This double wide postcard above was taken from a painting by early St. Petersburg Times Editor William Lincoln Straub in early 1900's , owned by F.A. Davis for a while, now owned by the Times. The pier to extreme left was built by millionaire E.H. Tomlinson for his father, Peter, which later became the Fountain of Youth pier. The next pier, moving right, began as Demen's Orange Belt Railroad pier, became the Atlantic Coastline Railroad, now Demen's Landing. At the foot of this pier was an ice factory that supplied ice to the fishing boats that would come to dock and sell their fish. The pier to right was originally the Brantley pier, then F.A.  Davis' electric pier, later the recreation pier. It lived where the present day inverted pyramid from the 1970's now lives.
 

   St. Petersburg began as a city with many piers

   This postcard view taken from Braaf Place, earlier Paul's landing, now Vinoy property 

        
         For sake of argument, probably one of the earliest piers, in what is now the Driftwood area of St. Petersburg, was Bethell's Landing,  
         St. Petersburg hadn't yet been born when John A. Bethell built his pier to accomodate the sailing vessels that came to his Pinellas Village to bring the mail and products Bethell would sell in his general store. (click on link for John Bethell in menu bar above.)

Links for St. Petersburg History


Florida Memory Project

Earl R. Jacobs III Collection of Francis G. Wagner St. Petersburg Photographs
                     
   Remembering Scott Hartzell                                                       Mounds of the past cleared for growth by Bill Watts
                                        

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