APPENDIX 2
A HISTORICAL TIMELINE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN ST. PETERSBURG

1868 John Donaldson and Anna Germain became the first known African descendants to arrive in St. Petersburg.

1871 John Donaldson bought 40 acres of land.

1888 Ten African American men settled in Petersburg after helping to build the Orange Belt railroad. They settled along Fourth Avenue, South between Seventh and Ninth Streets. The settlement became known as Pepper Town.

1890 Federal Census identified 273 persons living in the area that is now St. Petersburg.

1893 St. Petersburg was incorporated as a town.

1903 St. Petersburg was incorporated as a city. Bethel Metropolitan Baptist Church established in the Gas Plant. Initially members met in their homes until they could purchase the land and build the church. The church was located at the corner of 1 0th Street and Third Avenue, South until 1985 when displaced by the development of the Florida Suncoast Dome.

1903 First meeting of the City Council was held.

1912 An all-white primary held.

1914 John Evans, an African American male was Iynched at corner of Ninth Street and Central Avenue.

1918 Florida and St. Petersburg were "discovered" by thousands of tourists. A real estate boom began.

1920s African Americans from Georgia and Alabama were recruited to construct office buildings, homes, churches, bridges, and streets.

1921 African Americans comprised 554 of the 4106 registered voters. They were identified as Colored.

1924 Gandy Bridge connected St. Petersburg to Tampa. Many African Americans participated in building the bridge. A St. Petersburg Times editorial suggested that Negroes were a few generations removed from savagery.

1925 The Boom peaked. James Earl "Doc" Webb opened a drugstore at the corner of Ninth Street and Second Avenue. First Institutional Baptist Church sold him the land.

1927 African Americans comprised 9,538 of the total population of 14,327 in St. Petersburg in 1920. From 1920 until 1927 the population grew by 2345.

1927 Gibbs High School was established. Originally, it was built as a elementary school for white Americans in St. Petersburg. The 1925 real estate bust led to its use for African American high school students.

1930 Of a total of 751 employees hired by the city of St. Petersburg, 205 were Colored. No Colored persons were employed in the police and fire departments. The majority were involved with the Departments of Public Works, Health and Hospital.

1931 The city charter indicated that one of St. Petersburg's primary was to set apart a separate residential and business district for Negroes and whites.

1935 St. Petersburg Times published the "Negro news page." The newspaper editorialized that Negroes fitted in and were needed for the work they performed.

1936 City Council unanimously approved a resolution that required African Americans to live in a seventeen block area west of Seventeenth Street and south of Sixth Street.

1937 African Americans defied threats from the Klans who paraded through section of the city. The Klan attempted to prevent them from voting. Instead African Americans turned out in record numbers and voted. J. C. "Honeybabe" Moses killed two police and was later killed by a mob who openly displayed his body on the grounds of a funeral home.

1938 Gibbs High school principal, Noah Griffin and several teachers were attacked for picnicking in the predominantly white American neighborhood of Shore Acres.

1940 The first phase of Jordan Park was completed and tenants moved in.

1948 The "Negro Page" was published daily by the St. Petersburg Times.

1940-56 City of St. Petersburg owned WTSP radio station.

1951 The St. Petersburg Times hired a fulltime African American reporter.

1961 St. Petersburg Junior college was desegregated.

1960-62 African Americans picketed and led sit-ins for the integration of Spa Beach, Bayfront Medical Center and lunch counters.

1962 Some of the secondary schools in Pinellas County were desegregated.

1965 The St. Petersburg Times disclosed that financial irregularities existed in the records of Gibbs Junior College. This disclosure led to the closing of the college.Samuel Adams, an African American reporter for The Times was the lead writer. He was criticized by many African Americans who perceived that he had been used by the white establishment.

1968 Sanitation workers fed a strike against the city for better wages and benefits.

1969 Bette Wimbish became the first African American elected to the City Council.

1971 The Pinellas County School Board was ordered to desegregate its schools. No African Americans were represented on the school board.

1972 The Gas Plant area had a population 2,315. The labor force comprised of 961 persons and 859 were employed. Another 102 individuals did not have jobs. The community had a 11% unemployment rate.

1973 During June, the City Council had Milo Smith and Associates to prepare an "Intown Development Plan." This plan recommended that the Gas Plant area be redeveloped with industries.

1975 Florida Department of Transportation began relocating 1,000 families to accomodate the building of Interstate 275. A vast majority of those families were African Americans. Industrial employment in Pinellas county fell from 34,000 in 1974 to 29,000 in 1975.

1976 Industrial employment comprised 16% of the employment in Pinellas county (30,700 persons). The majority of the jobs were in retail and service industries.

1978 The City Council determined the Gas Plant area was blighted and a slum. The City Council declared its body the St. Petersburg Redevelopment agency. It resolved that the redevelopment or rehabilitation and conservation of that area was necessary in the interest of public health, safety morals, or welfare of the residents of St. Petersburg. Three hundred and seventy six families lived in the Gas Plant Area. Many residents had lived in the area more than 40 years. The average lenght of occupancy was 12 years.

1986 July 24, the St. Petersburg City Council voted 6-3 to build a downtown domed stadium. Eight days earlier, then-commissioner Peter Ueberroth wrote a letter to the city that said, "In our evaluation of potential cities for relocation or expansion, St. Petersburg is not among the top candidates." Disregarding the letter, the city built the Dome and wooed the baseball commission. The city administrators and the Chamber of Commerce seemed confident that St. Petersburg would acquire an expansion team. Instead June 10,1991, baseball commission Fay Vincent announced that Miami and Denver would get the expansion teams. When Jeff Smulyan placed the Seattle Mariners for sale during the fall of 1991, St. Petersburg's city officials attempted to buy the team. However, Nintendo, a Japanese company bought the Mariners and kept the team in Seatte. Initially the Ownership Committee fueled the hopes of St. Petersburg by suggesting that foreign investors could not purchase an American baseball team. Also, a year to the date after announcing that no team would expand to St. Petersburg, the Ownership Committee voted to allow Nintendo to invest $75 millions ( Bob Harig, St. Petersburg Times: 6.1 0.92).

1990 Laurel Park, a low income apartment was razed.

1992 Don McRae, Interim City manager fired Chief of Police Ernest Curtsinger. Racial tensions increased.

1993 The residents of St. Petersburg voted to change the city charter. The mayor became the chief administrative officer. Previously the final decisions in city government were made by the city manager. The city demolished Mrs. Louise Macon's home to make way for a parking lot for the Florida Suncoast Dome.