What's left of the Mudcrutch Farm?
The farm sat at the end of a dirt road that extended from the end of NW 45th Avenue.
It was perfect for Tom Petty's fledgling band for two reasons: Rent for the run-down cracker-style house was cheap, and at the time, it was far from any neighbors who might complain about the noise.
The release of a new album from a reunited Mudcrutch, Tom Petty's pre-Heartbreakers band, sparked new interest in Petty's Gainesville days.
It also made Gainesville resident Judi Shaak wonder what ever became of the now-famous Mudcrutch Farm.
"I even drove by one time, wondering if there were still buildings back there," said Shaak, a retired educator. "I didn't go back, but it just made me curious."
Stories about life on the farm have become part of Gainesville lore, from Mudcrutch's nightly gigs at nearby Dub's Steer Room to the band's music festivals on the property.
The band left the farm in 1974, when it moved to California to try to make it big.
Red Slater, a friend of the band members who snapped many of the now-iconic photographs of them, lived at Mudcrutch for a couple years, moving out in late 1971 or early 1972.
He was curious about the fate of the old building, too.
He drove out there on a trip to Gainesville roughly 20 years after moving away, only to find a subdivision where the farm used to stand.
"I kind of suspected that would be the case," Slater said. "I wondered how long a few acres with an old cracker house would stay the same. It was ripe for development. It would've been fun to see the old place, but that's just the way it goes."
For Petty fans nostalgic for his old band's first pad, Slater noted that it was the band that had something special, not the house, which he said was far from glamorous.
"The whole rental was $75 a month," Slater said. "It was just a rundown house. It didn't have hot water, the fridge didn't work. At the time, it was quite a way from Gainesville, so it was a hike into town. It was just a place to hang out for a low-profile band."
Slater said he's not sure which subdivision sits where the old farm once did.
Northwest 45th Avenue, once a mostly rural road, is now a corridor of housing developments.
"A girl from Gainesville e-mailed me about it at one point, and said that she owned an old cracker house close to the location, and wondered if it was the same one,'' Slater said. "I had to disappoint her and say, 'No, it's gone.' ''
Amy Reinink can be reached at 352-374-5088 or reinina@gvillesun.com.
- Name: Judi Shaak
- Age: 63
- Occupation:Retired media specialist/teacher
- Residence: Gainesville