Weedon Island is located in

Pinellas County Pinellas County (, ) is located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 959,107, making it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most d ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, United States. It is located within the

Weedon Island Preserve The Weedon Island Preserve is a 3,190-acre natural area situated along the western shore of Tampa Bay and located at 1800 Weedon Drive NE, St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is predominately an estuarine preserve composed of upland and ...

, in the northern portion of the city of

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, on the western coast of Old

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

. Weedon Island is archaeologically significant as it serves as a type-site for the

Weeden Island Culture The Weeden Island cultures are a group of related archaeological cultures that existed during the Late Woodland period (500 - 1000 CE) of the North American Southeast. The name for this group of cultures was derived from the Weedon Island site ...

. Weedon Island is named for its early owner Dr. Leslie Weedon.

History

Early years

Former confederate soldier Captain W. B. Henderson purchased the land that was to become Weedon Island in 1886 with war bonds. When Captain Henderson's daughter Blanche married Dr. Leslie Weedon in 1898, the Captain gave the new couple the Island as a wedding present. Weedon Island was only an island in high tide and during low tide it was connected to the peninsula. Leslie Weedon and his family spent the weekends here from nearby

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa'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 t ...

. At that time there was no bridges across Tampa Bay so they traveled here with their belongings by boat and brought everything back home for the week days. Another family had lived here, The Benjamins who lived on nearby Benjamin Island. Henry R. Benjamin bought Benjamin Island for $1,000 (worth $23,000 in 2016) from Captain W. B. Henderson on April 30, 1878. He kept the land for two years and sold it to his son George M. Benjamin.

Archaeology

In 1923–24 the island was visited by a Florida archaeologist, Dr. Leslie Weedon preserved

Indian mound Many pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to specific people or archaeological culture but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks that in ...

s here and hoped that they would one day be a place of public heritage. During the winter of 1923–24 Prof. J. Walter Fewkes the chief of the

Bureau of American Ethnology The Bureau of American Ethnology (or BAE, originally, Bureau of Ethnology) was established in 1879 by an act of Congress for the purpose of transferring archives, records and materials relating to the Indians of North America from the Departme ...

directed excavations of the mounds here. He had concluded there were two waves of migration, the first one of unknown origin and the second one was thought to be from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

because the mounds there were very similar. The name for the Weeden Island Culture comes from the island itself.

Development

In 1934, Florida land boom developer Eugene M. Elliot wanted to make the residential community but failed. The San Reno Club did manage to get built by one of his associates, Fred Blair, opening the Sky Harbor Airport (by the 1930s it was known as Grand Central Airport) in 1926. The airport was served by Pitcairn a predecessor of

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

taking passengers to places such as

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

until the 1930s. On January 27, 1913 the Eastern Air Transport (Eastern Air Lines) moved its headquarters here, making it a very busy airport. On February 4, 1927 a man on a motorcycle had reported flames coming out of the island. The next morning an investigation was started and found one dead body and a blood-stained ax. This soon started many different trials and the victim that had died in the shed was identified as George W. Dash, a printer. The man accused of murdering the man and burning down the shed was William Cole. Cole was tried and convicted of murder and pleaded and was freed two years later. He also spent approximately six months in the Pinellas County Jail.

Film

The Weedon Island soon became a popular place for many

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

celebrities. In the 1930s the San Reno Club was made into a movie studio which soon burned down and a new one built nearby. In 1933

Sun Haven Studios Sun Haven Studios was a movie company located on Weedon Island, Florida, Weedon Island in St. Petersburg, Florida during the early 1930s. Originally founded as Kennedy Studios by Hollywood director Aubrey M. Kennedy, it was renamed to Sun Haven aft ...

made three movies ''Chloe'', ''

Playthings of Desire ''Playthings of Desire'' is a 1924 American silent melodrama film produced and directed by Burton L. King and starring Estelle Taylor. Cast Preservation A print listed as being complete of ''Playthings of Desire'' is located in the Library ...

'' and '' Hired Wife'' here. Many performers included:

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

Olive Borden Olive Mary Borden (July 14, 1907 – October 1, 1947) was an American film and stage actress who began her career during the silent film era. She was nicknamed "the Joy Girl", after playing the lead in the 1927 film of that same title. Borden ...

Greta Nissen Greta Nissen (born Grethe Rüzt-Nissen; 30 January 1906 – 15 May 1988) was a Norwegian-American film and stage actress. Stage and screen actress Born Grethe Rüzt-Nissen in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway, Nissen was originally a dancer. Whil ...

, James Kirkwood with locals being extras.

National Park Proposal

In the mid 1930s a proposal was to make the island a National park by

and

and a committee was formed and sent to

to meet with the head of the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

at the time, Arno B. Cammerer. The committee had planned that the

would recognize it as

de Soto De Soto commonly refers to * Hernando de Soto (c. 1500 – 1542), Spanish explorer * DeSoto (automobile), an American automobile brand from 1928 to 1961 De Soto, DeSoto, Desoto, or de Soto may also refer to: Places in the United States of Ameri ...

's official landing site. In 1937,

John R. Swanton John Reed Swanton (February 19, 1873 – May 2, 1958) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and linguist who worked with Native American peoples throughout the United States. Swanton achieved recognition in the fields of ethnology and ethn ...

, an ethnologist and chairman from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

who went on to be part of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

's De Soto Commission, decided to research the locations of de Soto's landing site. The exact location was not determined but it was thought to have been at the Little Manatee River. The island did not get the monument and did not become a protected reserve. The landing site of de Soto is still debated today.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the island's airport was converted into a military base due to a surge in aircraft demand.

Decline and later years

The demand during

for commercial flights was declining and another contributing factor was that the bridge burned down in 1953. In 1965 and 1970, two teenagers were killed in a car accident on the bridge. The airport soon became vandalized and completely destroyed. In 1955, the Florida Power Corporation ( Progress Energy) bought most of the northern end of the island to build a power plant. In 1960, a temporary salt water conversion plant was built here by Progress Energy,

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

and the federal government which operated for four years and made 35,000–50,000 gallons of fresh water a day. In 1970 the Greek Oil Tanker Dellan Apollon almost ran aground while trying to dock at the power plant on the island. By the early 1970s the last commercial land owners had sold the land, showing there was no future for commercial development and only the energy facility was left alone and the rest of the island was converted to a nature preserve. On March 25, 2000 on a clear day a helicopter was returning form St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa and hit a radio tower guy wire and crashed into the mangroves on the island with all three people on board. Today, the island is a preserve.

Gallery

File:Airport Waiting Room Ruins Tarmac Side.jpg, Airport Waiting Room Ruins (from the tarmac) File:Airport Waiting Room Ruins.jpg, Airport Waiting Room Ruins (From the trail)

References

{{Authority control Former populated places in Pinellas County, Florida Ghost towns in Florida Weeden Island culture Populated places on Tampa Bay Islands of Tampa Bay