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City of New Port Richey SignPhoto: Ryan Watern1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
C−History
History · New Port Richey

New Port Richey’s post office opened in 1915, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #215 of 638 in Florida. What drives it

Most of New Port Richey was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Its Register listing is the Hacienda Hotel. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1926 on, and the census since 1930.

1915first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
8famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From New Port Richey’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How New Port Richey began

When was New Port Richey founded?

1915

The New Port Richey post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 758 in 19302020 census: 16,728111 years

How historic is New Port Richey?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first New Port Richey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives New Port Richey’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Port Richey is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #215 of 638 in Florida. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Port Richey’s overall grade.
Founding era1915, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19402.9% of homes (±1.2) · typical FL town 0.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 0.6 per 10,000 residents · typical FL town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Florida towns of 2,500+ (638)Ahead of 66%

Few Florida towns list much on the Register (a typical Florida town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so New Port Richey’s 0.6 sits above most of its state (70% of Florida towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.2 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about New Port Richey’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Famous sons and daughtersBrooke Magnanti, Chris Trousdale and 6 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Port Richey’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how New Port Richey’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMeighan Theater: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people

8 famous people were born in New Port Richey

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Brooke MagnantiBritish writer · b. 1975
C
Chris TrousdaleAmerican singer and actor · b. 1985
J
Joshua ColleyAmerican actor · b. 2002
J
Jim SteeleAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1967
Mike RabeloAmerican baseball player and manager · b. 1980
R
R. C. EnersonAmerican racecar driver · b. 1997
The story

How New Port Richey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of New Port Richey.

Read it all →

By 1914 the area around Orange Lake was being called "New Port Richey" and the older part of Port Richey was called "Old Port Richey." On February 20, 1915 an application was made for a separate post office in New Port Richey. Later the same year the post office was established for the residents of the southern part of Port Richey. The post office was named New Port Richey, and the name became official. The first postmaster was Gerben DeVries. The growth of the city came about after George Sims purchased the Port Richey Land Company. He built a home in New Port Richey in 1916.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

New Port Richey, 1900 to 2002

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900In the archiveMeighan Theater
  3. 1915Post officeThe New Port Richey post office opens
  4. 1943On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1967Born hereJim Steele is born here
  6. 1975Born hereBrooke Magnanti is born here
  7. 1985Born hereChris Trousdale is born here
  8. 21st century
  9. 2002Born hereJoshua Colley is born here
By decade

New Port Richey, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Meighan Theater1900Meighan TheaterResidence of W.E. Burns1900Residence of W.E. Burns
1910s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today16 recent
Madison Street Bridge Streetlight2011Madison Street Bridge StreetlightMadison Street Bridge Overlook2011Madison Street Bridge OverlookUS Navy 101016-N-7361H-004 Navy Junior ROTC students from Lemon Bay High School perform sit-ups during the sit-up compe…2010US Navy 101016-N-7361H-004 Navy Junior ROTC students …US 19 Bridge; Port Richey to2010US 19 Bridge; Port Richey toUS 19 Bridge; Port Richey to New Port Richey (cropped)2010US 19 Bridge; Port Richey to New Port Richey (cropped)Port Richey from NPR Park2010Port Richey from NPR ParkNPR Orange Lake War Memorial-22010NPR Orange Lake War Memorial-2NPR Orange Lake War Memorial-12010NPR Orange Lake War Memorial-1NPR Bridge from the Boat Ramp2010NPR Bridge from the Boat RampNPR Boat Ramp2010NPR Boat RampKunnur2010KunnurEx-US 19 Bridge Dock; NPR2010Ex-US 19 Bridge Dock; NPR2010 US Grand Nationals Jr Rotax20102010 US Grand Nationals Jr RotaxHeath miller fcw2007Heath miller fcwFox Hollow Golf Club, Florida2007Fox Hollow Golf Club, FloridaFLMap-doton-NewPortRichey2004FLMap-doton-NewPortRichey
On the map

New Port Richey on the map, 1943 to 1998

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Port Richey. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

New Port Richey on the 1943 USGS mapNew Port Richey on the 1974 USGS mapNew Port Richey on the 1987 USGS mapNew Port Richey on the 1998 USGS map1943Elfers sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of New Port Richey.

Every building

New Port Richey, building by building, 1926

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

New Port Richey fire insurance map, 1926, sheet 11926Sheet 1 of 2
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Meighan Theater
Retake this viewMeighan Theater, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on New Port Richey’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in New Port Richey

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Hacienda Hotel
Hacienda Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival1
Hacienda HotelLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

New Port Richey, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00014,00016,00018,0001940196019802000202016,728

Grew from 758 people in 1930 to 16,728 in 2020, more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on New Port Richey’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

New Port Richey EastIts storyDElfers2 historic placesC−Port RicheyIts storyC−Beacon SquareIts storyD

Questions about New Port Richey’s history

What year was New Port Richey founded?

The New Port Richey post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does New Port Richey rank for history?

New Port Richey is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #215 of 638 in Florida. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in New Port Richey?

One place: the Hacienda Hotel (listed 1996).

How old are the homes in New Port Richey?

3% of New Port Richey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.2 points), against a typical 0.6% for a Florida town; the median home was built in 1980.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (16), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.