In September 1941, an 11-year-old boy moved with his family into a house on Grand Boulevard in New Port Richey. He sat in a sixth-grade classroom at Pierce Elementary, spent half of each day in seventh-grade classes at Gulf High School, and at a revival at the First Baptist Church on Orange Lake, made a decision that would guide the rest of his life. Thirty years later, he was standing on the moon. His name was James Benson Irwin, and today the Irwin building at The Central on Orange Lake carries it.

His time here was short, a single school year. But New Port Richey never forgot him, and he never forgot New Port Richey.

James Irwin at a Glance

  • Full name: James Benson Irwin (1930 to 1991)
  • Born: March 17, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • In New Port Richey: September 1941 through the end of that school year, in a house at Grand Boulevard and Illinois Avenue
  • School: Pierce Elementary and Gulf High School; he appears in the 1942 Gulf High yearbook
  • Church: Accepted Christ at a revival at First Baptist Church of New Port Richey at age 11
  • Apollo 15: Lunar module pilot, July 26 to August 7, 1971, and the eighth person to walk on the moon
  • Came back: In 1966, in 1972 for First Baptist's golden anniversary, in 1979 and again in the 1980s
  • Honored today: The Irwin building at The Central on Orange Lake, one of two tower buildings at the gateway to Central Avenue

One School Year on Grand Boulevard

The Irwins came to New Port Richey from Pennsylvania in September 1941. According to Paul Herman, digital media archivist for the West Pasco Historical Society, writing for Tampa Bay Beacons, the family bought a house at the corner of Grand Boulevard and Illinois Avenue from former mayor Fred Howard. Years later, a letter from Irwin's father remembered the furnished home as being on Main Street; the West Pasco Historical Society notes it was more likely the Boulevard.

Young Jim was enrolled at Pierce Elementary for sixth grade and took seventh-grade classes at Gulf High School for half of each day, and he shows up in the 1942 Gulf High yearbook. His father, a steamfitter, could not find steady work locally and took a job at the Orlando Air Base. When the school year ended, the family moved on to Orlando. Herman's account adds one more detail that is hard to read without smiling: at about 12 years old, Irwin reportedly told his mother he wanted to go to the moon.

The Church on Orange Lake

The most important thing that happened to Irwin in New Port Richey happened in church. The West Pasco Historical Society records that he accepted Christ at a revival held at First Baptist Church of New Port Richey when he was 11. It was the start of a faith that would define his life after NASA.

That church has a history of its own. The West Pasco Historical Society's First Baptist history traces the congregation's purchase of a lot at Circle and Central Avenue in 1924, the cornerstone laid on May 30, 1926, and services held in that building until October 29, 1978. After the congregation moved away, the city bought the former First Baptist site on Orange Lake, as Patch reported in 2011. That land is where The Central on Orange Lake stands today. The Irwin building rises on the same ground where an 11-year-old made the decision he would talk about for the rest of his life.

From Gulf High to the Hadley Plain

After Orlando, Irwin finished high school in Salt Lake City in 1947, went on to the U.S. Naval Academy and earned a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1957. In April 1966, NASA selected him as one of 19 new astronauts.

On Apollo 15, from July 26 to August 7, 1971, Irwin served as lunar module pilot alongside commander David Scott. The two spent just under three days on the moon, 66 hours and 54 minutes, and Irwin became the first automobile passenger on the moon as Scott drove the Lunar Roving Vehicle. Their geology training paid off with one of the most important finds of the Apollo era, a piece of ancient lunar crust known as the Genesis Rock. Herman put the hometown connection simply: "New Port Richey's own James B. Irwin helped to get us there."

Coming Back to New Port Richey

Irwin returned to New Port Richey several times. He brought his wife and children to visit in 1966, the year he joined NASA. On July 9, 1972, less than a year after Apollo 15, he came back to speak at First Baptist's golden anniversary celebration. The St. Petersburg Times reported that "Irwin was in New Port Richey to speak at the golden anniversary observance of the First Baptist Church where he accepted Christ when he was 11." He received a key to the city, and the city council proclaimed a "James B. Irwin" day.

He retired from NASA as a colonel in 1972 and founded the High Flight Foundation, devoting the rest of his life to his faith. Beginning in 1973, he led several expeditions to Mount Ararat in Turkey in search of Noah's Ark. He visited New Port Richey again in October 1979 and in the 1980s. Irwin died on August 8, 1991, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Irwin Building

The buildings at The Central on Orange Lake are named for people who shaped New Port Richey or carried its name out into the world, and Irwin did a bit of both. His building has an important job. Central Avenue was designed with Parisian avenues in mind, buildings that answer one another and a straight line to Orange Lake, and the tower residences in the Irwin and Sarazen buildings stand as its gateway. It is fitting company. Gene Sarazen, the golfer behind the neighboring tower, also spent a short but memorable chapter here and took the town's name a long way from home.

Irwin's New Port Richey years are a reminder that small towns shape big lives. A school year in Downtown New Port Richey, a few blocks from Orange Lake, was enough. You can find more stories like his at the West Pasco Historical Society, and more reasons to slow down and look around in the Downtown District that New Port Richey Main Street works to keep thriving.

Want to go deeper? The West Pasco Historical Society Museum sits in a renovated 1915 schoolhouse in Sims Park, steps from The Central on Orange Lake. It is the best place in town to see New Port Richey's early years up close, and the society's research made much of this story possible. Check their Facebook page for current hours before you stop by.

James Irwin and New Port Richey: Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the Irwin building at The Central named for?

Apollo 15 astronaut James B. Irwin, who lived in New Port Richey as a boy in 1941 and 1942 and walked on the moon in 1971.

Did James Irwin live in New Port Richey?

Yes, briefly. His family moved here in September 1941, he attended Pierce Elementary and Gulf High School, and the family moved to Orlando at the end of the school year.

When did James Irwin walk on the moon?

On Apollo 15, which flew from July 26 to August 7, 1971. Irwin was the lunar module pilot and the eighth person to walk on the moon.

What is James Irwin's connection to First Baptist Church of New Port Richey?

He accepted Christ at a revival there at age 11, and he returned on July 9, 1972, to speak at the church's golden anniversary. The church stood at Circle and Central Avenue on Orange Lake, the land where The Central on Orange Lake stands today.

Where is The Central on Orange Lake?

6332 Grand Boulevard in Downtown New Port Richey, across from Orange Lake and Sims Park.

Life at The Central

Some neighbors are only here for a school year and still leave their mark. 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.