F.A. Davis
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Frank Allston Davis (September 8, 1850Hartzell, p. 51. – January 2, 1917Hartzell, p. 55) was a
publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
executive who founded the
F. A. Davis Company F.A. Davis Company (F.A. Davis or Davis) is a publishing firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded by F. A. Davis (1850–1917). Davis publishes mostly textbooks and reference books for the medical, nursing, and health-related pro ...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After moving to the Tampa Bay Area, he introduced electricity to
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...
, and founded the city of
Pinellas Park Pinellas Park is a city located in central Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 53,093 at the 2020 census. Originally home to northern transplants and vacationers, the hundred year old city has grown into the fourth largest ...
.


Early life

Davis was born in Duxbury, Vermont, and, as a child, worked as a groundskeeper and attended school. His mother died in 1861, after which he lived with Samuel Cook Turner. He worked as a lawnmower salesman in
Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 15,188
, during the summer of 1870.The History of F. A. Davis
from the
F. A. Davis Company F.A. Davis Company (F.A. Davis or Davis) is a publishing firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded by F. A. Davis (1850–1917). Davis publishes mostly textbooks and reference books for the medical, nursing, and health-related pro ...
web site.
By 1872, he earned $30 per month as a teacher.Hartzell, pp. 51-52. Davis relocated to Philadelphia and worked as an agent for several publishing firms. He married Lizzie Fritz and their son, Alonzo, was born in 1873.Hartzell, p. 52. In 1879, he was working as an agent for the largest medical publisher in the world, William Wood and Company when he formed his own publishing company, F. A. Davis Company. Similar to William Wood, Davis's company specialized in publishing medical material including medical studies. Davis's first wife died in the 1880s.


Florida

On April 29, 1885, Davis attended an American Medical Association meeting which included a study about the benefits of the
Pinellas Pinellas is the name of a peninsula located roughly halfway down the west coast of Florida. It forms the western boundary of Tampa Bay and comprises the bulk of Pinellas County. There is a city named Pinellas Park in south Pinellas. The peninsula ...
peninsula. Davis eventually published the study and, in 1889, he travelled to Tarpon Springs, Florida. He felt improvement in his muscular
rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...
and advertised for Florida in one of his medical journals. In Tarpon Springs he met Jacob Disston, the brother of Florida land baron Hamilton Disston. Davis and Disston combined to bring electricity to Tarpon Springs in 1895.Hartzell, p. 53. In the same year, Davis married Elizabeth Irene Craven. Electricity had little impact on Tarpon Springs, so Davis received an electricity franchise from St. Petersburg on February 2, 1897, and moved his plant there. St. Petersburg's first wood-powered electrical service was initiated on August 5, 1897. On February 4, 1902, Davis was granted a trolley franchise by St. Petersburg. He paid for trolley construction with funding from Jacob Disston and others, and by purchasing and re-selling the city's phone system. Trolley construction began on May 30, 1904, and operation began four months later. In 1905, he expanded the trolley system to
Disston City Gulfport is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordering St. Petersburg, South Pasadena, and Boca Ciega Bay. The population of Gulfport was 12,029 at the 2010 census. Gulfport is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater me ...
. Through his publishing company, Davis promoted the area with ''Florida'' magazine in 1905 and two books in 1906. Continuing to expand his influence in St. Petersburg, Davis tore down the Brantley Pier and built the Electric Pier in 1906.Hartzell, p. 54.History
from The Pier web site.
He paid $80,000 for a 500-passenger steamboat named ''Favorite'' which first arrived on October 17, 1906, and was a popular attraction at the Electric Pier. Davis's progress – and St. Petersburg's in general – was hampered when Tampa tycoon
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 ...
purchased the city's lifeline, the Orange Belt Railroad, in 1906. Davis was dealt another blow by the banking
panic of 1907 The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...
. Two years later, he shifted control of much of his St. Petersburg holdings to his occasional rival,
H. Walter Fuller H is the eighth letter of the Latin alphabet. H may also refer to: Musical symbols * H number, Harry Halbreich reference mechanism for music by Honegger and Martinů * H, B (musical note) * H, B major People * H. (noble) (died after 1 ...
. After a conflict over St. Petersburg waterfront area, Davis purchased of Hamilton Disston's land around 1911 and established the city of Pinellas Park. Davis, his son, and P. J. McDevitt advertised the new city, drawing people from Pennsylvania and Ohio. McDevitt became the city's first mayor. Davis sold a free lot in Pinellas Park for every ten-acre farm purchased, resulting in 111 farm sales from 1910 to 1912. Lack of drainage in Pinellas Park caused problems in August 1915, when of rain fell. Davis died in Philadelphia from heart failure, reportedly due to World War I and concern over his estate. Jacob Disston closed out Davis's remaining holdings in Florida while his wife, Elizabeth, remained involved with F. A. Davis Company until her death in 1964.


Notes


References

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Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, F. A. 1850 births 1917 deaths American publishers (people) American city founders People associated with electricity People from St. Petersburg, Florida People from Duxbury, Vermont 19th-century American businesspeople