Aripeka is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, along coast of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

at the border dividing Pasco and Hernando counties. The ZIP Code for the community is 34679, but it was originally assigned as 33502. As of the 2020 census, the population was 320.

Geography

Aripeka is located at on both sides of Hammock Creek, a small tidal inlet to the Gulf of Mexico. Similar in geophysical structure to Hernando Beach, Bayport, and Pine Island, Florida, Aripeka is surrounded by marshland, mostly within Hernando County. The Pasco-Hernando county line is located at the South Hammock Creek Bridge.

Demographics

History

The community of Gulf Key was settled in this area in 1873 and a post office by that name was established in 1883. The post office was known briefly as, "Argo". It was replaced by the Aripeka post office in 1895. Aripeka is named for an early nineteenth-century

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

chief, who is thought to have lived nearby. The town was divided when

Pasco County Pasco County is located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2020 census, the population was 561,691. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest city is Zephyrhills. The county is named after Samuel Pasco ...

separated from Hernando County in 1887. The post office, which was originally in Hernando County, moved across the Pasco County line in 1921. According to the historical marker in the town,

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

visited Aripeka to fish. On June 3, 1993, the Pasco County Historic Preservation Committee dedicated the town a State Historic Site.

Notable residents

James Rosenquist James Rosenquist (November 29, 1933 – March 31, 2017) was an American artist and one of the proponents of the pop art movement. Drawing from his background working in sign painting, Rosenquist's pieces often explored the role of advertising a ...

, an artist, maintained "a home, an office and studio space" during his later years.

Transportation

The main road through Aripeka is County Road 595, named Aripeka Road in Pasco County and Osowaw Boulevard in Hernando County. This road was part of the original

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network of ...

and suffers frequent flooding in the heart of town due to its close proximity to the water. CR 595 leads southeast to

U.S. Route 19 U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie. The highway's southern ...

and northeast , also to US 19.

References

External links

Pasco County Pictures of Historical Markers (Aripeka)
{{authority control Census-designated places in Hernando County, Florida Census-designated places in Pasco County, Florida Populated coastal places in Florida on the Gulf of Mexico Census-designated places in Florida Unincorporated communities in Hernando County, Florida Unincorporated communities in Pasco County, Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida