(from "History of St. Petersburg" by Karl Krismer)

Evidence that Pinellas Peninsula was inhabited long before the coming of the white man is furnished by the numerous shell mounds which were found in and near St. Petersburg. Carved shells, weapons made from wood and stone, exquisite jars and bowls, and numerous other articles have been unearthed along with human skeletons.

Discoveries made more recently seem to prove beyond doubt that both Narvaez and DeSoto set foot upon the lower end of Pinellas Peninsula in their exploration of the West Coast of Florida in the sixteenth century. This is based on writings where they describe anchoring near the shore, in the mouth of a bay near the head of which "we saw some habitations of Indians." The place described apparently was near the Jungle section of St. Petersburg. Excavations made during the winter of 1923-24 on Weedon Island provide convincing proof that at least one of the Spanish explorers must have landed on the island. Many dishes and crocks of Spanish origin as well as Spanish weapons have been unearthed, together with a number of skeletons of white men. The positions of the skeletons indicate that the men must have been killed by the Indians and their bodies thrown together in a heap, and later covered.

The first known settler here was Antonio Maximo. In 1843 Maximo secured a land grant from the United States Government for services he had performed during the Seminole War.

He established a "fish ranche" at the lower end of Pinellas Peninsula which is now called Maximo Point. three years later he was joined by another man named William Bunce. They did a good business supplying fish to Cuba until their property was destroyed by the hurricane of 1848. After the storm blew out they discovered all their possessions had disappeared with the high waters and they left, never to appear in this region again.

However, a few years later other settlers began coming in. The majority just "squatted," fencing in a few acres and raising farm products and cattle, and a few started small citrus groves. The first house was erected by James R. Hay, who came here in 1856. He fenced in a small tract at what is now Lakeview Avenue and Twentieth Street, to "truck farm" for the Tampa markets.

St. Petersburg did not play much of a part during the Civil War. The only event of which there is any record was the shelling and destruction of the houses on Big Bayou by the Egmont Key blockading fleet, in February of 1862. The Federals killed hogs, cattle, and poultry, and loaded their boats with syrup, corn, pumpkin, bacon and sweet potatoes. Having accomplished this, the invaders burned the buildings on the farms and killed all the orange trees. When the people returned and saw the damage, they decided to leave the Big Bayou section, fearing more attacks. They found a rowboat which the invaders had overlooked, and proceeded to Tampa, taking a full two days for the trip.

The first settler on the land which is now downtown St. Petersburg was Dr. James Hackney, who bought 600 acres of land from the State at twenty-five cents an acre. He build a home on land at what is now Fourth Street and Fifth Avenue South in 1873, and made extensive improvements, reclaiming the sawgrass ponds and clearing for farms and groves.

St. Petersburg is said to have had its beginning in 1875, for it was in that year that General John C. Williams of Detroit, Michigan, first visited the peninsula. He lost no time in acquiring property. He purchased 1,600 acres from the State at an average of one dollar an acre, then returned north to get his family. In 1879 he returned, coming by train to Gainesville and from there to St. Petersburg by covered wagon. The 250 mile trip took him a month to make. After failing to make farming successful, as he had applied northern methods which weren't suitable to this area, he conceived the idea of making a town here, complete with rail facilities.

Meanwhile, Peter Demens, who came to Florida from Russia, had built a narrow-gauge railroad from Lake Monroe to Lake Apopka, and it became the headquarters for the Orange Belt railroad. Demens wanted to extend his railroad to the Gulf, particularly to the place now called Gulfport. He was unable to secure any property there and one of his brokers made an arrangement with General Williams for 500 acres. Building the railroad was hard, due to lack of financial backing, heavy rains, and yellow fever. It was April 1, 1888, before the railroad reached what is now Ninth Street and Central Avenue.

Many different stories regarding the naming of St. Petersburg have been told, but the one most widely regarded as true is the tale that both General Williams and Peter Demens wanted to name the town they had founded. They couldn't agree which should have the honor so they drew straws. Demens won, so called the town St. Petersburg, after the Russian city. As consolation, Williams named the first commercial building, the Detroit Hotel, after his birthplace.

Following the birth of the downtown section, General Williams placed some of his property on the market and the Orange Belt Investment Company also opened for business. Both the General and the investment company offered lots for sale on liberal terms, allowing the purchaser nine years in which to pay for them. The only restrictions regarding the use of the lots were that all buildings must be erected on brick or stone piers and be painted.

The Federal census of 1890 showed that St. Petersburg had 273 inhabitants, most of whom lived around Ninth Street. St. Petersburg had started to grow, but its growth at the start was slow. 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. Odd as it may seem, St. Petersburg's first important growth started as a summer resort. 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.

In New Orleans at the thirty-sixth annual meeting of the American Medical Society during April, 1885, 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 subpeninsular, 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. It is impossible to estimate the result of all this favorable comment, but it certainly had much bearing on future growth.