Moving Forward, Looking Back
Pasco History: The Mystery of Stark Cemetery
Once part of a thriving African-American community, today the Stark Cemetery is a piece of the county's almost-forgotten past.
Among one of the most intriguing subjects that I’ve encountered while researching Pasco's history is the Stark Cemetery. Driving down the nicely paved streets of Embassy Hills in Port Richey and past the homes with their neatly manicured lawns, it’s hard to believe this is where, according to documents and anecdotes, the cemetery stood. The surrounding community was a thriving African-American community that stretched from today’s Pine Hill Road north to around Stone Road. While parts of the community still survive along Pine Hill Road, few remember the Stark Cemetery—which was apparently destroyed during the west coast housing boom of the early 1970s. As early as 1920, census records for New Port Richey provide evidence of a small African…
