SEEDS PLANTED LONG AGO

The Porter family originally came to the Pasco County area in 1937, settling on the land now occupied by the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. At the start of World War II, this hunting and fishing retreat was condemned in order to create an Army and Air Force training station. The revenue allowed for the purchase of about 14,000 acres from the Rockefeller Land Trust in 1942 – acres which now comprise Wiregrass Ranch.

In 1946, James H. Porter and his loving wife, Martha M. Porter, moved to the ranch. They lived in an old moonshiner home directly across from the entrance of what is now Heritage Ford on SR 54.

James and Martha raised their three sons, Don, Tom and Bill, in that home. For the first two years on the ranch, they had no electricity. Martha would sit on the front porch and wave to the four or five cars that drove by each day. The closest store was over thirteen miles away. The family’s clothes were made by hand (often from old flour sacks) and food was harvested from the land itself. Cattle were a big part of Wiregrass Ranch and primary income source (and the herd continues to exist today).

In 1950, the Porters planted citrus trees to generate additional income. That same year, James received a postcard from his friend, Ed Madill, who was on vacation in Mexico City. Ed didn’t know the address but he did know the distinct grass that grew on the ranch, so he simply addressed the postcard to: Wiregrass Porter, Gatorville, FL USA. Somehow the postcard arrived, and the Wiregrass Ranch name stuck for good.

As time marched on, James H. Porter developed a new vision for the area. He wanted to create a community centered on family. Then in 1972, Wiregrass Ranch had its first substantial land sale to Saddlebrook Golf and Tennis Center.

The following year, land for what was to become one of the top selling communities in Tampa, Meadow Pointe, was sold. The small community of Williamsburg also began on Wiregrass Ranch property. Today, Wiregrass Ranch is just over 5,000 acres and primed for new growth.

Many area ranching families sold their land and moved on, but not the Porter family. Guardians for decades, they have deep generational roots in this land. Their lifelong commitment to sound land stewardship will continue to shape the Wiregrass Ranch community to the benefit of future generations.