Tierra Verde, Florida
Encyclopedia
Tierra Verde is a census-designated place
(CDP) in Pinellas County
, Florida
, United States
. The population was 3,574 at the 2000 census.
Located at the end of Tierra Verde is Fort De Soto (Pinellas) County Park.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the CDP has a total area of 11.8 km² (4.6 mi²). 3.8 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is land and 8.0 km² (3.1 mi²) of it (67.69%) is water.
of 2000, there were 3,574 people, 1,661 households, and 1,132 families residing in the CDP. The population density
was 938.7/km² (2,430.1/mi²). There were 1,975 housing units at an average density of 518.7/km² (1,342.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.89% White, 1.79% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races
, and 0.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.41% of the population.
There were 1,661 households out of which 17.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% were married couples
living together, 3.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.53.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 13.8% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 41.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.2 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $86,617, and the median income for a family was $96,155. Males had a median income of $63,750 versus $41,250 for females. The per capita income
for the CDP was $48,259. About 1.9% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Then the Spanish explorers came. One explorer, Ponce De Leon, came to the area in 1513, and again in 1521, when he received the wound that he later died from after returning to Cuba. Later, Hernando De Soto, Navarez and John Ortiz explored, and then pirates and buccaneers sailed the area, including Jose Gaspar, Juan Gomez and Jean LaFitte. A treasure was reputed to have once been buried here.
In 1848 Robert E. Lee, then a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. army, recommended that Mullet Key be used for coastal defense in Florida. During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Fort De Soto was built on Mullet Key. Remains of the fort still stand, along with fortifications on Egmont Key. In 1948 the federal government sold Mullet Key to Pinellas County for park and recreation facilities, now Fort De Soto Park.
Early settlers to the area included Baltimore sea captain William Bunce and Silas Dent, who with his brother had a dairy farm. Dent lived on Cabbage Key until he died there in 1952. The Roberts family was among the early settlers of Pass-A-Grille and Tierra Verde. George "Florida" Roberts was a fishing guide for figures such as land developer Walter Fuller, Cecil B. Detre, and John Wanamaker. The thousands of tarpon caught by Roberts and his clients can be found as far away as Alexandria, Egypt in the home of Sir Harry Rofe.
Although two homes were built on Monte Cristo in 1923, and one in 1946, things were quiet until the mid-1950s when a Dr. Bradley "Doc" Waldron went to Tallahassee and persuaded the State of Florida to sell him Pine Key, Cabbage Key, Pardee Key and the surrounding bay bottom. This was about the same time construction of the old Skyway Bridge began. Waldron formed a partnership with two builders from Detroit, Hyman and Irving Green, who became majority owners of a group of 36 corporations. They named their island investment "Green Land."
Waldron-Green Associates applied for a dredge-and-fill permit in 1957. Their intent: to pump some 9000000 cubic yards (6,880,993.7 m³) of sand and shells from the bottom of the bay and thus enlarge and raise the ground level of the three keys Doc Waldron had purchased from the State and join them to create one large island intersected with canals between the sections.
Meanwhile, others sought county and state permission to dredge and pump the bay bottom and build up Bird Key, today's Bayway Isles
and Isla Del Sol. Miami developer Leonard Ratner purchased land which became the site of Eckerd College. Hamilton Disston
, the largest landowner in the United States, began and lost his Disston City development, later renamed Gulfport.
At first, the only way to get here was by boat. A ferry ran from Pass-A-Grille to a dock at the end of Madonna Boulevard. Then the state developed its plans for the Bayway and financed it through a $16.8 million bond issue. The Greens persuaded the Department of Transportation to add a Fort DeSoto leg and contributed the land on which it was to be built, thus assuring themselves of land access to their proposed Tierra Verde.
The State's final road and bridge plans were approved in early 1960, and the developer's dredging permit was granted in December of that year. The dredging would create about 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of buildable land. Waldron-Green and their various partners and corporations then sold the islands, with the dredge-and-fill permits, to Louis Berlanti, a contractor from New York City, and his son, Fred.
