Books availible at The Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce for $20.00 and if you want it mailed to you within the USA it will be $25.00 which includes handling and postage.

Town of Abbott was laid out and the plot recorded on April 18, 1888 at the Pasco County seat, established at nearby Dade City a year earlier. The future Zephyrhills became a voting district in 1893, and “Station” was added to “Abbott” in 1896 when the Seaboard Coast Line depot was built to facilitate the shipping of naval stores and lumber. In the early 1900s, Zephyrhills was covered with virgin pine, which were tapped for turpentine production and then cut for lumber. The stumps were uprooted and pushed out, and the land was seeded to pasture or set in citrus groves.

The community continued to thrive in 1902 with the establishment of the First Baptist Church and Hennington’s Department Store, and, in December 1909, Captain Howard B. Jeffries chose Abbott Station for a veteran colony. The choice was easy for the Civil War veteran from Pennsylvania. The land was high and fertile, had an abundance of water and was free of swamps, malaria and mosquitoes.

On March 10, 1910, Abbott Station changed its name to Zephyrhills, and was incorporated as a town in 1914. It became known for its citrus groves, poultry farms, cattle ranches and – of course – its world-famous pure water. In time, it became the home base of one of the largest parachuting centers in the world; by 1980, the population had grown to 21,460 residents.