The History of Aripeka: Small Fishing Village Then and Now

Aripeka is a small fishing village on Florida’s Gulf Coast in the region known as the Nature Coast. The village of less than 200 people sits just a few miles south of the more famous and traveled Homosassa Springs and Crystal River. The history of Aripeka, however, is no less colorful and has always showcased the town’s location at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico.

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If you aren’t familiar with Aripeka, you aren’t alone. It’s just a pinpoint on the map of Florida yet it’s a unique little town in many ways. Located right on the Gulf of Mexico between Spring Hill and Hudson, it’s easy to miss even if you drive right through it.

About Aripeka

The village is comprised of a community club, library/history museum, baptist church, gas station/convenience store, and seafood market. A single major road – county road 595 – leads through town with all of the residential streets branching off of 595. The road crosses from south to north across an island – and a county line – and through a marsh before it turns back to the east and US Highway 19.

Aripeka also holds the distinction of straddling the Pasco-Hernando County line with half the town, including the post office, church, and library on the south in Pasco and the rest of the town in Hernando. Also of note, there are no restaurants or hotels in the village.

Intrigued? Let’s jump into the history of Aripeka to understand how it came to be such a quaint town.

History of Aripeka in the 1800s

Aripeka was an undeveloped collection of islands amid marshland until the late 1800s. It was first settled in 1873 and named Gulf Key. Ten years later in 1883, the Gulf Key post office was established. By 1893, the small community had become a regular stop for the steamship, Gov. Safford. According to the website, Fivay:

“A publication reports its (Gulf Key’s) shipping consists of two sloops, one schooner, and numerous smaller craft, running between this port, Yellow Bluff, and Cedar Keys.”

In 1886, the Gulf Key post office was renamed Argo. Several public records and documents verify this name in the years following the name change. First, the Pensacolian reported the name changed in January 1887. School board records show 19 students enrolled in Argo School in 1888, and in 1889 the town’s physician, J. G. Guthrie, is named the teacher. However, the post office undergoes another name change in 1892 when its name reverts to Gulf Key.

Aripeka is Born

In 1895 the Aripeka post office is established in Hernando County, and this part of the village was named Aripeka. The southern part of the village located in Pasco County was called Hammock Creek. Today, this is the name given to the creek which bisects the town and creates islands out of much of the land area.

Meanwhile, the Gulf Key post office was discontinued in 1896. Then a post office with the name Wheeler was opened in 1898 and remained open until 1902.

History of Aripeka in the 1900s

Though several families lived in the Gulf Key/Argo/Hammock Creek/Aripeka area since the 1870s, newspapers and new residents considered the town new and virtually uninhabited before 1904. A newspaper account from 1905 states:

“Aripeka is beautifully located on a fine bay opening into the Gulf of Mexico. A year ago only Mr. and Mrs. Ellis lived here, but now there is a prosperous settlement…”

George Pine, a photographer who served as Aripeka’s first postmaster wrote in 1905 also:

“About a dozen families from Arkansas have built homes [in Aripeka], a store and church have been added, and the place has the prospect of becoming a thriving town.”

At that time, the town boasted a school, a church, a store, the post office with daily mail service, and a sawmill. Though the railroad was six miles away, boats constantly come into this port, bringing goods and people, and shipping out any goods produced in the area.

An Alternate Early History of Aripeka?

In 1908, the Tampa Morning Tribune published a special one-page feature about Aripeka. In it, the newspaper states:

“The settlement of Aripeka was undertaken about two years ago by the Aripeka company, a corporation organized for that purpose by the original developer of Aripeka, Mr. R. A. Ellis, who is president and manager of the company.”

The official marker beside the historic post office, however, indicates the town was name for the Aripeka Sawmills which opened to the south in 1905. The company owned thousands of acres of timberland in area and even opened a town near the sawmills. That town, named Fivay for the five owners whose surnames all began with the letter “A”, became a ghost town after the sawmills closed in 1912. The railroad which ran between Brooksville and Fivay was owned by the Aripeka Sawmills and was decommissioned after the company folded. The railroad bed was used for US Highway 19.

The Origin of the Name Aripeka

Whether the town was named for Ellis’ company (most likely) or for the sawmills (not likely), where did the unusual name come from? Ar-pi-uck-i, also known as Arpeika, Abiaka, and Sam Jones, was a Mikasuki chief who fought for his tribe’s freedom and lands against the US Army in the Seminole Wars. He was a medicine chief and a war chief whose leadership was influential in the Second Seminole War and resulted in a permanent Native American presence in Florida.

Ar-pi-uck-i moved into the Big Cypress Swamp after the Third Seminole War in 1858 and possibly passed away there around 1860. Rumor, however, states that he dies about seven miles from Aripeka in 1866. No matter where his death occurred, or when, the village is undoubtedly named for the great war chief, directly or indirectly.