In 1960 Louis and Fred Berlanti arrived on the scene. By June of that year Louis was named president of the Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc.; Doc Waldron and H. D. Sluyter, of Dallas, Texas, were each appointed vice president. There was considerable speculation at the time as to exactly whose money it was that Berlanti represented. He was generally considered to be a "nominee" for Clint Murchison, Sr.
, the Texas oil tycoon, since both Murchison and Sluyter had been elected directors of the Association. One or more union pension funds were thought, by some, to be the real source of the new money.
On June 30, 1961, the Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc. Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Florida, and the original Declaration of Restrictions and Covenants were recorded in public records in August that same year.
By December 1962, there was a road and a bridge to Tierra Verde. In January 1963, Guy Lombardo's Port O' Call Resort had its grand opening, where Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Liberace, Mel Tormé, and many other musical and theatrical stars would later perform. The popular TV show Route 66 was filmed there. The place was hopping with celebrities. Lombardo promoted the resort all across the country when the band did a 10-week national bus tour to more than 20 cities. Every show included several minutes to promote Tierra Verde and "his and the Murchison's Port O' Call Resort." All across the country, their bus had a Tierra Verde banner hung on its sides.
Six months later, on August 16, 1963, Louis and Fred Berlanti died. The private airplane he was flying with his son was sabotaged and exploded over Lake Okeechobee, Florida, killing them both. Fragments of their bodies and their exploded airplane were found floating in Lake Okeechobee.
Berlanti had suffered sizable real estate losses from Castro government property confiscations and had pledged half a million dollars to unseat the Castro regime. He and his son were members of the "United Organizations for the Liberation of Cuba". The St. Petersburg Times also alluded to "covert" local activities.
With the death of the Berlantis, Tierra Verde was in the hands of the Murchisons for more than 14 years. Guy Lombardo and his band returned for only one more season, and was quoted as saying he had tried to strike a "new deal" with the Murchisons but had not succeeded. He never returned.
Guy Lombardo died in 1977, the same year that real estate developer Frank E. Mackle, III was elected president of a new venture called the Tierra Verde Company, a joint venture between Madonna Corporation, (a Murchison interest), and Delverde [Deltona] Corporation. Because of lack of local interest, the Tierra Verde Company worked with a network of international brokers and sold many lots to overseas investors. But growth on Tierra Verde was still slow. However, in 1984 Pinellas Bayway got an exit ramp off Interstate 275 and Tierra Verde property sales increased greatly because of the easier access. In January 1985 Deltona turned the community over to the homeowners.
Tierra Verde may have been named perhaps as much for the brothers Green as for its green land. Tierra Verde is 667 acres (2.7 km²) an unincorporated portion of Pinellas County. Both St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach have bid for annexation, but Tierra Verde voted to stay independent. The 15 original islands are now the present six areas of Tierra Verde: Monte Cristo, Entrada, Pinellas Bayway, Sands Point, East Shore (Bayview) and West Shore (Oceanview.)
In 1980 Tierra Verde real estate was valued at $15 million. By 1991 values had soared to $304 million. In November 1996 the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office evaluated Tierra Verde property at $349 million, 1999 values were listed at $478 million and in 2003 values are listed at $632 million. There are now approximately 2,000 single-family and multi-family structures on Tierra Verde, as well as a number of commercial enterprises. An estimated 2,500 families are expected when Tierra Verde is built to completion.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) in Pinellas County
Pinellas County, Florida
Pinellas County is a county located in the state of Florida. Its county seat is Clearwater, Florida, and its largest city is St. Petersburg. This county is contained entirely within the telephone area code 727, except for some sections of Oldsmar, which have the area code 813...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 3,574 at the 2000 census.
Located at the end of Tierra Verde is Fort De Soto (Pinellas) County Park.
Geography
Tierra Verde is located at 27°40′53"N 82°43′28"W (27.681353, -82.724408).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP has a total area of 11.8 km² (4.6 mi²). 3.8 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is land and 8.0 km² (3.1 mi²) of it (67.69%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 3,574 people, 1,661 households, and 1,132 families residing in the CDP. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 938.7/km² (2,430.1/mi²). There were 1,975 housing units at an average density of 518.7/km² (1,342.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.89% White, 1.79% African American, 0.20% Native American, 0.98% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 0.48% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.41% of the population.
