Pasco County, Florida
The story of New Port Richey
Everything below is a single verifiable claim with a citation attached. Where the record is a local legend rather than a document, it says so.
- 1924Incorporated; Sims Park donated
- 1926Meighan Theatre opens
- 1928Meighan builds on the river
- 1929Land boom ends
founding
How it started
- 1924
New Port Richey incorporated on 24 October 1924. Its first council act, on 2 December that year, was to accept a park donated by George Sims.
etymology
How it got its name
-
The younger, upriver twin of Port Richey, which had been named for the settler Aaron M. Richey.
industry
What it lived on
-
Speculation. The town rode the 1920s Florida land boom hard, courting wealthy residents and film people, and the boom's collapse ended the ambition.
claim to fame
What it is known for
- 1926
For a few years New Port Richey meant to be a Hollywood colony. The silent-film star Thomas Meighan built a house on the river in 1928 and wintered here, and a theatre named for him opened in 1926.
landmark
What still stands
- 1924
Sims Park, accepted by the city council on 2 December 1924 and named for its donor, George Sims.
- 1926
The Meighan Theatre, opened in 1926 and named for the silent-film actor.