Continuing our historic journey into Hernando County we now come to the town with a short, unique, and very interesting story. The locale of Pierceville and many of these early settlements are difficult to pinpoint since they were just collections of pioneer families settling an area. Historian Frasier Mountain described these settlers who came down from Georgia and South Carolina in the 1840’s as entirely self sufficient. They would pack a wagon with their supplies and often make the dangerous journey on foot. These settlements were often made up of multiple family farms. A pioneer group would settle the area and shared cemeteries, schools, and churches would be constructed.
Pierceville was south of the center of Brooksville today. The exact location of Pierceville is the matter of some dispute. A possible location of the town was given as the intersection of Hale Ave and Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. Another location was offered was the Hope Hill area. The Hope Hill area is south of the 50 Bypass and is about 3 miles south of Fort Desoto.
Sources describe the settlement of the areas of Pierceville and Melendez as a result of a population shift from Fort De Soto as a result of a limited water supply. Both Pierceville and Melendez were settled in the same time period, early 1840’s, although one source gives a date of 1853 for the establishment of Pierceville which is only three years before Pierceville and Melendez merged to form the original Brooksville.
Pierceville, which was named after the 14th President Franklin Pierce, was settled by the Hope and Saxon families. William Hope originally arrived with his wife and son Samuel from Liberty County, GA in 1842 and settled in Choocachattee Prairie’s northwest edge (A Millenial History) which would now be described as west of US 19 and north of the Chassahowitzka River. It is not clear how the Hope family eventually came to Pierceville.
What started out as a small outpost grew and became the county seat for a short time. On August 4, 1854 James B. Hogans became postmaster of the Pierceville post office, which replaced the post office located in Melendez. Pierceville also became home to the Union Baptist Church opening its doors in 1852. A few years later, 1856 the merging of two towns, Melendez and Pierceville created the City of Brooksville. The Pierceville post office however did not become the Brooksville post office until January 1871.
Frasier Mountain described Melendez’s location as having rich soil and ample hardwood timber. According to Mountain, it’s modern day location would roughly be close to Fort Dade and Main Street in Brooksville. The borders of the original Brooksville as described by Frasier Mountain was between Fort Dade Ave and Liberty Street and Lemon to Magnolia, it was later expanded to one square mile.
Many people are unaware of the existence of Pierceville and even Fort De Soto for a time was known alternatively as Pierceville. When searching for the history of Pierceville, very little is found. It is important to note that Pierceville did not cease to exist like Fort De Soto and other small communities, it simply evolved with the merging of Melendez and now its history helps define the history of a much larger community, Brooksville.
UPDATE: According to the First United Methodist Church of Brooksville “The Methodist church meetings rotated among the homes of members in the two small settlements of Melendez (between the railroad and U.S. 98) and Pierceville (southeast of present day South Main and Summit Road.) These towns became the city of Brooksville after the Hale/May deed.” The deed Hale/May refers to the deed of the land given by them to be used for the City of Brooksville.