Pasco County Seat · Florida

The History of Dade City, Florida

From an 1835 frontier battle that ignited the Second Seminole War, to a railroad town that became the seat of Pasco County, to a courthouse square famous for kumquats — the story of historic Dade City.

Named For

Maj. Dade

Founded

1884

County Seat

Since 1887

Population

≈ 8,600

The Name

An Army Major and a Florida Battle

The name Dade on every street sign and county building in this part of Florida traces back to one man and one terrible afternoon. Major Francis L. Dade was a Brevet Major in Company B of the 4th U.S. Infantry, leading roughly 110 soldiers north from Fort Brooke (modern Tampa) toward Fort King (modern Ocala) in late 1835.

On December 28, 1835, just east of present-day Bushnell, his column was ambushed by Seminole warriors. Only three of Dade's men survived. The engagement — the Dade Battle, often called the “Dade Massacre” — opened the Second Seminole War, the longest and costliest of the Indian wars fought on American soil.

A year later, on December 23, 1836, the Army built a stockade in this area and named it Fort Dade in his memory. When a railroad eventually bypassed the original site, the town — newly incorporated — kept the name.

Historic Photo

Major Francis L. Dade, 4th U.S. Infantry (c. 1835)

The shot heard from beneath a Florida pine in 1835 echoed for seven years — and gave a name to a town built nearly fifty years later on the same frontier.

— Florida historians, on the Dade Battle

From Fort to City

The Town the Railroad Built

Settlement around old Fort Dade grew slowly through the 1840s and 1850s. Thomas R. Tucker and Sarah Tucker were the first known white settlers in what would become Pasco County; in December 1842, James Gibbons received a federal land permit for 160 acres that ultimately became the heart of Dade City. A Fort Dade post office opened in 1845 with Gibbons as postmaster.

The town as we know it today was born after the Civil War. A group of Civil War veterans from Kentucky began homesteading in the area in the 1870s. When the railroad surveyed its route eastward in the 1880s, it ran a few miles east of the old Fort Dade settlement — so the entire community pulled up stakes and moved to meet the rails. On December 18, 1884, the local Hatton post office was renamed Dade City, and the town incorporated soon after. Reincorporation as a city followed on June 5, 1889.

When Pasco County was carved out of southern Hernando County by the Florida Legislature in 1887, Dade City became the county seat — first temporarily, and then permanently by popular vote.

Post office renamed

1884

Hatton → Dade City

Reincorporated

1889

As a city

County Seat

1887

Of new Pasco County

Centerpiece of the Square

The 1909 Pasco County Courthouse

Built 1909 · NRHP Listed

Pasco County Courthouse

The white-domed, neoclassical Pasco County Courthouse, built in 1909, is the architectural and civic centerpiece of downtown Dade City. It anchors the courthouse square, hosts public meetings, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Around it, a walkable grid of brick storefronts, antique shops, and cafés preserves the small-town feel of a county seat that has survived more than a century of Florida change.

Established 1904

Hugh Embry Library

One of the oldest continuously operating public libraries in Pasco County. Renovated and reopened on May 30, 2023, the library remains a quiet fixture just off the courthouse square.

World War II

A German POW Camp in the Pines

From 1942 to 1946, Dade City hosted a German Prisoner of War campon the eastern edge of town. Most of the prisoners had been captured in North Africa as part of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps and shipped across the Atlantic to ride out the war on Florida farms and citrus groves.

POWs in Dade City worked the local fields and groves under agreements between the federal government and area growers. After the war, the camp closed and was demolished. Today the site is home to Pyracantha Park Civic Center, with little obvious sign of its wartime past — a quiet footnote in a town whose name itself was forged in an earlier American war.

The Kumquat Capital

40,000 People for One Tiny Citrus

The sandy uplands around Dade City turned out to be ideal for one of the world's smallest citrus fruits — the kumquat. Growers have been cultivating them in the area since the late 1800s, and today the region is one of the largest commercial kumquat-producing areas in the United States.

That heritage is celebrated every January at the Annual Kumquat Festival, held on the streets surrounding the historic courthouse. The festival draws up to 40,000 visitors in a single day for live music, kumquat pies, marmalades, and a downtown that swells from sleepy to packed.

The Kumquat Festival shares the courthouse square with the long-running Dade City Cruise-In, a vintage car show that turns the streets into rolling history every season.

A Town's Milestones

A Walk Through Nearly Two Centuries

Dec 28, 1835

The Dade Battle opens the Second Seminole War

Major Francis L. Dade and 110 U.S. Army soldiers are ambushed by Seminole warriors near Bushnell. Only three survive.

