey in December 1935 at the age of 91. The West Pasco Historical Society sums up his late-life chapter with a line worth remembering: “no one is too old to make valuable commitments to our community.”

The Elroy and Avery Buildings

The buildings at The Central on Orange Lake are named for people who shaped New Port Richey, and like Gerben DeVries, Dr. Avery is honored with a pair, one building for each of his names. It suits a man who arrived to retire and instead built the town’s library, chronicled its beginnings and became its first mayor. You can read more in his Wikipedia biography, in Catharine Avery’s, and in the West Pasco Historical Society’s New Port Richey timeline. His library and the museum that keeps his books are a short stroll from home, part of the Downtown District that New Port Richey Main Street supports in Downtown New Port Richey.

Want to see more of the town Dr. Avery helped build? The West Pasco Historical Society Museum sits in a renovated 1915 schoolhouse in Sims Park, steps from The Central on Orange Lake. Check their Facebook page for current hours and stop in.

Dr. Elroy M. Avery and New Port Richey: Frequently Asked Questions

Who was the first mayor of New Port Richey?

Dr. Elroy McKendree Avery, an educator, author and historian who retired here from Cleveland in 1919. He became mayor when the city incorporated in October 1924, at age 80.

Did Elroy Avery found the New Port Richey Public Library?

Yes. He organized the Avery Library and Historical Society in 1919 and donated close to 1,000 of his own books. The library opened on April 10, 1920, and grew into today’s New Port Richey Public Library.

What books did Elroy Avery write?

Science textbooks such as Elements of Natural Philosophy, histories including A History of the United States and Its People and A History of Cleveland and Its Environs, and The Genesis of New Port Richey (1924).

Who was Catharine Hitchcock Tilden Avery?

Elroy Avery’s first wife, an educator and leader who was the first woman in Ohio elected to public office, founded Ohio’s first DAR chapter and edited the DAR’s magazine, The American Monthly. She died in 1911.

Why are two buildings at The Central named Elroy and Avery?

The buildings at The Central on Orange Lake are named for people who shaped New Port Richey. Dr. Elroy M. Avery, the city’s first mayor, is honored with two, one for each of his names.

Life at The Central

History is part of the view here. Take a look at our community amenities, check floor plans and availability, or schedule a tour. You can also call or text 727.478.0770 to learn more about life here.