Fishing from the Short Side of the Wharf in St. Petersburg

Alternative Title

Fishing for Mackerel from the Wharf at St. Petersburg

Creator

Charles H. Stokes

Files

Preview

Creation Date

January 1893

Time Period

circa 1893-1895

Abstract

Men and women sit or stand on a short wharf in St. Petersburg, Florida while fishing in Tampa Bay. A view along the route of the Sanford and St. Petersburg Railroad.

Alt Text

A group of people standing and sitting on a wooden dock by the water, with a large, wooden building behind them. Most of the group have fishing lines cast into the water, while some of the others observe. The scene appears to be from an older time period based on the attire and the background structure's design.

Keywords

Fishers, Fishing, Wharves

Extent

1 black-and-white photograph

Subject: geographic

Pinellas County (Fla.); St. Petersburg (Fla.)

Physical Collection

Stokes Collection of Florida Plant Railway Photographs

Box

2

Digital Date

2021

Media Type

Black-and-white photographs

Note

The St. Petersburg railroad pier was built into Tampa Bay in 1889 so that ships could unload their goods directly onto the railroad. It was also the terminus of the original Orange Belt Railway owned by Peter Demens, a Russian immigrant. It is Demens' hometown that St. Petersburg is named after. Local legend says the co-founders, John C. Williams, and Demens flipped a coin to see if the town would be named after Williams' hometown of Detroit or Demens' of St. Petersburg, Russia. Williams supposedly lost the coin flip and so built a hotel near the pier and called it the "Detroit Hotel." The railroad pier had a fish house owned by Henry W. Hibbs that processed more than a thousand pounds of fish a day. The pier was torn down in 1952. The area is now Demens Landing Park at the St. Petersburg Municipal Marina.

Identifier

S54-146

Recommended Citation

Stokes, Charles H., "Fishing from the Short Side of the Wharf in St. Petersburg" (1893). Stokes Collection of Florida Plant Railway Photographs. Image 88.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/stokes/88