John Constantine Williams, Sr. (died 1892) was the cofounder of
St. Petersburg, Florida, with Captain
Peter A. Demens
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
.
Williams Park is named for him.
Williams came from
Detroit, and purchased the land in the area of what became St. Petersburg in 1876. Williams suffered from
asthma and moved to Florida for his health. He lived in
Tampa
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...
until 1887 when a
yellow fever epidemic chased him across
Tampa Bay.
Peter Demens
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a ...
(Pyotr Alexeyevitch Dementyev) was instrumental in bringing the terminus of a railroad to the area in 1888.
Williams transferred part of his
land holdings to the Russian exile in return for Demens extending his
Orange Belt Railway line from
Sanford, Florida
Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051.
Known as the "Historic Waterfront Gateway City", Sanford sits on the southern shore ...
, west to
Tarpon Springs and then south along the Gulf coast to Williams's settlement. Williams agreed to let Demens name the settlement and the first train arrived in 1888. The town's population was 30 people but rose quickly after to about 270 by the 1890 census.
St. Petersburg was incorporated on February 29, 1892, the same year Williams died. It had a population of approximately 300 people. It was named after
Saint Petersburg, Russia, where Peter Demens had spent half of his youth. A legend says that John C. Williams and Peter Demens flipped a coin to see who would have the honor of naming the city. Peter Demens is said to have won and named the city after his childhood home, while John C. Williams named the first hotel (built by Demens) after his birthplace of Detroit.
The Detroit Hotel still exists downtown after a conversion into condominiums. The oldest running hotels are the historic Pier Hotel, built in 1921, formally Hotel Cordova and The Heritage Hotel, built in 1926. Demens died in 1919.
Williams had a Queen Anne-style Victorian house constructed in 1891 at 444 Fifth Avenue South. It was moved to the campus of the
University of South Florida St. Petersburg in 1995.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John Constantine, Sr.
People from Detroit
1892 deaths