Dec 23, 1836

Fort Dade established

The U.S. Army builds a stockade in the area and names it Fort Dade in memory of the fallen major.

Dec 1842

The first homestead permit

James Gibbons receives a federal land permit for 160 acres that will become the core of Dade City.

1845

Fort Dade post office opens

James Gibbons serves as the first postmaster of Fort Dade — the area's earliest civilian institution.

1870s

Civil War veterans arrive from Kentucky

A wave of Kentuckians settle the area, planting citrus and farming the rolling pine flats.

Dec 18, 1884

The town becomes Dade City

The local Hatton post office is renamed Dade City; the town moves a few miles east to meet the new railroad.

1887

Pasco County is born

Florida carves Pasco County out of southern Hernando. Dade City becomes the county seat — at first temporarily, then permanently by popular vote.

Jun 5, 1889

Reincorporated as a city

The Florida Legislature reincorporates Dade City as a full municipality.

1904

Hugh Embry Library opens

One of the oldest continuously operating libraries in Pasco County opens just off the courthouse square.

1909

The Pasco County Courthouse rises

The neoclassical, white-domed Pasco County Courthouse is completed — the centerpiece of downtown Dade City and later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1942–1946

A German POW camp in town

During WWII, captured Afrika Korps soldiers are held in Dade City and put to work in local citrus groves. The camp closes after the war; the site is now Pyracantha Park.

Sep 1, 1975

Pioneer Florida Museum opens

On Labor Day 1975, the Pioneer Florida Museum opens just outside the city — preserving a 1913 locomotive, an antebellum house, a one-room schoolhouse, the Trilby train depot, and a Methodist church.

1990s

Kumquat Festival becomes a regional draw

Begun as a small downtown event, the Kumquat Festival grows into a January institution drawing up to 40,000 visitors to the courthouse square in a single day.

May 30, 2023

Hugh Embry Library reopens

After a multi-year renovation, the historic library reopens to the public — modernized but still rooted in its 1904 beginnings.

Dade City Today

The County Seat in the 2020s

Population (2020)

7,275

U.S. Census

2023 Estimate

≈ 8,646

And growing

Land Area

7.81 sq mi

City limits

Elevation

118 ft

Among Florida's highest

Geography, People & Economy

Dade City sits at the crossroads of U.S. 98, U.S. 301, and the new alignment of State Road 52 — the same SR-52 extension that opened in 2023 connecting San Antonio and the western Pasco communities directly to the Dade City courthouse square. The 2020 Census recorded 7,275 residents, with a 2023 estimate of about 8,646. Demographics run roughly 52.6% White (non-Hispanic), 25.6% Hispanic or Latino, and 17.4% Black or African American.

The economy mixes agriculture (citrus, including kumquats), healthcare anchored by AdventHealth Dade City, county government and the courthouse complex, and a growing downtown of independent restaurants, antique stores, breweries, and seasonal events.

City Government

A Commission–Manager Form

Dade City operates under a commission–manager form of government. An elected mayor and four city commissioners set policy, while a professional city manager handles day-to-day operations from City Hall on the courthouse square.

Mayor

Scott Black

Chief Elected Official

Mayor Pro Tem

Normita "Angel" Woodard

City Commissioner

City Manager

Marieke vanErven

Day-to-Day Operations

Commissioner

Kristin H. Church

Commissioner

Ann E. Cosentino

Commissioner

James D. Shive

On the Map

Where Dade City Sits

Dade City, FL

Open in Google Maps

Dade City, Florida — eastern Pasco County, on US 98 and US 301.

Walk the History

Six Places to See It for Yourself

Pasco County Courthouse

The 1909 white-domed centerpiece of the downtown square. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Pioneer Florida Museum

Just outside town: a 1913 locomotive, antebellum house, one-room schoolhouse, Trilby depot, and Methodist church.

Hugh Embry Library

Established 1904, renovated and reopened May 2023. Among the oldest libraries in Pasco County.

Kumquat Festival

Held each January around the courthouse square — up to 40,000 visitors and the world's smallest citrus.

Pyracantha Park Civic Center

On the site of the WWII German POW camp that once held Afrika Korps prisoners.

Historic Downtown Dade City

Brick storefronts, antique stores, restaurants, and breweries surrounding the courthouse — a county seat that kept its character.

Stay close to the story.

Dade City's story is still being written — by its commissioners, its growers, its downtown shopkeepers, and the families that have lived around the courthouse for four generations. Follow along.