Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
The Williams Cemetery Association now owns this land, which started as two acres deeded by the Williams family. With additional acreage bought from the Hawes family, the cemetery has grown to six acres.
There is a story that the Williams family had given a group of travelers permission to camp on this hill, and upon returning home from a trip elsewhere, found the travelers killed, presumably by Indians. They were buried in a mass grave, which has not yet been found. Each time a new grave is dug in this cemetery, they look for evidence of that earlier mass grave.
The individuals buried here include Jacob Wells, who came here in 1842 and settled in the nearby Riggs Hammock. Other old gravestones are too weathered to read.
Near here was a village settled in about 1780 by the Eufala Seminoles. They had come from Eufala, Alabama, in 1767. The village, also called Etowahchutka, was abandoned in about 1836 at about the time of the start of the Second Seminole War.
About two miles south of here, where the road curves to the west, was a community known to the early settlers as Prospect and Buddy's Lake Settlement. Jacob Wells from Madison County, Florida, was its first settler in 1842. In 1855, the log Prospect Church was built and also served as a school. It closed in 1868.
A second church was built in 1887 by Jack Osburn and Jack Gaskins on a 20-acre site. The congregation joined the Florida Methodist Conference and in 1940 the building, known as Sand Pond School, was purchased for $100 by Med and Mae Stanley Gaskin. They used it for a residence on Fort King Rd.
Not far from where Prospect used to be is a site dating back to 10,000 B.C. when it was used for the manufacture of tools from the agatized coral outcroppings.
This home was built during the 1890s, and later became the residence of the Fordyce family. It features a square turret upstairs, which let in light from the outside to illuminate the staircase inside.
Not far from this spot stood the wooden Lakeview Highlands Hotel, built in about 1888. It provided luxury accommodations and was a symbol of wealth until the area was hit hard by killer freezes in 1894 and 1895. The hotel burned down in 1899.
This rural style house was built here in 1913 by William Dew, Charle Knapp, and Howard McKillips. The heart pine lumber came from Greer's Mill by ox cart. Its single chimney serves three fireplaces, two downstairs and one upstairs.
The second floor contains two bedrooms and a distinctive portico. There was an open upstairs porch on the north side, which has since been removed. On the first floor is a living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, bathroom, and a front porch.
This hill was named for the family of William A. LeHeup (pronounced "Luh Hoop"), after they moved here in 1911 from Georgia. This land (elevation 225 feet) is some of the highest in Pasco County.
In about 1869, slaves who had recently obtained their freedom arrived here and established the community of Freedtown near the end of what is now Bozeman Rd. There were log cabins, a cemetery, and an African Methodist Episcopal church. The buildings have been torn down and the cemetery covered over. Freedtown was abandoned after the freezes of 1894 and 1895.
In about 1875, Elijah Embree Earnest and his wife, Virginia Thrasher Earnest, opened a store on the shore of Lake Buddy, beginning the settlement of Earnestville. In 1885, a post office was established. The community was hit very hard by the severe freezes of 1894 and 1895, and was soon abandoned. The post office officially closed in 1899.
Fred T. and Lizzie Himmelwright ordered this house from the Sears catalogue. It is the Aladdin model, one of the more popular designs purchased during the Florida Boom years. The pieces were shipped by train in 1926 and assembled by carpenter D.K. Franey.
The Himmelwrights built this in 1927 as a small country store and named it Linda Vista, meaning "pretty view" in Spanish. From this vantage point, they could see Bailey Hill, Dade City, Pasadena, Phelps, Prospect, Saint Leo, San Antonio, Sand Pond, and Zephyrhills.
They had a lunch counter and a spacious sitting room, which was also used for community activities. Outside were gasoline pumps.
One of the early settlers along the shore of this lake was Lewis Gaskin, who moved to this area in 1855. In the early years, the settlement here was known as Prospect and as the Buddy's Lake Settlement.
The lake, according to legend, was named in the 1830s when a covered wagon and a herd of cattle stopped by it while traveling north on Fort King Rd. Most of the cattle drank from the shore, but the owner's pet bull, Buddy, walked into the lake until his back was covered, to cool off. One version of the legend has the bull walking out so far that he drowned. Another has him staying in the lake until his owner and the rest of the herd started down the trail, and then he hurried to catch up.
The settlers then called the body of water Buddy's Lake, then Buddy Lake, and then Lake Buddy. It wasn't until the 1880s that is was callled Lake Pasadena.
In the early 1930s, Norwegian ship captain Sverre Solberg purchased this home from the Toombs and Lyman Dairy. It had been built in about 1915 with a Georgian style. Solberg served as an officer of the Lykes Brothers Steamship Lines, headquartered in New Orleans. He helped bring U.S. troops home after World War II.
While Capt. Solberg was at sea, Mrs. Solberg had ten acres cleared for a citrus grove and had the house refurbished. After he died, she had a bright shiny copper roof added. It has since weathered and the home has been substantially remodeled.
Later, Mrs. Solberg moved into a small house not far from here, and this one was bought by William Furr. Later owners include Ted and Betty Raulerson.
In the 1880s and 1890s, the town of Pasadena was a wealthy, thriving citrus community. It was devastated by the severe freezes in December of 1894 and February of 1895. The one remaining building is this church, which until 1932 was owned by the Methodist Conference.
The church served as a social center and as an election polling place from 1888 until 1988. It has been preserved by the Fort King Home Demonstration Club. A recent occupant was the Living in Faith Fellowship.
The Historic Places of Pasco County, by James J. Horgan, Alice F. Hall and Edward J. Herrman (Ralard Printers, Inc. 1992)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.