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As we lovingly admire our fine City
of St. Petersburg today, it is hard to recognize that just 160 years ago,
lower Pinellas County was very wild and scarcely inhabited. A man could
shoot his dinner by stepping outside his back door! There were two schools
in the area. One was in today’s Driftwood and the other was called Prop
College and was near the Gulfport border. Wild animals sometimes disturbed
the students by peering or coming in the window. Prop College was so named
because a big wind came through and the men had to prop up the
schoolhouse.
St. Petersburg, as we
know it today, began in 1876 when a very ambitious man named John C.
Williams purchased land in today’s downtown St. Petersburg for farming.
John C. Williams’s dreams turned bad and he left his Pinellas County
property to live in Tampa. A second ambitious man, Peter Demens, owned a
small single gauge railroad which he wanted to take to Mullet Key. He
struck a bargain with Hamilton Disston to bring the railroad through
Disston’s property but that bargain went sour. (Hamilton Disston’s
property was basically 49th Street and west to Gulfport.) Demens
cast around for someplace to bring his half completed railroad venture and
turned to John C. Williams whose property was to the east. Transportation
was essential for business with everyone needing a train to bring
customers to his property. A Williams-Demens deal was struck with Demens
receiving part of the property in central St. Petersburg which he could
then mortgage to bring the train into town. In June of 1888, the wheezy
small train came into town at about Central Avenue and 9th
Street South and the town was on its way.
The town grew to 300
people and became incorporated in 1893. A doctor, W.C. Van Bibber, had
given an address to the American Medical Association in 1885 which
indicated that he had found the perfect location for “health city,” which
happened to be near his property close to Maximo Point. The young village
of St. Petersburg capitalized on Van Bibber’s findings and began its
amazing history of publicizing itself for tourism.
The little town did
grow but not without growing pains. Early arguments ensued over the
commercial use of the waterfront. Beach Drive was so named because it was
the edge of the water. However, when the tide was out, several blocks of
smelly sand flats existed. City fathers filled and fought, ending in our
city’s having over 5 miles of waterfront property in public hands, an
achievement unequaled in the world! W. L. Straub and C. Perry Snell fought
for this unique gift to the growing community. St. Petersburg was among
the first communities to base its economy on a service industry - tourism.
The turn of the century
saw a building boom of housing as well as public buildings. A prominent
philanthropist, Edwin H. Tomlinson, built the Manual Training School used
today as an annex to city hall. Tomlinson started the Washington Day
celebrations, which included parades, recitals, Cadet Fife and Drum Corps,
and much picnicking. Later, it was decided to change the Washington
birthday celebration to what became the Festival of States which was a
civic celebration aimed for the enjoyment of tourists. The timing of the
Festival of States kept the tourists in town longer than February 22.
As St. Petersburg grew,
she became known for the unusual. A curious shell fence over 7 feet high
in places stood on the corner of 2nd Avenue North and 1st
Street stretching around the corner and halfway up each street. On the
social side, the Woman’s Town Improvement Association (WTIA) was founded
in 1901 as an outgrowth of an improvement association for parks. The
agenda of the WTIA was amazingly varied, from putting down boardwalks to
keep sand from shoes, to Arbor Day celebrations, assisting with WL
Straub’s public waterfront issue, city beautification, Chautauqua lectures,
and Lyceum courses. At times, the ladies agitated for social reforms such
as abolition of the convict lease system, prison reform, and wild life
conservation. In 1913, the ladies did the amazing thing of purchasing
their own building! The growing city of St. Petersburg attracted a number
of educated, independent women. There were two female physicians, an
artist, and a number of authors. Katherine Tippetts founded the St.
Petersburg Audubon Society, serving as president for 33 years. In 1922,
Mrs. Tippetts ran for the state legislature unsuccessfully.
