Real Estate St Petersburg, Clearwater, Gulfport

PINELLAS

What is now Pinellas County was largely uninhabited when Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, with the exception of camps of American and Cuban Fishermen. Around 1832, Count Odet Philippe of France abandoned a settlement on Florida's East Coast in the face of hostile natives and moved to what is now Safety Harbor. Philippe introduced citrus to the area and persuaded a few more settlers to move there. The area was then part of Hillsborough County.

But by 1880, despite the establishment of Fort Harrison in what was then called Clear Water, there were only about 50 families. The big freeze of 1894-95 proved a tragedy to thousands of people in Florida, but resulted in good for St. Petersburg. Many of the citrus groves on Pinellas Point survived the low temperature and a number of growers in other parts of the state, who had been frozen out, came here to make a new start. They played an important part in the development of this city. Three events following the freeze conspired to dramatically change Pinellas for the next decade.

First was a report to the American Medical Convention in 1885 that the Pinellas Peninsula was "The Healthiest Spot on Earth". In New Orleans at the thirty-sixth annual meeting of the AMS, a paper was read saying in part... "Where should a health city be built? Overlooking the deep Gulf of Mexico, with the broad waters of a beautiful bay nearly surrounding it, but with little upon its soil but primal forest, there is a large sub peninsular, Point Pinellas, waiting the hand of improvement. It lies in latitude 27 degrees and 42 minutes, and contains, with its adjoining keys about 160,000 acres of land. No marsh surrounds its shores or rests upon its surface; the sweep of its beach is broad and graceful, stretching many miles, and may be improved to an imposing extent. Its average winter temperature is 72 degrees. Those who have carefully surveyed the entire state think it offers the best climate in Florida." This report was given wide publicity and many physicians visited St. Petersburg.

Second, a land developer named John Constantine Williams wanted to create a city in the Southern part of the peninsula. Pyotr Dementyev, a Russian immigrant turned entrepreneur, agreed to run his Orange Belt Railroad from Central Florida to Williams' holdings. Dementyev named the town St. Petersburg after his home town in Russia. Odd as it may seem, St. Petersburg's first important growth started as a summer resort. The railroads ran low-rate excursions to St. Petersburg in the summer from other parts of the state and many people came to spend the summer vacations here because it was much cooler.

Clearwater, with its high bluffs overlooking a deep harbor on the Gulf, had grown too. And when the County was split away from Hillsborough in 1911, Clearwater was named the County Seat. Residents began to pour in, attracted by the balmy climate (the peninsula is always cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter than Tampa.) Other immigrants followed. Tarpon Springs attracted Greek sponge fishermen and today has a thriving Greek culture. Safety Harbor grew around its famous spa. The offshore beaches were then settled.

Saint Petersburg is linked by bridges to Tampa and Bradenton, and with causeways to a string of islets in the Gulf of Mexico. The Federal census of 1890 showed that St. Petersburg had 273 inhabitants, most of whom lived around Ninth Street (now Dr. MLK Jr. Street.)

Today, Pinellas County offers visitors and residents alike a cultural atmosphere, a stable economy and weather that is envied by even fellow Floridians. The area is served by the Tampa International Airport and Saint Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. For swimming, yachting and fishing, you can't beat Pinellas County's 35 miles of beaches! And, with an average of 361 days of sunny weather each year, you can enjoy the sand just about whenever you would like.

Saint Petersburg covers a land area of 154 sq km (60 sq mi), with a mean elevation of 13 m (44 ft) and a population of 248,232 (2000 census). Clearwater population 108,789, Oldsmar 11,910, Pinellas Park 45,658, St Pete Beach 10,000, and Tarpon Springs 21,000 (2000 census). Pinellas County's estimated total 2005 population is 945,2000.

Adapted from "Saint Petersburg (Florida)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2005, http://encarta.msn.com, www.co.pinellas.fl.us.


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