Palm Harbor, Florida
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Palm Harbor is a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
and
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Pinellas County, Florida Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa– St. Petersburg– Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistic ...
, United States. As of the 2016 American Community Survey, the CDP had a population of 60,236.


Culture

Palm Harbor is located north of downtown
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and west of
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 ...
. It is a largely residential community with several concentrations of commerce. Downtown Palm Harbor, north of Tampa Road between U.S. Highway 19 Alternate and Omaha Street hosts many small shops and eateries along with a handful of historic buildings. U.S. Highway 19, a mile or two east of downtown, offers access to higher concentrations of commerce, with an array of national chain restaurants and retailers. One entrance to
Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club is a hotel and country club resort in the southeastern United States, located in Palm Harbor, Florida, northwest of Tampa, Florida, Tampa. The complex consists of a 620-room hotel, four golf courses, spa, three rest ...
, a nationally regarded golf course and home of the PGA's
Valspar Championship The Valspar Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, northwest of Tampa, Florida. History The tournament was founded in 2000 as the ...
, is found on U.S. 19 just north of Alderman Road. The historic downtown district of Palm Harbor, at Florida Avenue and Alt. US 19 and CR 1, has numerous festivals and craft fairs. Old Palm Harbor Main Streets, Inc., a 501c3 not-for-profit organization, hosts their signature event the first Friday of every month. "Palm Harbor's First Friday Celebrations" are a popular community event for youngsters and adults alike. There are rides and games for the children, with opportunities to dine on food from the many local restaurants, enjoy local artists and crafters displaying and selling their wares. Annually, the first Sunday in October marks when the "Taste of Palm Harbor" festival is held. The event is presented by the Palm Harbor Junior Women's Club with the proceeds benefiting their "Making a Difference" grants & scholarships program. The Taste of Palm Harbor traditionally offers live music and the tasting of samples from over 20 local restaurants, many of which make seafood their specialty.


Government

Palm Harbor is an unincorporated part of Pinellas County. HB 183 – Town of Palm Harbor/Pinellas County, from 2009, was the most recent local bill that would have scheduled a referendum allowing Palm Harbor voters the opportunity to decide if they want to incorporate, but the bill died in committee. Pinellas County legislators had voted on January 22, 2009, to support a bill allowing voters in Palm Harbor to decide if they wanted their unincorporated community to become the county's 25th city. It passed over the objections of Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala, who said she was appearing in both her official capacity and as a Palm Harbor resident. The Legislature would have needed to first conduct a feasibility study to make sure cityhood made fiscal sense. In 1985, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners enacted County Code 85-28, which set into place the Palm Harbor Community Services Agency (PHCSA), a special taxing district to which tax was levied in the form of millage to provide for recreational and library services to the unincorporated community. The PHCSA board is a volunteer panel elected by the voters within the district to oversee the funding of Palm Harbor Library, East Lake Community Library and Palm Harbor Parks & Recreation.


Recreation

Palm Harbor has various recreational amenities. The area is home to John Chesnut, Sr. Park, located in the East Lake region, as well as H.S. "Pop" Stansell Park, located to the west of Palm Harbor Boulevard and overlooking St. Joseph's Sound. The Palm Harbor Community Services District also manages several sport complexes in the community: Steve Putnam Park, Palm Field, and Sunderman Recreation Complex. The community activity center is located at 1500 16th Street, managed by the District's parks and recreation department. This facility was originally constructed by Pinellas County in the late 1990s as a senior recreation facility, however lacked the funding to remain open and available to the community. The District received the property in 2004, and started youth, teen and adult programs, youth summer camps and community services. Palm Harbor is also the home to the White Chapel. This historic facility, which was under Pinellas County ownership previously, lacked the funding to keep its doors opened and was given to the Palm Harbor Community Services District in November 2012. Now managed by the District's parks and recreation department, the chapel was completely restored and is the site for many banquets, weddings and community special events. Harbor Hall, the banquet facility built next to the chapel, also serves as a banquet and recreational space.


