Pinellas Park Florida Information

History of Pinellas Park

Pinellas County's earliest visitors were Panfilo de Narvaez (1528) and Hernando DeSoto (1539). They reported the area to be inhabited by the Tocobagan Tribe. After enslaving the natives and setting dogs on them, the Spanish asked if there was any gold around. the Tocobagan told the Spanish to go North. This sent the Spaniards into the territory of the ferocious Creeks of Georgia and Alabama. So few Conquistadors survived the experience that "Punta Pinal" (Point of Pines) remained shrouded in mystery for another two hundred years.

By the time Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, the Tocobagans died and were replaced by the Seminole Indians. The Seminoles settled largely north and east of Tampa Bay. What is now Pinellas County remained largely uninhabited with the exception of camps of American and Cuban Fishermen.

Around 1832, Count Odet Philippe of France abandoned a settlement on Florida's East Coast in the face of hostile natives and moved to what is now Safety Harbor. Philippe introduced citrus to the area and persuaded a few more settlers to move here. The area was then part of Hillsborough County.

But, by 1880, despite the establishment of Fort Harrison in what was then called Clear Water, there were only about 50 families. Three events conspired to dramatically change all that in the next decade.

First was a report to the American Medical Convention in 1885 the Pinellas Peninsula was "The Healthiest Spot on Earth".