DISTON, DISSTON, DREXEL of PASCO County, FL - Part 1

PART ONE: In search of a PASCO County Ghost Town. 

DISTON started out as a Post Office in 1883, but was located in Hillsborough County. By 1888, this Post Office had relocated to Pasco County, but the County line in this region had not changed. Then, within only a few months, the name DISTON changed to DREXEL on September 15, 1888. At that time the post office was a stop on the Orange Belt Railway, a train running between Sanford and St. Petersburg. So, what’s the story of Diston, said by early researchers to have been misspelled - meant to be DISSTON, and why the change to Drexel?

To fully appreciate this fascinating story we must begin with a Hernando County farmer named Aaron M. RICHEY. Homesteading in the early 1880s, Aaron RICHEY farmed 80 acres alongside land belonging to the ex-Governor of Arizona, Anson P. K. SAFFORD. 

In late 1884, RICHEY & SAFFORD laid out a new Gulf Coast town they named Port RICHEY. That November year, the Steamboat ‘Governor SAFFORD’, owned by Florida Railway & Navigation Company, made its inaugural run hauling freight and passengers between Port RICHEY and Cedar Key.

Steamer 'Governor Safford' began service November, 1884

In addition to operating a schooner, Aaron RITCHEY planted orange trees, and his were said to be “as large as many of the trees in other parts of the State.” By 1885, the area around Port RICHEY, said Webb's Historical of that year, had "a great many trees from six to ten years old that are loaded with oranges." 

Settlers buying at Port RICHEY were, “almost without exception, raising orange groves.”

Following his stint as Arizona Governor, SAFFORD had occasionally journeyed to New York and Philadelphia on business. While visiting Philadelphia, SAFFORD learned of the four million acre Florida land acquisition by Hamilton Disston, and so SAFFORD came to Florida as one of Disston’s land agents. 

Arizona Governor Anson P. K. SAFFORD

Anson SAFFORD and Aaron RICHEY developed land north of the Pithlachescotee River, the location of their new town, while Disston Land Company owned the acreage on the south side of that river, land fronting as well on the Gulf of Mexico. 

Disston Land Company also owned land further south, also along the coast, where yet another new town was about to be developed, TARPON SPRINGS, which is exactly where Part Two picks up next Wednesday, May 31, 2017.

IN SEARCH OF A PASCO COUNTY GHOST TOWN

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CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains

Much, much more to come as this series works its way inland!