Gulfport in Pinellas County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Rattlesnake Curve
Photographed by Tim Fillmon, June 15, 2019
1. Rattlesnake Curve Marker
Inscription.
Rattlesnake Curve. . When in the early 1900s the St. Petersburg and Gulf Electric Railway Company planed their streetcar line to connect with the Gulf beaches, they first had to determine a termination point where boats could meet the trolleys to carry passengers across Boca Ciega Bay. A party led by Walter Williams, after whose family the Gulfport pier is named, set out to survey the coastline. They found the most suitable location to be a site just west of the small settlement of Disston City, as Gulfport was then known. Due north of that point, the car line would make a sharp right turn back to St. Petersburg, which became this curve. The tracks were laid along a route of sand and streamlets, almost impassible thickets of scrub palmetto, and low-lying wet ground with many wild inhabitants. Rattlesnakes were a particular danger. The area was infested with them as late as the 1940s, when the Gulfport Fire Department periodically burned off large tracts of land to destroy the nests proliferating so close to Gulfport Elementary School.
When in the early 1900s the St. Petersburg and Gulf Electric Railway Company planed their streetcar line to connect with the Gulf beaches, they first had to determine a termination point where boats could meet the trolleys to carry passengers across Boca Ciega Bay. A party led by Walter Williams, after whose family the Gulfport pier is named, set out to survey the coastline. They found the most suitable location to be a site just west of the small settlement of Disston City, as Gulfport was then known. Due north of that point, the car line would make a sharp right turn back to St. Petersburg, which became this curve. The tracks were laid along a route of sand and streamlets, almost impassible thickets of scrub palmetto, and low-lying wet ground with many wild inhabitants. Rattlesnakes were a particular danger. The area was infested with them as late as the 1940s, when the Gulfport Fire Department periodically burned off large tracts of land to destroy the nests proliferating so close to Gulfport Elementary School.
Erected 2014 by City of Gulfport.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists:
Location. 27° 45.123′ N, 82° 42.399′ W. Marker is in Gulfport, Florida, in Pinellas County. It is at the intersection of 54th Street South and Tangerine Avenue South, on the left when traveling north on 54th Street South. Marker is in Tomilson Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Saint Petersburg FL 33707, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is on Florida’s Gulf Coast and on Tampa Bay. It is also in the American South and on the Gulf Coast. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Stetson University College of Law (approx. 0.8 miles away); Steven Jay Robin (approx. one mile away);
Credits. This page was last revised on July 3, 2019. It was originally submitted on June 29, 2019, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,325 times since then and 64 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on June 29, 2019, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
