MARVELOUS MILESTONES 2,000+ years ago: The Calusa tribe settled the shores of St. Pete/Clearwater. 1528-1539: The Spanish explorers Pánfilo de Narváez (1528) and Hernando de Soto (1539) are the first Europeans to visit the region. Local lore says they landed at Jungle Prada in west-central St. Pete. 1875: Detroit investor John C. Williams purchases land in what is now St. Pete. 1888: Peter Demens, who built a railroad that reached the area in 1888, inaugurates the city with Williams. Demens names it after his Russian birthplace. 1892: Henry Scharrer completes construction on his landmark Caladesi homestead on the island formerly known as Hog Island. He and his family live there until 1934. 1902: Sunken Gardens opens after George Turner, a plumber with a green thumb, purchases a 6-acre sinkhole and pond at 1825 Fourth St. N., and transforms it into a botanical paradise. 1906: Once named Clear Water Harbor for the springs by its bluffs, Clearwater is officially named. 1914: Pilot Tony Jannus makes the world’s first 1921: Clearwater’s Capitol Theatre opens. 1924: The Gandy Bridge opens and is the first hotbed of activity just like the olden days. The best time to visit is during its St. Pete Shuffle nights from 7 to 10 p.m. every Friday. self-guided walking tour that details the backsto-ries of the historic homes and buildings you’ll pass by in a free brochure available at the fascinating Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, formerly a 1917 church. bridge to connect St. Pete/Clearwater to Tampa across Old Tampa Bay. scheduled commercial flight, flying from St. Pete to Tampa, across Tampa Bay. 1925: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig go to bat in PASS-A-GRILLE Pass-a-Grille, an old Tocobaga community and later an early settler fish camp, gets its name from the French “Passe aux Grilleurs,” literally translated, “passageway of the grillers,” according to historian W. H. Straub. You can learn more by picking up a ST. PETE BEACH Amid the chic and contemporary new haunts in St. Pete Beach, the town’s vintage landmarks give it a distinctive personality that hearkens back to the New York Yankees spring training games in St. Pete’s Waterfront Park. The two are rumored to have played catch across the courtyard of their Flori-de-Leon penthouse apartments. 1926: Clearwater Beach’s Palm Pavilion opens. 1928: Real estate scion Thomas Rowe opens the Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach. VISITSTPETECLEARWATER.COM 67
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