Editing Dade City, Florida (section)

==History==
[[File:German prisoners of war camp on December 18, 1944, Dade City, Florida - NARA - 23936579 (cropped).jpg|300px|thumb|right|German prisoners of war camp in December 1944]]
An earlier community known as Fort Dade existed nearby in the 1870s and 1880s. When the railroad was constructed a few miles east of Fort Dade, local business owners chose to relocate to be closer to it. The newer settlement became known as Dade City. The name became official when the Hatton post office was changed to the Dade City post office on December 18, 1884.

Initially incorporated as a town in either 1884 or 1885, Dade City was later reincorporated as a city following state legislative approval on June 5, 1889. When Pasco County was formed from the southern section of a much larger [[Hernando County]] ([[Citrus County, Florida|Citrus County]] was formed from the northern section) in 1887, Dade City became the county seat—first temporarily and later permanently—by popular vote.

The Pioneer Florida Museum (located just outside city limits), which opened on Labor Day of 1975, showcases the life of European-American pioneers in Central Florida.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pioneerfloridamuseum.org/|title=Pioneer Florida Museum, Dade City, Florida|website=www.pioneerfloridamuseum.org|access-date=April 26, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307084418/http://pioneerfloridamuseum.org/|archive-date=March 7, 2018}}</ref>  Some of its exhibits include a 1913 locomotive, a [[Methodism|Methodist]] church, a house built prior to [[American Civil War]], an old school, and an old train depot from [[Trilby, Florida]].<ref name="Horgan" />

The Hugh Embry Library, currently located on 4th Street in downtown Dade City, was opened in 1904 when its namesake, then 25 years old, was recovering from an illness. Embry had a strong desire to read, but at that time there was no public library located in Dade City. He solicited donations of books from local households, and developed a small library in the Embry home on Church Street (now the site of the U.S. Post Office).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hughembry.org/history.html|title=Friends of the Hugh Embry Library<!-- Bot generated title -->|website=hughembry.org|access-date=April 26, 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001019/http://www.hughembry.org/history.html|archive-date=March 4, 2016}}</ref>

His efforts helped generate great enthusiasm in the community for a much more extensive library, culminating in the establishment of the Pasco County Library Association in 1905.. After Embry's death at the age of 28 due to [[tuberculosis]], the library initially faltered. Efforts of active community members and civic organizations such as the [[Dade City Woman's Club]] kept the library open. The library was relocated several times over the next five decades, finally reaching its current location in 1963. The library underwent a complete renovation in the late 1980s, with the current {{convert|7200|sqft|m2|adj=on}} building opening in 1991. More recently, the library underwent renovations in 2021. The library reopened on May 30, 2023.

The Crescent Theatre was Dade City's main movie theater from its opening in 1926 until it closed in 1950.<ref name="Horgan" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/theater/678/|title=Crescent Theater in Dade City, FL - Cinema Treasures|website=cinematreasures.org|access-date=April 26, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526112106/http://cinematreasures.org/theater/678|archive-date=May 26, 2011}}</ref>  It was located on the northeast corner of south 5th Street and Florida Avenue. The facade of the original building was preserved while other renovations were made for adaptive reuse. A metal structure was added in the 1990s. Today the building is used as a non-profit Seniors' Services center.

The Pasco Theatre, built as a movie theater on south 7th Street, opened in 1948 and operated until its demolition in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cinematreasures.org/theater/27628/|title=Pasco Theatre in Dade City, FL - Cinema Treasures|website=cinematreasures.org|access-date=April 26, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526112942/http://cinematreasures.org/theater/27628|archive-date=May 26, 2011}}</ref> The original "PASCO" sign, once fastened to the building's marquee, has since found a new home inside Florida Cracker Lunch on Limoges. 

Lawrence Puckett (1906–1985) settled in Dade City in 1925. He later became involved in politics and served as mayor from 1981–1983 and as a member of the city commission from 1976 until his death in 1985. His recollections of the city were published by the Pasco County Centennial Committee. They date from his arrival as a young man of 19 years old. Puckett describes Dade City before and after the [[Florida land boom]] as "a typical southern agriculture area, where the few well-to-do controlled the economy and the poor white folks and Negroes did the work for minimal pay. In other words, folks here were either quite well-to-do or very damn poor". Puckett described Dade City as it existed during the Florida boom, with its various shops, streets, and buildings. Most of these had changed significantly by the time he was writing.<ref name=Puckett>{{cite book|last=Puckett|first=Lawrence|title=Recollections of Lawrence Puckett (1906-1985)|year=1987|publisher=Pasco County Centennial Committee|location=Dade City, Fla.}}</ref>

With the Florida land boom, people were streaming into the state, usually sticking to the East Coast. The overall economic effect was to drive up property prices all across the state. For Dade City, Puckett estimated that the top money-making ventures were either real estate, business related to real estate, or the production of [[moonshine]].

He said that the increase of people and capital into Dade City had a profound effect on its culture:

<blockquote>"Country clubs and golf courses were being constructed with country folks playing golf and dancing the Charleston. Woodlands and grazing lands were developed into subdivisions, with sidewalks and streets built nine miles into the woods, which in most cases was about all that happened."<ref name=Puckett /></blockquote>

During World War II, the government established a prisoner-of-war camp in Dade City. The prisoners were German soldiers from Field Marshal [[Erwin Rommel]]'s [[Afrika Korps]], who were captured in battles in North Africa in 1942-1943. They were put to work, producing limestone bricks, building warehouses, and making boxes. The POW camp operated from approximately 1942 to the spring of 1946.  The site has been redeveloped as the Pyracantha Park Civic Center.<ref name="Horgan">Horgan, James J., Alice F. Hall, and Edward J. Herrmann. ''The Historic Places of Pasco County'', Pasco County Historical Preservation Committee, Pasco County, Florida, 1992</ref>