1910-1940

In 1910, a businessman from Atlanta purchased the entire town of Aripeka except the school and the church. Mr. Ellis who first platted and sold plots in Aripeka had mortgaged the land. The land was foreclosed on, and Mr Ellis was unable to deliver title to the plots he had sold. The courts ordered the sale of the town, and Mr. Willingham of Atlanta purchased it. At the time, the town consisted of about 120 acres, several stores, two hotels, parks, and all the homes. Mr. Willingham deeded the sold lots to everyone who had purchased one.

The year 1921 saw quite a bit of change in Aripeka. First, a post office opened on the south side of Hammock Creek. It still stands though a newer post office was built beside it in 1962. The Lynch family from Indiana purchased the only large building in town and opened the Os-O-Waw Inn which remained open until it burned some time in the 1960s.

Dutch and Josie Lynch, proprietors of the inn, had owned a tavern in the Bronx, according to a 2021 article in Suncoast News, and had likely met the legendary Babe Ruth. It’s well known that the baseball player spent time in Aripeka saltwater fishing in the Gulf and bass fishing in nearby Hunter Lake in Spring Hill. Some say he stayed in a wood cabin on Palm Island, but locals dispute this. The probably connection with the Lynches make it likely he stayed at the Os-O-Waw Inn when he was in town.

In 1931 the Inn was raided by prohibition men and made the news as far away as Tampa. During the late 1920s and early 1930s other events happened in Aripeka, too. A new school house was constructed as was a new Baptist church. An order was issued to close the Aripeka post office but the residents signed a petition to keep the post office, and the order was rescinded.

The 1940s and Beyond

The late 1940s and early 1950s saw a number of improvements come to Aripeka. For instance, the town received electricity in 1947. In October 1950, the New Port Richey Press reported:

“Friday was a ‘red letter’ day for the residents of Aripeka, after two years of struggle we received the telephone lines.”

The 1960s saw another flutter of improvements hit Aripeka. In 1959, Dr. Georg Loewenstein and his wife, Hansi, moved to Aripeka. He was 69 years old when they moved to the fishing village and made a lasting impact on the community. He and Hansi created a First Aid Station down the street from their home. There was no nearby hospital at the time so Hansi manned the station while Dr. Loewenstein worked in his studio overlooking Hammock Creek. When a patient arrived, legend says Hansi simply yelled down the street for her husband.

Today, the First Aid Station is the community library and history museum. The Loewensteins moved to Clearwater in 1964.

In 1960, Aripeka built a meeting place for the Community Club on donated land. The Club was first organized as the Sewing Club in 1931, renamed the Variety Club in 1951, and then the Community Club in 1953. As for the clubhouse, according to an article in New Port Richey Press in 1961:

“Donations and pledges were made toward a new clubhouse at this meeting…A date was set for clearing the half-acre plot and some 20 men and several women showed up with hoes, rakes, saws, axes, etc., to complete this portion of the project in short order. Facilitated by donations of materials and labor, building operations progressed rapidly with the result that on Sunday, Mar. 13, Aripekans proudly dedicated the fine 34×54 clubhouse, made possible by the concerted efforts of the entire community.”

In 1962, a new post office was built adjacent to the historic 1921 post office. The historic one still stands under an old oak tree, an historic marker in front of it.

Life continued in Aripeka, much as it still does, with births and deaths, fishing a center of activity alongside community activities. People moved in and people moved out. A few other notable happenings include:

• In January 1988, singer Anita Bryant performed at the Elks Lodge of Aripeka, ending a decade-long hiatus from show business.
• In 1989, landscape artist Leslie Neumann moveed to Aripeka.
• In March 1993, flooding from the “No-Name Storm” caused extensive damage to the village.

Visiting Aripeka

If you want to see Aripeka for yourself, it’s easy and won’t take long unless you choose to dawdle. Aripeka’s as good a place as any to dawdle. Some residents have told me the village is becoming quite an artist’s haven. It’s also still a fishing hotspot and draws photographers who want to capture the magic of the surrounding marshlands.

As mentioned earlier, there are no restaurants or hotels in Aripeka. However, we also eat one of the Hernando Beach restaurants a few miles north of Aripeka. Hernando Beach also offers a motel and vacation rentals, or you might choose to stay in one of the hotels in Spring Hill.

Closing: History of Aripeka

There’s something magical about a small town which remains true to its origins, including many of the same buildings which have withstood the test of time and storms. We don’t often see little villages like this in Florida anymore, and it was refreshing to spend time there.

If you love histories like this one, you might also enjoy the rich history found in Tarpon Springs about an hour south of Aripeka or the unique history of Zolfo Springs in south central Florida.

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