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The warm and friendly nature of Dade City contrasts sharply with the event that gave the town its name -- one of the worst days in the history of the U.S. Army.
We took The Morning Show LIVE to the Old Pasco County Courthouse in Dade City on Wednesday, January 19th!
Photo Gallery: 10 News Live in Dade City!
Thank you to the Dade City Chamber of Commerce, the City of Dade City, Downtown Dade City Main Street, Blackwood Studios dance, Pasco High School cheerleaders, Pasco Middle School drumline, Dade Battlefield Society, Kumquat Growers, Pearl in the Grove restaurant, Hayden Boutique & Designs, Kafe Kokopelli, Trixie's Dixie Kitchen, 4-H of Pasco County, the University of Florida IFAS Extension Service, East Pasco Quilters, the Tampa Bay History Center, and many others for their support!
For information about the city's Kumquat Festival on January 29th, visit the Dade City Chamber of Commerce's website.
Why do they call it Dade City?
There's an east Pasco County road with just two narrow lanes and big sleepy trees -- but don't buy it. The road was one of the first major highways in Florida.
Fort King Road connected Fort Brooke, in what's now Tampa, to Fort King, in what's now Ocala. On the worst -- and last -- day of his life, Major Francis Dade was leading a group of soldiers north on the road toward Fort King.
They were part of the U.S. government's effort to drive all of the Seminole Indians out of Florida.
"Never made it. They were attacked along the way by the Seminoles, which started the [Second] Seminole War," said Rodney Kite-Powell, curator of history at the Tampa Bay History Center.
"It was an ambush. They thought they were through the most dangerous part of the trip. The soldiers had their muskets with them, or their rifles with them, but they had their ammunition underneath their coats," Kite-Powell said.
"It took the better part of the day, but, basically, [the soldiers were] wiped out. Unbelievable."
Dade was one of the first men killed. Legend has it Seminole leader Micanopy fired the deadly shot. By the end of the day, all but three of Dade's more than 100 men were dead.
"Really, the only one of those three that survived to tell the tale was a man named Ransome Clarke," Kite-Powell said.
Back at Fort Brooke, Clarke told of the ambush and slaughter, and the battle was christened the "Dade Massacre." Clarke's account of the fight earned Major Dade major fame.
Near the spot where Dade's men spent Christmas, 1835 -- three days before the battle -- now stands Dade City. And what's now Miami-Dade County was also named in his honor.
Why do they call it that? Now you know.
Dade's battle is reenacted every January by members of the Dade Battlefield Society. Men portraying U.S. Army soldiers square off against others portraying Seminoles at the spot where the ambush took place in Bushnell, about 20 miles north of Dade City.
For more information on the reenactment, which is a weekend family event on January 7 and 8, 2012, visit the Dade Battlefield Society website.
If you want to ask "Why do they call it that?" send an e-mail with a name that has you curious to Grayson Kamm using this link.
We'll be featuring new places and stories each Wednesday on 10 News at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m..
Check out previous editions of "Why do they call it that?" plus links to photos and maps from Tampa Bay's past at our "Why do they call it that?" website: wtsp.com/callitthat.
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