There were 1,661 households out of which 17.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 3.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.53.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 13.8% under the age of 18, 3.7% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 41.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females there were 101.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.2 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $86,617, and the median income for a family was $96,155. Males had a median income of $63,750 versus $41,250 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the CDP was $48,259. About 1.9% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
History
Tierra Verde was once 15 islands covered with mangroves, pines and bush. These islands ranged in size from only a few acres to the largest, Cabbage Key, having over 289 acres (1.2 km²). For centuries, Indians used the islands for ceremonial and burial grounds. A marker remains on the east side of Pinellas Bayway, just north of East Shore Drive, where Indian relics were found in a typical shell mound, excavated when the road was built to Fort DeSoto Park. The islands were sacred ground to Indian nations as far back as 500 years ago, archaeologists suggest, and deadly conflicts occurred when outsiders trespassed.Then the Spanish explorers came. One explorer, Ponce De Leon, came to the area in 1513, and again in 1521, when he received the wound that he later died from after returning to Cuba. Later, Hernando De Soto, Navarez and John Ortiz explored, and then pirates and buccaneers sailed the area, including Jose Gaspar, Juan Gomez and Jean LaFitte. A treasure was reputed to have once been buried here.
In 1848 Robert E. Lee, then a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. army, recommended that Mullet Key be used for coastal defense in Florida. During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Fort De Soto was built on Mullet Key. Remains of the fort still stand, along with fortifications on Egmont Key. In 1948 the federal government sold Mullet Key to Pinellas County for park and recreation facilities, now Fort De Soto Park.
Early settlers to the area included Baltimore sea captain William Bunce and Silas Dent, who with his brother had a dairy farm. Dent lived on Cabbage Key until he died there in 1952. The Roberts family was among the early settlers of Pass-A-Grille and Tierra Verde. George "Florida" Roberts was a fishing guide for figures such as land developer Walter Fuller, Cecil B. Detre, and John Wanamaker. The thousands of tarpon caught by Roberts and his clients can be found as far away as Alexandria, Egypt in the home of Sir Harry Rofe.
Although two homes were built on Monte Cristo in 1923, and one in 1946, things were quiet until the mid-1950s when a Dr. Bradley "Doc" Waldron went to Tallahassee and persuaded the State of Florida to sell him Pine Key, Cabbage Key, Pardee Key and the surrounding bay bottom. This was about the same time construction of the old Skyway Bridge began. Waldron formed a partnership with two builders from Detroit, Hyman and Irving Green, who became majority owners of a group of 36 corporations. They named their island investment "Green Land."
Waldron-Green Associates applied for a dredge-and-fill permit in 1957. Their intent: to pump some 9000000 cubic yards (6,880,993.7 m³) of sand and shells from the bottom of the bay and thus enlarge and raise the ground level of the three keys Doc Waldron had purchased from the State and join them to create one large island intersected with canals between the sections.
Meanwhile, others sought county and state permission to dredge and pump the bay bottom and build up Bird Key, today's Bayway Isles
Bayway Isles
Bayway Isles is a residential neighborhood consisting of two islands in the southernmost part of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida. The islands are home to almost 200 families. The community extends southward from the Pinellas Bayway causeway into the waters of southern Boca Ciega Bay...
and Isla Del Sol. Miami developer Leonard Ratner purchased land which became the site of Eckerd College. Hamilton Disston
Hamilton Disston
Hamilton Disston , was an industrialist and real-estate developer who purchased four million acres of Florida land in 1881, an area larger than the state of Connecticut, and reportedly the most land ever purchased by a single person in world history...
, the largest landowner in the United States, began and lost his Disston City development, later renamed Gulfport.
At first, the only way to get here was by boat. A ferry ran from Pass-A-Grille to a dock at the end of Madonna Boulevard. Then the state developed its plans for the Bayway and financed it through a $16.8 million bond issue. The Greens persuaded the Department of Transportation to add a Fort DeSoto leg and contributed the land on which it was to be built, thus assuring themselves of land access to their proposed Tierra Verde.