Palm Harbor Library


History

Palm Harbor Library opened April 1, 1978, funded by a Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU), and is the only library in the state of Florida funded by a MSTU. Ozona Elementary School teacher, Jeanette Malouf, noted that students did not have a library close enough to their homes to borrow books. The closest libraries at the time were the Dunedin Library and Tarpon Springs Library, both of which charged fees to members not living in their respective cities. Jeanette Malouf was the Vice President of the Palm Harbor Civic Club, which donated $400 as start-up for funding of the library. With donated books, and building supplies by various community members, the first floor of a home on 1205 Omaha Ave donated by Bill Honey was renovated into a small library, which led to the opening on April 1, 1978. The Palm Harbor Library ran entirely on volunteers, which formed the group, the Palm Harbor Friends of the Library Inc. on December 18, 1979. The Palm Harbor Friends of the Library elected officials in 1980, where Jeanette Malouf was named director of the library. The library continued to run on community donations and fundraisers and their semi-annual book sales. With 10,000 volumes the library moved to historical Palm Harbor Methodist Church on 12th Street in Old Palm Harbor in December of 1980. By 1982 the library volumes had doubled to 20,000 and served over 2,000 families within the community, and also acquired a new service of accessibility through the donation of a large print section in memory of Lea Gibbons. As the library continued to grow, it needed more space. The Florida State Library opened up a grant for public libraries of $200,000 to be included 1984-85 budget. Palm Harbor Library encountered 2 issues in qualification for the grant, one was it could only be made to a government agency, and at the time Palm Harbor was unincorporated, but Pinellas County Administrator, Fred Marquis, supported their application. The second issue, was the community must match the grant of $200,000, which Pinellas County donated 8 acres of 6th Street, counting for $100,000, and the rest must be raised. Ultimately, the grant was vetoed by Governor Graham on June 30, 1983, due to funding and denied tax raises by legislation. Through extensive fundraising and membership fees, Malouf and the Palm Harbor Friends of the Library continued work towards the goal of building the library. In February of 1985 Senator Curt Kiser proposed a bill to create a Special District Status for the Palm Harbor Fire District, which was approved in June. This allowed Palm Harbor to tax themselves for various services such as a library, which led to the development of the MSTU. In order to buy land for the Palm Harbor Library, a proposal for tax-free bonds was approved by the PHCSA and the County Commissioner approved the purchase of the site on Nebraska Avenue as the site for the Palm Harbor Library. The Palm Harbor Library officially opened at its new and current location on Nebraska Avenue on July 5, 1988.


Geography

Palm Harbor is located at (28.083926, -82.753947). According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, the CDP has a total area of , of which is land, and (34.67%) is water. Palm Harbor has a unique "hilly" geography which is uncommon in Florida.


History

The area that is now Palm Harbor was largely uninhabited until settlers began arriving in the 1860s. The area became known as "Curlew", with the Curlew Pioneer Cemetery, established in 1869, and the Curlew Methodist Church. A post office named "Bay St. Joseph" opened in 1878. In 1881,
Henry B. Plant Henry Bradley Plant (October 27, 1819 – June 23, 1899), was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant Sy ...
opened the San Marino Hotel in what later became Palm Harbor in 1885. The Gulf View Hotel also opened around that time. The Sutherland Improvement Company acquired land in the Curlew/Bay St. Joseph area and developed it into the settlement of Sutherland. In 1888 the Sutherland Post Office opened. The
Orange Belt Railway The Orange Belt Railway (later known as the Sanford & St. Petersburg Railroad) was a narrow gauge railroad established in 1885 by Russian exile Peter Demens in Florida. It was one of the longest narrow gauge railroads in the United States at th ...
reached Sutherland in 1890. The name was changed to Palm Harbor in 1925. Sutherland boasted two beautiful hotels, the larger one becoming Southern College in 1902. It sat high on the bluff overlooking Sutherland Bayou and the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
. Sutherland was thought to be named after the
Duke of Sutherland Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made th ...
, who visited these parts after landing at
Tarpon Springs Tarpon Springs is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 23,484 at the 2010 census. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US. Downtown Tarpon Springs has long been a focal po ...
in 1887. Local pioneers dismiss this coincidence, pointing out that the name Sutherland is a shortening of Southern Land and Development Company, the group which originally platted the community in 1888. Palm Harbor was once home to the Florida State Headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan when Donald Kersey, who was not a member of the Klan, allowed the organization to use his 13 acre property just north of Tampa Road on US-19 beginning in 1977. Kersey allowed the KKK to use his land when a portion of it was rezoned from commercial to residential which cost him a substantial amount of money. The KKK told Kersey that they needed to go underground to not gain any attention from authorities but that his land would be a great place to try to recruit people into the organization. Kersey stated that he told the zoning commission that he would make them pay for their zoning decisions which ended up bringing the Klan to the small unincorporated town. The land was sold in 2006 with a large strip mall built on it with a subdivision behind that structure. While Kersey got his revenge on the zoning committee with his actions, the locals did resist since the building was burned down on four separate occasions and the Palm Harbor Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution condemning the group and the actions of Mr. Kersey. Once his actions were known to locals, his house was set ablaze when someone tried to burn the KKK buildings down on the property. Although the land was sold in 2006, the KKK activity began to wane in the 1990s according to several locals who lived in the town during that time. No remnants of this exist in the present day town and many locals wish to keep it that way.


