The Chassahowitzka.net website is focused on the environment, the people, and the fish and wildlife surrounding the Chassahowitzka River, A fresh water, spring fed, tidal river leading directly to the Gulf of Mexico. It's tucked away in the middle of the Nature Coast, about an hours drive North of Tampa, Florida. Chassahowitzka is hard to pronounce, let alone trying to spell it! The older natives still call it ChassaWhisky, And most locals affectionately just call it the "CHAZ".

The Name Chassahowitzka comes from the Seminole Indians that inhabited the area for a time. The word means "Hanging Pumpkins place" The primitive pumpkin was a main stay of the Seminoles. It is self perpetuating and continues to grow year after year and was known to climb large trees and bare fruit around 5" in diamiter, which played a large part in the Seminole Diet. It is a harder shelled pumpkin unlike the garden pumpkins we know today. The pumpkins have long gone from the region. The Seminole Indians are not indigenous to Florida and didn't arrive until the 1700's. Prior to the Seminole the Timucua tribe occupied the Nature Coast. Timucuans are one of the few tribes across the country that is considered extinct, having no known descendents since 1700.