Review: Voices of America: St. Petersburg An Oral History

Compiled by Scott Taylor HartzellPublishers: Arcadia Publishing and imprint of Tempus Publishing IncISBN: 0-7385-1425-XPrior to 1888, St Petersburg, Florida was a tiny fishing village where deer, bear, raccoons, panthers, wildcats, gators and rattlesnakes roamed the area. Not exactly what we would imagine if we traveled to the sunshine city today.In 1880 a Russian, Pyotr A. Dementyev, who later shortened his name to Peter Demens, established a lumber company in Florida and became the owner of the Orange Belt Railroad. Demens teamed up with the founding father of St. Petersburg, J.C. Williams and the pair brought the railroad to St. Petersburg in 1888. Henceforth, this tiny village was never the same, as it transformed itself into a thriving southern city.Divided into three sections, The Dawn of St. Petersburg, The Glorious Boom and the Bust and Beyond, Scott Taylor Hartzell's Voices of America: St. Petersburg An Oral History takes us on a journey where we meet many of the pio
neers who contributed to making St. Petersburg as to what it is today.The portraits of the many characters are fascinating, as we learn about such entrepreneurs as George S. Gandy who was instrumental in building the Gandy Bridge that extends over Tampa Bay.There were the developers, who some described as half con-artists and half entrepreneurs, such as Eugene Elliott, who some believed could sell anything to anyone. It was he, who during the construction of the Gandy Bridge bought 3, 200 acres of land near the bridge on Weedon Island- most of which was underwater.To increase the value of the land, Elliott planted Indian artifacts and other relics on his so called "Riviera" and tried to dupe the Smithsonian Institute into believing that these objects were authentic, however, the Institute did not fall prey to his shenanigans.Included among this group was also C. Perry Snell, who in 1925 with a bankroll of $3 million announced his plans for his "Pearl of Pinellas," eventually
Snell Isle was completed but only after several ups and downs.Others who we meet during our voyage into St. Petersburg's history are Katherine Bell Tippetts, the City's Queen, who was a writer, humanitarian, conservationist and civic leader, Jay B. Starkey (Starkey Road was named after him), the Pinellas Cowboy, the founder of Haslams book store, Charles Shepard Haslam, the Murphys, who are the city oral historians, Chester Lucius James Sr. who nurtured the black community like a father, and several other inventive entrepreneurs and socialites who were instrumental in contributing to the development and coming of age of St. Petersburg.One of the methods of assembling, safeguarding and perceiving the history pertaining to a particular city is through recorded interviews with individuals who over time may have been forgotten or ignored. These folks very often fill in the details with their memories and voices as to who, what, where and why events occurred. It is their living
life experiences that are vital in understanding the past and enabling us to have a broader perspective of events Voices of America: St. Petersburg An Oral History is the compilation of these voices that bring the past forward and giving us a more balanced view of history.The above review was contributed by: Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures. CLICK TO VIEW more of Norm Goldman's Reviews

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