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.

The post The Name Behind the Irwin Building: The New Port Richey Kid Who Walked on the Moon appeared first on The Central on Orange Lake Apartments Blog.

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.

The post The Elroy and Avery Buildings: Dr. Elroy M. Avery, New Port Richey’s First Mayor appeared first on The Central on Orange Lake Apartments Blog.

Gerben DeVries at a Glance

• Full name: Gerben Myer DeVries (1880 to 1953)
• Born: Iowa
• First visit: The day after Thanksgiving, 1913
• Moved here: June 1914, bringing his family from St. Johns, Michigan
• First job in town: An early employee of the Port Richey Company, the developer of the new town site
• Postmaster: New Port Richey’s first, commissioned in 1915 and serving about 20 years
• Also known for: Writing the legend behind the first Chasco Fiesta in 1922
• Honored today: The Gerben DeVries Parking Area marker on Main Street, and the DeVries and Gerben buildings at The Central

A Town Without a Post Office

DeVries first saw this stretch of the Gulf Coast the day after Thanksgiving in 1913. He later remembered that Port Richey then had a store and a post office run by David Clark, and not much else. The Port Richey Company was laying out a new town along the Cotee River and around Orange Lake, and DeVries, who went to work for the company, moved his family down from Michigan in June 1914.

The new settlement had big plans but no mail of its own. According to a history of the twin towns published by Patch, a carrier even refused the route residents proposed down Madison Street. So the neighbors petitioned Washington for their own office.

How New Port Richey Got Its Name

Getting a post office meant getting a name, and that turned out to be harder than it sounds. On March 30, 1914, a post office inspector came to size up the need. Residents asked for “Newport-Richey.” The Post Office Department said no, worried about confusion with Newport, Florida, and with Port Richey itself. “Chascotee” was turned down too. It was Congressman Stephen Sparkman who offered the compromise: split “Newport” into two words. New Port Richey was born.

The application for the office is dated February 20, 1915. On April 4, the Tampa Morning Tribune reported that “Gerben M. DeVries is applicant for postmaster.” His commission came through that summer, dated July 21, 1915, and the New Port Richey post office opened on August 30, 1915.

A Four-by-Six Post Office

It started small. By DeVries’s own account, the first New Port Richey post office worked out of a four-by-six-foot space in the Hermanson and Draft building. Money orders followed on November 1, 1915, and by January 1916 the office had moved into the drug store. Chester Wilcox, recalling the town of those years, placed the post office right on the main street, with the newspaper office just beyond it.

As the town grew, so did the office. It advanced to third class in July 1920, and in 1921 DeVries, writing as postmaster in the New Port Richey Press, put the town’s population at about 1,500. A 1948 profile credited him with serving the town for 20 years and lifting the office from fourth class to second class.

The Postmaster Who Invented a Legend

DeVries was not just the man who sorted the mail. He was one of the town’s great promoters, and in the winter of 1915 he chronicled the new board of trade formed to sell New Port Richey to the world. His most lasting promotion came in 1922.

That January, the story goes, DeVries was fishing on the Pithlachascotee River on New Year’s Day when he found a clay cylinder holding a parchment signed by a “Padre Luis.” The scroll told of a Spanish girl, Isabella, adopted by the local tribe and crowned Queen Chasco, and of her love for Prince Pithla. The Tampa Morning Tribune ran the find on February 8, 1922, under the headline “Find Record of Old Tribe of Indians.” The first Chasco Fiesta followed in March 1922 in what is now Sims Park.

DeVries later admitted the scroll was his invention, a tale modeled on Tampa’s Gasparilla and created to draw crowds to the city. It worked. The West Pasco Historical Society tells the full story of that first fiesta, and the Chasco Fiesta still brings crowds to Sims Park every spring.

The DeVries and Gerben Buildings

The buildings at The Central on Orange Lake are named for people who shaped New Port Richey, and Gerben DeVries gets two, one for each half of his name. It fits. He helped give the town its mail, its name on the map and its most famous festival. You can see his name on Main Street, too, where the Gerben DeVries Parking Area marker honors him as “an early promoter of New Port Richey.” The West Pasco Historical Society’s New Port Richey timeline and the city’s Wikipedia history are the best places to dig deeper, and his story is one more reason the Downtown District, supported by New Port Richey Main Street, rewards anyone who slows down and reads the markers in Downtown New Port Richey.

Want to see the town Gerben DeVries helped name? 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.

Gerben DeVries and New Port Richey: Frequently Asked Questions

Who was New Port Richey’s first postmaster?

Gerben Myer DeVries. His commission was dated July 21, 1915, and the New Port Richey post office opened on August 30, 1915.

How did New Port Richey get its name?

