Pasco County Begins with a Strategic Move.

In the late 1800s the land now consisting of Pasco, Citrus, and Hernando counties comprised one giant county with Brooksville as the County Seat. When the southern portion of the county became populated, those settlers started to complain about making the long trip on horseback to Brooksville for court or government business. It was decided to propose splitting two additional counties from the giant Hernando County.

The bill to form two new counties to be known as Citrus and Banner Counties was having a hard time finding support. It looked like the bill was destined to fail. Yet, happening at the same time as the bill proposal, a popular Judge from Monticello, Samuel Pasco, was elected to the U.S. Senate. Moving quickly, it was decided to change the name of Banner County to Pasco County, to gain favor with the state legislature. The astute maneuver worked. The bill to establish Pasco County was passed unanimously by both the Senate and the House in 1887.

To learn more about Samuel Pasco, click on the picture below.

Samuel Pasco (1834-1917)