Pasture Before and After the Warehouse

Pasco Road Dawn Over the Cow Pasture

When I first moved to this part of Florida, it was wonderfully rural—orange groves, swamps, and cow pastures as far as the eye could see. Early one winter morning, I set out on my bike along Pasco Road near Dade City and came across a scene that made me stop in my tracks.

The sun was just coming up on the horizon, framed perfectly by an arch of moss-draped trees. Mist still hung over the pasture, and the air was cool and still. A few cows grazed in the distance, not bothered by my presence. I lifted my camera and caught one of my favorite sunrise shots—rich orange light spilling across a quiet slice of Florida countryside.

At the time, just a couple hundred yards to my right was a small truck stop where Route 75 crossed what was then a two-lane local road. Today, that same stretch is unrecognizable. The road is now a multilane divided highway with eight lanes of traffic funneling through the highway underpass. And where the pasture once stretched out, a massive warehouse complex now stands—a suburban behemoth of concrete and steel.

These warehouses are popping up at the edges of metropolitan areas all over the country, swallowing farmland and erasing natural spaces in the name of commerce and convenience. I don’t know where the cows live now, but I know they’re long gone from here.

I’m glad I stopped that morning to take the shot. The pasture is long gone, but the photograph preserves the moment—a reminder of the beauty that once lived here, and of how quickly landscapes can change.

Here's what it looks like now.