Florida's Beach has a colorful and multicultural history that goes back hundreds of years:

• There are only six historic resorts in Florida and three are in the St. Pete/Clearwater area -- the Don CeSar Beach Resort, Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Belleview Biltmore Resort Hotel. The 101-year-old Belleview Biltmore is the oldest major resort in Florida.
• St. Petersburg is the birthplace of scheduled commercial aviation. Airline passenger service originated in St. Petersburg in 1914 when a flying airboat called the Benoist carried one passenger from the city’s waterfront to Tampa while 34,000 spectators looked on.
• The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area has several historical museums including the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History which has Native American artifacts dating back 10,000 years.
• Early Spanish explorers/Ponce de Leon in 1513, Panfilo de Narvaez in 1528 and Hernando de Soto in 1539 explored the area including a search for the Fountain of Youth at what is now Safety Harbor Spa. The springs at Safety Harbor are still considered to have healing powers.
• Fort DeSoto celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and the area, which is now a county park and the ninth best beach in the U.S., will feature Spanish-American War battle reenactments and period baseball games.
• Heritage Village allows visitors to experience a slice of early Florida with 22 historic homes and buildings and is home to the county’s Historical Museum.
• Philippe Park in Safety Harbor was home to Florida’s first grapefruit trees and is the site of a burial mound for Tocobaga Indians. The area was settled by Napoleon’s surgeon Count Philippe.
• The history of Dunedin is preserved in a Historical Museum constructed out of the city’s old railroad station.

• Spanish: Hernando de Soto explored the area in 1539. In his search for wealth, de Soto discovered five mineral springs near a large Tocobaga Indian village in what is now Safety Harbor. He named the springs "Espiritu Santo" or "Springs of Sacred Spirit" since the Indians believed the springs had healing qualities, a legend that persists today. This is now the site of the Safety Harbor Resort & Spa.
• American Indian: Thousands of years before the Spanish came, Tocobaga Indians flourished in the area. Tocobaga burial mounds are preserved throughout the county and can be seen at Philippe Park and Weedon Island Preserve.
• French: A group of pirates advised Dr. Odet Philippe, a surgeon in the French navy under Napoleon, to visit the area in the 1830s. Philippe established a plantation near Safety Harbor, and with citrus stock brought from the Bahamas, he cultivated Florida’s first grapefruit grove.
• Scottish: In the northern part of the county, a small community grew. Scottish merchants opened a general store and petitioned the government for a post office named Dunedin, a Gaelic word meaning "peaceful rest." A wave of Scottish settlers moved to Dunedin, and it became a major citrus producing area and the birthplace of the citrus concentrate industry. Today, the citrus business has all but disappeared, but the community’s Scottish heritage is kept alive with the annual Highland Games and other festivals.
• Russian: Peter Demens (originally Petrovich A Demensheff) was a Russian immigrant who brought his small gauge, Orange Belt Railroad to the Gulf Coast in the early 1900s resulting in a flood of new residents, visitors and the city of Williams’ dreams. Demens and Williams differed about a name for the new community. Legend has it that they drew lots and Demens won, naming the city St. Petersburg after his hometown in Russia.
• Greek: Tarpon Springs is a Greek Mediterranean village in the heart of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area. In the 1890s, Tarpon Springs entrepreneur John Cheyney encouraged Greek sponge divers to investigate the fertile sponge beds off the coast. By 1905, the Greek population had grown to more than 500 with some 200 sponge boats in operation. Sponge fishing remains a part of Tarpon Springs’ present economy. The influence of the Greek settlers is more evident in the community’s festivals, music, food and its 1943 Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
• Multicultural: The St. Petersburg/Clearwater area annually hosts the SPIFFS International Folk Fair. This three-day festival held since 1975 features cultural customs of more than 50 countries and nationalities. Each ethnic group sets up a village with cultural exhibits, ethnic foods and gifts.

Sample some of our unique historic and cultural experiences:

Heritage Village
11909 125th St. N
Largo
727-582-2123
21 historic structures on scenic acres depicting early Florida lifestyle. COOL STUFF TEST


St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral
18 Hibiscus Ave
Tarpon Springs
727-937-3540
A replica of St. Sophia's in Constantinople with beautiful icons and stained glass.


Tarpon Springs Cultural Center
101 S. Pinellas Ave
Tarpon Springs
727-942-5605
Facility identifies, preserves and promotes the city's heritage, culture and natural resources.