By John R. Elkins
St. Petersburg, Fla.—Perhaps an article in your publication descriptive of the Sunshine City would be of interest to many of your readers.
I have been hibernating here through the winter with my son, Clyde, and his family, and, of course, it has been a season of pleasure to me, not only from the association with my people, but also from the many attractions in and around this beautiful city on the Tampa Bay. There is so much going on here, so many enterprises are continually being launched, that the ready writer could always find themes on which to dilate, and there need not be a dull hour for anyone.
Four years ago I spent the fall and w inter here and was delighted, almost swept off of my feet at the salubrious climate, the wide paved streets, the beautiful palms, the lovely green lawns, the orange and grapefruit groves and the myriads of beautiful flowers, all basking in the glorious sunshine. As the winters at home gave me ice and snow, mud and slush, and freezing blasts of cold, the transformation was a revelation to me. To one who has never visited Florida, especially middle or southern Florida, it is hard to believe that these things in reality exist, but they are here to see.
Phenomenal Growth
But my! the change that has taken place in four years, and what will St. Petersburg look like in four more years? I will undertake to say that perhaps there is not another city on the American continent of equal population that is making more rapid strides in growth than the Sunshine City, and I will risk my reputation as seer, in saying that within 10 or 15 years hence the population will reach 100,000 souls. And why not? Fully 15,000 tourists have arrived here this season and they have been delighted with the climate and the citizens.
They are great boosters too, and they thoroughly advertise the city. Again, the Chamber of Commerce spends yearly thousands on thousands of dollars by means of booklets and newspaper advertising, which is scattered far and wide, proclaiming the beauties and advantages of this section. the climate of course is the dominant feature, but the water fronts, the wide, clean, brick-paved streets, the fishing, the foliage, the citrus fruits, the pretty lawns and the elegant hotels, a number of which could do credit to New York, all conspire to make St. Petersburg a city beautiful.
Money in the banks and with the business men, seems to be plentiful, as any enterprise that is started, and there are many of them, finds ready backing and they are rushed to completion. Millions have been spent to make St. Petersburg a leading winter resort, and millions more are in reserve to reach the climax. Most of Florida as to climatic conditions is fine, but St. Petersburg puts one over all the other cities because of its location, Pinellas county, in which the city is situated, is bound on one side by Tampa Bay and on the other side by Boca Ceiga Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Because of this the temperature in cold weather is modified, softened by warm breezes from these bodies of water which makes the weather more equable and pleasant than elsewhere.
New Developments
Port Tampa is nine miles from St. Petersburg on the bay. About half way between the two cities named, a highway concrete bridge is being built across little Tampa Bay, which is 6 ½ miles long, the longest bridge of its kind in the world, and it is to be completed by June 1st. This bridge will cost about $2 million when it is ready for travel.
New developments are numerous, and I can mention but a few of them. However, there is Pasadena, Shore Acres, Euclid Boulevard, Rig Bayon, etc. At Pasadena, which is probably the leading one, many new houses, some of which are palatial in design, have been erected, and many others are now under contract. Here also is a hotel, a tea room, club house, stores, a church, school building, a nursery, long rows of royal palms, and a wealth of lovely flowers. In a very few years this development will be a beauty spot in the beautiful Sunshine City. In St. Petersburg where there are 76 hotels, there are three hotels which for design and general equipment, would do credit to any city, and these were only completed last year—the Soreno, the Mason and the Suwannee. The Soreno cost over a million dollars, and the other two nearly as much. The main tourist season lasts about four months, and the “pocket change” left in the city during this term by the visitors is amazing, and makes business good along all lines. Real estate has long since gone skyward in price, but it is being voraciously picked up all the same. Florida in general has a wonderful prospect in coming years—its unequalled climate, the great coast line, its citrus fruits and winter vegetables, its fishing possibilities and its water ways, will ever keep it prominently on the map. In this article, of course, I am portraying the beauties and advantages of Florida, but I only wish to relate things that are attractive and uplifting in their character. All sections of our country have their marks of depreciations, and these features too often get too much publicity. build up and not destroy should be the slogan, and to all things detrimental to the public good, I say, “Shoo fly, don’t bother me.”
I could write and write, for subjects here are practically inexhaustible, but fond as I am of this delightful land, I do not forget the red hills, the fertile valleys and the rippling streams of good old North Carolina, the land of my nativity. There was I born, there I gave the best years of my life, there live the most of my kindred and friends, and there, when it is all over with me in this life, may my bones find their long resting place ‘neath her sod. All things being favorable, I may return to Winston-Salem about May 1st. May address here is 567, 11th Ave., South, St. Petersburg, Fla.
From the editorial page of the Concord Daily Tribune, Tuesday, March 18, 1924. J.B. Sherrill, editor and publisher; W.M. Sherrill, Associate Editor.
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