Residents asked for “Newport-Richey,” but the Post Office Department rejected it. Congressman Stephen Sparkman suggested splitting “Newport” into two words, giving the town the name New Port Richey.

Did Gerben DeVries start the Chasco Fiesta?

He wrote the legend behind it. In 1922 he announced the “discovery” of a scroll telling the story of Queen Chasco, later admitting he made it up to draw crowds. The first Chasco Fiesta was held in March 1922.

Where is the Gerben DeVries marker?

On Main Street in Downtown New Port Richey, where a parking area is named in his honor.

Why are two buildings at The Central named DeVries and Gerben?

The buildings at The Central on Orange Lake are named for people who shaped New Port Richey. Gerben DeVries is honored with two, one for each half of his name.

Life at The Central

History is part of the neighborhood 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.

The post The Name Behind the DeVries and Gerben Buildings: New Port Richey’s First Postmaster appeared first on The Central on Orange Lake Apartments Blog.

Gene Sarazen at a Glance

• Born: Eugenio Saraceni, 1902, Harrison, New York
• First majors: The 1922 U.S. Open, at age 20, and the 1922 PGA Championship
• In New Port Richey: Arrived in December 1927; sold his home here in 1934
• Invention: The modern sand wedge, which he called the “sand-iron”
• 1932: Won both the British Open and the U.S. Open
• Orange Lake connection: Championed a short chip-and-putt course around Orange Lake for children

A Champion Moves to Town

In the 1920s, local developers Warren Burns and James Becker wanted a golf course that would put New Port Richey on the map, and they recruited Sarazen to help build one at Jasmin Point, along the Pithlachascotee River. In August 1927 the New Port Richey Press reported that he had bought a lot there, across from land owned by silent film star Thomas Meighan, and that he would list New Port Richey as his home course on tour. On December 17, 1927, Sarazen and his wife arrived and checked into The Hacienda while their riverfront home was finished.

The Jasmin Point course opened in February 1929. Sarazen later admitted it “wasn’t a very good one,” but it had one excellent sand trap behind his house, and that trap changed golf.

The Sand Wedge, Born on Grand Boulevard

Sarazen got the idea while taking flying lessons, watching how a plane’s tail dropped as it lifted off. He ordered niblicks from Wilson, filed them by hand, and soldered metal onto the soles at his home and at the Scofield-Huddleston Garage at Grand and Gulf boulevards, a short walk from where The Central stands today. Then he went out to that trap behind his house and tested them. His daughter, Mary Ann Sarazen, later described the result as “the first modern sand wedge, with a steel shaft.” Within months he had won two majors with it.

A Neighbor, Not Just a Legend

The people of New Port Richey remembered Sarazen as much for his kindness as his trophies. He gave away clubs and helped get local kids into the game. Allan Safranek Sr., who caddied for him at 12, recalled a 50-cent tip and summed him up simply: “He was just a wonderful guy.” Longtime residents remembered a parade down Main Street in his honor after a major win.

Sarazen also proposed and championed a municipal course on Orange Lake: 18 short chip-and-putt holes meant for children and for neighbors who could not afford a country club. Residents eventually voted on December 3, 1935, to turn it into park space. The water that the Sarazen building looks toward today was once where New Port Richey’s kids learned to chip a golf ball.

The Sarazen Building

At The Central on Orange Lake, the Sarazen building’s tower residences, along with those in the Irwin building, stand as the gateway to Central Avenue, the first thing you see as Downtown New Port Richey opens up around Orange Lake. It is a fitting job for a building named after a man who helped introduce this town to the rest of the world. You can learn more about Sarazen’s time here from the West Pasco Historical Society, and his story is part of what makes the Downtown District supported by New Port Richey Main Street worth exploring.

Want to see more of the New Port Richey Gene Sarazen knew? 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.

Gene Sarazen and New Port Richey: Frequently Asked Questions

Did Gene Sarazen live in New Port Richey?

Yes. He arrived in December 1927 to help build and manage the Jasmin Point golf course and lived in a riverfront home here until he sold it in 1934.

Was the sand wedge invented in New Port Richey?

Sarazen built and tested his first sand wedge here, working at his home and at a garage at Grand and Gulf boulevards, and first used it to win the 1932 British Open.

Was there ever a golf course on Orange Lake?

Yes. Sarazen championed a short chip-and-putt course around Orange Lake for children. Residents voted to convert it to park space in 1935.

Why is a building at The Central named Sarazen?

The buildings at The Central on Orange Lake are named for people who shaped New Port Richey, and Gene Sarazen is one of the most famous.

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.

The post Gene Sarazen, the Sand Wedge and the Building That Bears His Name appeared first on The Central on Orange Lake Apartments Blog.