Demographics

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
of 2000, there were 59,248 people, 25,461 households, and 16,906 families residing in the CDP. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 1,276.6/km (3,306.8/mi2). There were 28,044 housing units at an average density of 604.2/km (1,565.2/mi2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.83%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 0.97%
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.19% American Indian, 1.28%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.02%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 0.60% from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 1.10% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 3.45% of the population. There were 25,461 households, out of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.6% were non-families. 28.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.79. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 20.8% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $45,404, and the median income for a family was $52,925. Males had a median income of $41,003 versus $29,287 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the CDP was $26,470. About 4.3% of families and 5.5% of the population were considered below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.


Notable people

*
Michael Bilirakis Michael Bilirakis (born July 16, 1930) is an American politician and lawyer from Florida. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1983 until 2007, representing the 9th District of Florida. Early life The ...
, congressman who lived in Palm Harbor during his time in office *
Mike Rinder Michael John Rinder (; born 10 April 1955) is an Australian-American former senior executive of the Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Sea Organization based in the United States. From 1982 to 2007, Rinder served on the board of ...
(born 1955), former executive at and now critic of the
Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...
. *
Richie Scheinblum Richard Alan Scheinblum (November 5, 1942 – May 10, 2021), nicknamed "Shane", Whiting, Robert. ''You Gotta Have Wa'' (Vintage Departures, 1989), pp. 82-83. was an American professional Major League Baseball (MLB) player. In 1971, he won the A ...
(1942–2021), Major League Baseball All Star outfielder * Ben Sweat, starting left-back for MLS club
New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...
*
Henry Zebrowski Henry Thomas Zebrowski, Jr. (born May 1, 1984) is an American actor, podcast host, and comedian, known for his work on the Adult Swim series ''Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell'', the NBC series '' Heroes Reborn'', and the podcast ''The Last Podc ...
, comedian and actor *
Ted Larsen Theodore Larsen (born June 13, 1987) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at NC State. Post-football Career After a ...
, pro football offensive lineman *
Gus Bilirakis Gus Michael Bilirakis ( ; born February 8, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he first entered Congress in 2007, where he succeeded his father Michael ...
, American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 12th congressional district since 2013


See also

* Palm Harbor Fire Rescue * Joseph L. Carwise Middle School * Palm Harbor Middle School *
Palm Harbor University High School Palm Harbor University High School, also known as PHUHS, is a Pinellas County Public school (government funded), public high school in Palm Harbor, Florida, Palm Harbor, Florida for grades 9-12. The school's mascot is the Hurricane and the school' ...


References


External links


Taxing Authorities Within Palm Harbor


Palm Harbor Fire Rescue
funded by the Palm Harbor Special Fire Control District
Palm Harbor Library
funded by the Palm Harbor Community Services District
Palm Harbor Parks & Recreation
funded by the Palm Harbor Community Services District *
Palm Harbor University High School Palm Harbor University High School, also known as PHUHS, is a Pinellas County Public school (government funded), public high school in Palm Harbor, Florida, Palm Harbor, Florida for grades 9-12. The school's mascot is the Hurricane and the school' ...


Local community links


Old Palm Harbor Main Street, Inc

Palm Harbor Voters United
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Pinellas County, Florida Census-designated places in Pinellas County, Florida Census-designated places in Florida Unincorporated communities in Florida Populated places on the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida 1925 establishments in Florida