Pt. Two and A Half

In 1899 Henry W. Hibbs, a native of Newport, North Carolina, established his wholesale fish business at the end of Peter Demens’ railroad pier, thusly establishing one of the first real industries in St. Petersburg next to the agricultural and tourist industry. It stands to reason after all, there are miles and miles of water surrounding the area. Arguably, that was the turning point for St. Petersburg. Sure, the city could have sustained itself as a tourist destination, as it has in some way shape or form since its inception. But what would the tourists have to entertain themselves with? Miles of swamp? Roaches the size of small dogs? Two hotels, a train, and a wholesale fishing business? As with any other city, with the visitors came the prospectors, and with the prospectors came the businesses.

Eventually, more and more businesses set up shop in and around what would become downtown. More so, a good amount of those businesses were founded on Central Avenue, the main east-west thoroughfare of the time. It’s still one of the main thoroughfare’s today, separating the city into north and south and traversing the city from bay to gulf.

Now obviously I am oversimplifying the evolution of St. Petersburg more than just a tad. I mean come on I’ve gone from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s in a few mere paragraphs. The point is not to tell the whole story of St. Petersburg, especially when there is already a ton of academic study and documentation on the subject matter. Rather the point is something else. What exactly? I guess you’ll have to keep reading, after all, half of the thrill comes from the journey.

Pt. Two, From the Bureau of Vital Statistics

St. Petersburg sits at the tip of Pinellas County which is a peninsula. To the west of Pinellas County is the Gulf of Mexico and to the east is Tampa Bay. Hillsborough County, and its largest city Tampa, sit just across Tampa Bay. Travel south from Pinellas County (over the Sunshine Skyway) and you’ll end up in Manatee County. These three counties make up the Tampa Bay area, or as it is lovingly referred to as the Crotch of Florida. Picture with me if you will, a view of the state from outer space. Now imagine that Florida is a gentleman having his picture taken from the side, or the profile. If Tampa Bay is the Crotch of Florida, by means of reasoning, Pinellas County must be the…well, the wang. Great.

Pinellas County is 38 miles long and 15 miles wide, and covers an area of 280 square miles. Crammed into that 280 square miles is 924,413 people, making Pinellas County the most densely populated county in Florida. By the way, that number is growing. On average, there are 3,339 people per square mile. Likewise, there are 4,521 miles of paved roads in Pinellas County, a number that is growing as well. Gone are the expanses of wilderness that I so fondly remember as a child, replaced with strip malls and urban sprawl gone mad.

St. Petersburg is Pinellas Counties largest city with somewhere around 250,000 inhabitants. St. Petersburg covers approximately 60 square miles, and at its height is *43 feet above sea level, leaving most of this fine city just above, at, or below sea level. Trust me, I’m going somewhere with this.

Imagine with me the nightmare scenario that has been talked about and mulled over for years; the same scenario that every citizen of this city, myself included, has been threatened with at the beginning of every hurricane season. A category three or four hurricane is at the doorstep. Since the majority of the city sits just above, at, or below sea level, most people have to evacuate. Most of those people will opt to leave the city, and honestly, who can blame them? Now imagine the throngs of people trying to cross the four bridges that lead out of the city into the surrounding areas. When the hurricane finally hits, the city is completely inundated with the waters associated with the storm surge. Most of the city, with the exception of the area 43 feet above sea level, will be underwater. On a more positive note, I’ve always wanted water front property. Think how exclusive my neighborhood will be! St. Petersburg: Florida’s New Orleans.

*To say that the high point of 43 feet is the highest point in this city may be a bit misleading. Actually, the highest point is 100 feet above sea level, and is found at the city dump. Yes, if the nightmare hurricane were to hit, the only areas above the water would be the dump, and the area that I mentioned before. For all intents and purposes, St. Petersburg would be reduced to an isle of trash. I like that description more than St. Pete’s current distinction as the Sunshine City.

Pt. One, A Brief History

Peninsula

pen·in·su·la noun 

:a portion of land nearly surrounded by water and connected with a larger body by an isthmus ; also : a piece of land jutting out into the water whether with or without a well-defined isthmus. Accepted definition by me: An area of land with almost all of the emotional and geographical isolation of an island, with a very limited amount of escape routes.

In a nutshell, the peninsula of Florida was formed when the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico subsided after the last ice-age. Some have called the land left in the wake a gift from God. I call their bluff, but I digress. Most of Florida’s populated history finds it inhabited by  many diverse indigenous groups; that is until the Europeans “discovered” this land of many swamps, heat, and mosquitos. I like to call this the beginning of the end, but again I digress. Hundreds of years later, land developers discovered the peninsula within the peninsula that would later become Pinellas County.

*”In 1875, General John Williams came down from Detroit and bought 2,500 acres of land on Tampa Bay. He envisioned a grand city with graceful parks and broad streets, the trademark of today’s St. Petersburg. The city’s first hotel was named after his birthplace, Detroit.

Thirteen years later, Peter Demens, a noble Russian aristocrat, brought the Orange Belt Railway to St. Petersburg. On June 8, 1888, the first train arrived, carrying empty freight cars and one passenger, a shoe salesman from Savannah. Built one rail at a time, with unpaid laborers and creditors threatening to lynch Demens all the way, the railroad finally chugged to St. Petersburg. Demens named the city after his birthplace, St. Petersburg, Russia.”

Because of the warm and humid climate, St. Petersburg was founded with intention of becoming a tourist and agricultural mecca. Essentially, with the exception of the agriculture and tourist industry, the confines of the Sunshine City have offered nothing to the world with regards to culture; that is unless you consider the stereotypical St. Petersburg (and the surrounding areas) beach bum as a definitive form of culture. If so, I now have shivers traveling down my spine.

*Content taken from www.stpete.org