The Beginning

The Beginning. 9th Avenue South Corridor . 22nd Street South Corridor. , Dirt Trails to Main Street , During the 1920s, on the edge of a growing city barely 30 years on the map. African Americans began to create their own community along a dirt trail known as 22nd Street S. It was far in the county, part of a sprawling tract that the city government recently had annexed. It was a place of palmetto and pine, not far from a low-lying spot called Moccasin Bottom, where woodsmen wearing protective “snake boots” made their axes ring and their saws sing while harvesting lumber or clearing land. Eventually, 22nd Street S. grew into one of the nation’s African-American main streets, a miniature version of Beale in Memphis, of Sweet Auburn in Atlanta, or of Ashley in Jacksonville., Jim Crow Laws and Custom , Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow.- from “Jump Jim Crow” by T.D. Rice., Jim Crow was a series of racial segregation laws enacted after the Civil War. Originating with a caricature of blacks performed by T.D. Rice in 1832, the term "Jim Crow" soon became a negative term. When new segregation laws were passed, they became known as “Jim Crow Laws.” More than a series of laws, it was a way of life in which blacks were relegated to the status of second class citizens. They could not shop, find entertainment, receive professional services, or even attend most churches. The exclusion fostered need and energized the rise of streets such as 22nd Street S. Which became the commercial, professional, and entertainment thoroughfare for black St. Petersburg., John Donaldson , John Donalison and his wile, Anna Germain, were the first African-American settlers on the Pinellas peninsula when they arrived in 1888 as employees of Louis Bell, Jr. The well-respected couple purchased 40 acres in 1871 on present-day 18th Avenue S. and established a truck farm with cattle, hogs, and an orange grove. In 1887, Donaldson signed a petition calling for a separation from Hillsborough County. He died in 1901, ten years before the separation occurred. , , Elder Jordan, Sr. , Born a slave around 1850, Jordan and his family came to St. Petersburg in 1904 when the city was beginning to win a reputation as a resort. Jordan is said to have originally been from Fort White, Florida, In Columbia County. Records also show Jordan marrying Mary Frances Strobles, a Cherokee woman, in 1885 in Rosewood, Florida, site of the infamous massacre of African Americans four decades later., A tall man given to wearing black suits and cowboy boots, Jordan quickly established himself as an entrepreneur in St. Petersburg, selling produce and opening a livery stable. He made deliveries in a horse-drawn wagon and turned the front room of his house on 9th S. into a produce stand. Later, he began buying tax deeds and started accumulating property, becoming a pioneer developer. He built some Of the very early housing in the neighborhood and established early "courts,” a traditional, African-American residential development style. He was a trustee for the early African-American schools. Both Jordan Elementary and the Jordan Park Housing Complex in front of you were named in his honor. According to enduring community lore, Jordan was wealthy enough to loan money to the city government during hard times after the stock market crash of 1929. He and his son built the iconic Manhattan Casino., Elder Jordan, Sr. died in 1936 before the street he helped energize hit its stride. It picked up momentum after World War II and peaked in the early 1960s., (captions) , Work for early African-American residents included road Clearing. Photo by Burgert Brothers. Courtesy of St. Petersburg Museum of History., Colored Seated in Rear courtesy of Gwen Reese, Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History., An African-American road crew lays bricks for a street. Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History., The citrus groves surrounding St. Petersburg provided work for many African-American residents. Photo courtesy of the St. Petersburg Museum of History., Ca. 900 photograph of children taken by 10-year-old Ruth Myers Lane during a winter visit to St. Petersburg Courtesy of St. Petersburg Museum of History.