Two significant things
happened in 1914. On New Year’s Day, Tony Jannus flew the world’s first
commercial airline between St. Petersburg and Tampa. Also in 1914, Al Lang
succeeded in bringing Spring Training to the tourist town. The roaring
1920s brought many developers to Florida and St. Petersburg had its
share. The hurricane of 1921 which flooded downtown St. Petersburg and
took out the Seminole and Pass-a-Grille bridges was downplayed by everyone
so as to not disturb the building boom. C. Perry Snell had already
developed around Crescent Lake, Northshore, and Granada Terrace. New
developers promoted their subdivisions from Lakewood, to the Jungle, to
Rio Vista, to Shore Acres and Weedon’s Island. Eugene Elliott came to St.
Petersburg as a fast talking, smooth salesman. He first raised $2,000,000
to finance the Gandy Bridge which would end the isolation of St.
Petersburg. Elliott had property on Weedon Island which he promoted by
burying some Indian artifacts in the many Indian mounds and contacting the
Smithsonian Museum. The prank backfired as the Smithsonian quickly
recognized the planted artifacts but also recognized that real artifacts
were in abundance. The Weeden Island Culture was named for the work done
on site and is today recognized as a major Native American culture, even
if the name became misspelled along the way. Such shenanigans and worse
gave Florida a bad name and a real estate depression occurred in 1926 when
sales stopped suddenly. During the 1920s, St. Petersburg began to promote
itself as a major sports area. Baseball heroes thrived, the St. Petersburg
Yacht Club sponsored major sailing regattas, and horseshoes, checkers, roque, and shuffleboard competitions abounded, bringing more publicity to
the city. The Coliseum brought national entertainers such as Rudy Vallee,
Paul Whiteman, and Harry James to town. St. Petersburg promoted itself as
“Health City” and the nation’s playground. Mayor Frank F. Pulver was often
in the national headlines battling the fictitious “purity League” who
required that all female bathing suits cover over half of their body.
Mayor Pulver carried a yardstick which he often pulled out for the benefit
of photographers. Although the building industry ceased after 1926,
tourists continued to visit through the end of the decade.
St. Petersburg was one
of the few cities in the country to receive national assistance during the
Hoover presidency. Congressman J. Hardin Peterson and Herman Dann were
responsible for bringing the Bay Pines Hospital to land donated by the
City of St. Petersburg and jumpstarting the construction business. Between
1933 and 1941, over $10 million dollars in federal assistance came to the
city. Projects included the expansion of Albert Whitted airport, Mound
Park Hospital (now Bayfront), a new water system, the Coast Guard Base, and
a new city hall. During the depression, St. Petersburg promoted itself by
gimmicks such as finding 18 month old toddlers and advertizing that these
St. Petersburg residents had never seen a sunless day. Lew Brown’s Evening
Independent giveaway was a major pull for the tourist industry. Doc
Webb came to town and grew his fabulous drug store which also brought
national publicity as well as help for the economically disadvantaged.
World War II brought
several branches of the armed services to St. Petersburg for training.
Many army units, Air Corps, and Coast Guard men got their basic training
in the Pinellas area. All but one of the downtown hotels were used for
billeting the trainees and the economy grew.
The years after the war
brought another boom to the city. Many of those who had armed forces
training here returned for the wonderful weather and ambiance to make
their homes. Housing began to fill in where the 1920s housing boom had
left isolated structures and roads built prematurely came into use. The
invention and availability of air conditioning was a major factor not only
in the growth of the community but in making Florida a year round tourist
mecca for the first time. The town grew out from a downtown core and
Central Plaza and Tyrone Gardens were built. The amazing and far flung
streetcar line was pulled up in favor of automobile traffic.
During the 1960s St.
Petersburg began to build institutions for its citizens. The Museum of
Fine Arts, an improved municipal marina, a large library, and the Bayfront
Center all brought a better quality of living to the community. The 1970s
brought attention to the infrastructure and the largest reclaimed water
system in the United States was installed. The baseball community began to
seriously look for a major baseball team which finally arrived 20 years
later in 1998 to play in today’s Tropicana Field.
The early years of the
21st century have seen a revitalization of St. Petersburg
downtown and a return of the desire to live near employment and
entertainment. High rise condominiums and hotels are beginning to dominate
the skyline. Reminders of the past include the Municipal Pier, the Vinoy
Hotel and historical housing saved on the USF-St. Petersburg campus.
Mary Wyatt Allen, Vice Regent
May 2008 |
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