The State's final road and bridge plans were approved in early 1960, and the developer's dredging permit was granted in December of that year. The dredging would create about 5000 acres (20.2 km²) of buildable land. Waldron-Green and their various partners and corporations then sold the islands, with the dredge-and-fill permits, to Louis Berlanti, a contractor from New York City, and his son, Fred.
In 1960 Louis and Fred Berlanti arrived on the scene. By June of that year Louis was named president of the Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc.; Doc Waldron and H. D. Sluyter, of Dallas, Texas, were each appointed vice president. There was considerable speculation at the time as to exactly whose money it was that Berlanti represented. He was generally considered to be a "nominee" for Clint Murchison, Sr.
Clint Murchison, Sr.
Clinton Williams Murchison, Sr. , was a noted Texas-based oil magnate and political operative. He was also the father of Dallas Cowboys owner Clint Murchison, Jr..-Personal:...
, the Texas oil tycoon, since both Murchison and Sluyter had been elected directors of the Association. One or more union pension funds were thought, by some, to be the real source of the new money.
On June 30, 1961, the Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc. Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Florida, and the original Declaration of Restrictions and Covenants were recorded in public records in August that same year.
By December 1962, there was a road and a bridge to Tierra Verde. In January 1963, Guy Lombardo's Port O' Call Resort had its grand opening, where Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Liberace, Mel Tormé, and many other musical and theatrical stars would later perform. The popular TV show Route 66 was filmed there. The place was hopping with celebrities. Lombardo promoted the resort all across the country when the band did a 10-week national bus tour to more than 20 cities. Every show included several minutes to promote Tierra Verde and "his and the Murchison's Port O' Call Resort." All across the country, their bus had a Tierra Verde banner hung on its sides.
Six months later, on August 16, 1963, Louis and Fred Berlanti died. The private airplane he was flying with his son was sabotaged and exploded over Lake Okeechobee, Florida, killing them both. Fragments of their bodies and their exploded airplane were found floating in Lake Okeechobee.
Berlanti had suffered sizable real estate losses from Castro government property confiscations and had pledged half a million dollars to unseat the Castro regime. He and his son were members of the "United Organizations for the Liberation of Cuba". The St. Petersburg Times also alluded to "covert" local activities.
With the death of the Berlantis, Tierra Verde was in the hands of the Murchisons for more than 14 years. Guy Lombardo and his band returned for only one more season, and was quoted as saying he had tried to strike a "new deal" with the Murchisons but had not succeeded. He never returned.
Guy Lombardo died in 1977, the same year that real estate developer Frank E. Mackle, III was elected president of a new venture called the Tierra Verde Company, a joint venture between Madonna Corporation, (a Murchison interest), and Delverde [Deltona] Corporation. Because of lack of local interest, the Tierra Verde Company worked with a network of international brokers and sold many lots to overseas investors. But growth on Tierra Verde was still slow. However, in 1984 Pinellas Bayway got an exit ramp off Interstate 275 and Tierra Verde property sales increased greatly because of the easier access. In January 1985 Deltona turned the community over to the homeowners.
Tierra Verde may have been named perhaps as much for the brothers Green as for its green land. Tierra Verde is 667 acres (2.7 km²) an unincorporated portion of Pinellas County. Both St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach have bid for annexation, but Tierra Verde voted to stay independent. The 15 original islands are now the present six areas of Tierra Verde: Monte Cristo, Entrada, Pinellas Bayway, Sands Point, East Shore (Bayview) and West Shore (Oceanview.)
In 1980 Tierra Verde real estate was valued at $15 million. By 1991 values had soared to $304 million. In November 1996 the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office evaluated Tierra Verde property at $349 million, 1999 values were listed at $478 million and in 2003 values are listed at $632 million. There are now approximately 2,000 single-family and multi-family structures on Tierra Verde, as well as a number of commercial enterprises. An estimated 2,500 families are expected when Tierra Verde is built to completion.