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    Railroading in Pinellas County
    Railroading in Pinellas County
    Railroading in Pinellas County
    Ebook179 pages55 minutes

    Railroading in Pinellas County

    By Vincent Luisi

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    About this ebook

    Pinellas County’s railroad heritage began in 1888 and lasted almost a century. Today few people who walk, run, or bike the 41-mile Pinellas Trail realize the importance of this path as they travel through Pinellas County railroad history. Railroading in Pinellas County transports the reader through 100 years. History is brought to life through photographs of the individuals who brought to Pinellas the railroad, railroad stations, railroad engines, passenger and freight cars, railroad companies, employees, and industries such as tourism that utilized this form of transportation. These photographs were culled with the assistance and permission of local historical societies, county and state archives, and various private collections.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 13, 2010
    ISBN9781439641262
    Railroading in Pinellas County
    Author

    Vincent Luisi

    Author Vincent Luisi has been the director of the Dunedin Historical Museum for over a decade. The building that houses the museum was built in 1924 and is one of only a few remaining Atlantic Coast Railroad stations in Florida. Vincent has previously published several Arcadia books on local and sports history.

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      Book preview

      Railroading in Pinellas County - Vincent Luisi

      Collection

      INTRODUCTION

      As people bike, walk, and jog down the Pinellas Trail in Pinellas County, Florida, few realize the significant history that they travel over. For almost 100 years, a railroad system traveled on that same route. In 1888, when the railroad reached what is now St. Petersburg, the territory was still part of West Hillsborough County and was 24 years from separating from West Hillsborough and officially becoming a county of its own, Pinellas. Even though the railroad served only 100 years, this form of transportation made significant contributions to Pinellas County’s history and development.

      Prior to the railroad’s arrival, early pioneers in this area used the waterways as their main mode of transportation and to transport supplies. On the west coast of Florida, flatboats or steamers came and went from Cedar Key to Key West, dropping off passengers, supplies, and mail. It was not until the mid-1880s that the idea of a railroad line was feasible. Several men were responsible for turning this idea into reality. Hamilton Disston, a successful Philadelphian manufacturer, recognized the business potential in Florida. To help shore up Florida’s troubled economy, Disston purchased 4 million acres of Florida property, including 110,000 acres of land that would eventually become part of Pinellas County. Disston foresaw what railroads could do to expand his businesses and sought out potential railroad companies to work with him. His own personal interests would foil the plans of working with any potential companies, and he eventually faded from the project. At the same time, another individual, Gen. John C. Williams of Detroit, had also purchased property in the Pinellas peninsula. He desired a railroad that would reach his property and sought out a deal with a railroad developer. That railroad developer was a Russian immigrant who had Americanized his name to Peter Demens. The entrepreneur wanted to acquire the financial means to build and extend the Orange Belt Railroad System to Williams’s property in 1888. Demens would name this property St. Petersburg in honor of his homeland in Russia.

      The railroad fell into financial difficulty and was purchased by another prominent name in railroad development, Henry Plant. Plant would make several improvements to the railroad, including a name change, but his success would be short lived due to his death. Soon after Henry Plant’s death, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company acquired the system.

      In the next 20 years, many significant changes would take place, including the Pinellas peninsula seceding from Hillsborough County in 1912. Pinellas County would see not only the development of the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) but other railroad systems as well. The merger of the Tampa and Gulf Coast Railroad in 1915 with the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) would add additional cities and track to the Pinellas railroad system, and Florida’s great land boom of the 1920s would bring a tremendous amount of travelers to the state.

      The Great Depression of the 1930s restricted the growth and financial prosperity of the railroads, but that would change in the 1940s with America’s involvement in World War II. The war caused a surge of revenue for all of America’s railroads, bringing them back to prosperity, and the revenue continued to increase well into the 1950s. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, railroads were in direct competition with automobile travel, the improved highway system, and the increasing success of airlines. By 1967, the ACL and SAL found it necessary to merge for their survival and became the Seaboard Coast Line (SCL). The SCL would eventually lose its passenger service to Amtrak, who would also leave Pinellas County by 1984. In November 1980, the CSX Corporation took over the Pinellas rail system and made many changes in the way the railroad operated in Pinellas County. In March 1987, the last train made its final farewell ride from Tarpon Springs to Dunedin. The final six train rides in March sold out within 24 hours. The railroad properties were released to Pinellas County, and in beginning of the 1990s, the former rail line was developed into a recreational trail spanning the entire county.

      This pictorial book celebrates 100 years of railroading with interesting stories and information. Pinellas County railroad history is brought to life for readers by this collection of photographs of the railroads’ founders and employees, their stations, engines, passenger, and freight cars. This book also shows the local companies that benefited from the railroad and how industries, such as citrus, cattle, agricultural, and tourism utilized rail transportation. The photographs for this book have been gathered with the assistance and permission of local historical societies, county and state archives, and various private collections. To the railroad enthusiasts who may find fault with a date, name, or railroad technical issue, we extend our apologies. The author looks forward to updating information for a future edition.

      One

      1880–1900

      Getting the narrow-gauge railroad named Orange Belt to St. Petersburg on June 8, 1888, was a difficult journey. Russian immigrant Pyotr Alekseyevich Dementyev, or Peter Demens, invested his and others’ money to build a railroad through the Pinellas peninsula. Demens discussed the railroad venture with Hamilton Disston, who had huge property rights in Florida that included part of the Pinellas peninsula. After negotiations broke down between Demens and Disston, Demens acquired the Pinellas land from Gen. John Constantine Williams Sr. and his wife, Sarah.

      Many setbacks plagued the railroad’s construction. Demens fought financial collapse several times but always managed to save the project. When the Orange Belt tracks finally made it to the southern tip

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