Dade City is the county seat of Pasco County, Florida, in the Tampa Bay area northeast of Tampa and southwest of Orlando. Set among the rolling hills of east-central Pasco County — a topography unusual for Florida — the city developed as an agricultural and civic center, with citrus groves, cattle ranches, and later nurseries shaping its economy and landscape. Its name honors Francis L. Dade, the U.S. Army officer whose 1835 death in the Dade Battle opened the Second Seminole War. The city's historic downtown, anchored by a courthouse built in 1909, gives Dade City a distinct small-town character that has survived the growth of the surrounding Tampa Bay region. The community also carries more layered history, including a World War II-era German prisoner-of-war camp in the area. Today Dade City balances its role as a county seat and agricultural hub with steady residential growth as the Tampa metro expands northeastward. Dade City is best known as the kumquat capital. The Gude and Neuhoffer families planted their first fruit trees here in 1914, and their operation grew into the nation's largest kumquat producer. Each January, downtown hosts the Kumquat Festival, drawing visitors with live music, arts and crafts, food, and kumquat pie. The Pioneer Florida Museum and Village and the Dade City Heritage & Cultural Museum document the area's pioneer and agricultural past. Public schools are part of the Pasco County school system, including Pasco High School. Residential areas range from the historic homes near downtown to newer subdivisions on the city's edges, and most residents own their homes in a community with a notable retiree population. For residents, Dade City offers a historic, community-centered small town with a working agricultural heritage, within commuting distance of Tampa and the growing cities of Pasco County.