In 1883, Aaron M. Richey arrived from St. Joseph, Missouri, and settled near the mouth of the Pithlachascotee River. He established a post office in his home on July 9, 1884. Port Richey was incorporated as a municipality in 1925, in response to the incorporation of New Port Richey the previous year. The name Port Richey is older than the name New Port Richey, as the post offices were established in 1884 and 1915, respectively. Singer Johnny Cash owned a home along the Pithlachascotee River from 1979 until 2002. Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, inherited the house from Maybelle Carter after her death, and sold it in 2002 shortly before their deaths in 2003. The population of Port Richey has remained small, and proposals to abolish the city have gone before the voters several times. On February 21, 2019, Mayor Dale Massad was taken into custody by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement with assistance from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and the local SWAT team on charges of practicing medicine without a license. He was later additionally charged with two counts of attempted homicide for opening fire on officers as they attempted to serve the warrant. The next day, Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order to remove Massad from office. Just 3 weeks later, Acting Mayor Terrence Rowe was arrested for several charges, including obstruction of justice and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate the commission of a crime. The charges were described as an "offshoot" of the charges against Massad. DeSantis removed Rowe from office on March 20, which left the city with no one to serve as mayor. The three remaining members of city council were unable to agree on a replacement.
Geography
Port Richey is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which is land and is water. The City of Port Richey is served by the Port Richey Police Dept. and The Port Richey Fire Dept. Ambulance Service is provided by Pasco County Fire-Rescue. There is a hospital within walking distance of the fire department.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,021 people, 1,424 households, and 770 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,433.9 inhabitants per square mile. There were 1,746 housing units at an average density of 828.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 96.13% White, 0.63% African American, 0.60% Native American, 1.09% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.88% of the population. There were 1,424 households out of which 15.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.1% were married couples living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.9% were non-families. 37.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.02 and the average family size was 2.61. In the city, the population was spread out with 14.8% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 27.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,404, and the median income for a family was $40,050. Males had a median income of $30,473 versus $22,139 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,711. About 9.1% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.6% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.
