Instructions.
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
A large community building was built here in the early 1880s with funds donated by a group of citizens. The first floor had a three-room apartment and a hall which was used by yacht owners as an assembly place. The Dunedin Yacht Club, which used a portion of the building, was organized on February 9, 1903.
The second floor had an auditorium with a stage and two dressing rooms, and was the center of social activities such as dances, roller skating, and the annual Christmas party.
A library was contained in it beginning in about 1895, starting with a gift of books from Christopher B. Bouton. As a result, it was called Library Hall.
This monument, containing stones from each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Canal Zone, was dedicated by Dunedin VFW Post 2550 on August 23, 1920.
Edward Taylor Pooser and his wife, Emma Virginia, came to Dunedin in 1901. He opened his first store in Henderson Subdivision on the Bay, later known as Marina Park and then Edgewater Park. He later built a more modern store near the railroad.
By 1889, this was the property of G.I. Loucks, the son-in-law of George W. Trask, the Dunedin postmaster beginning on May 20, 1889.
George L. Jones arrived in Dunedin in about 1877 and built his first home here, across from Marina Park. At another site, he operated a store and called the area "Jonesboro", but ceased its operation when Douglas & Somerville opened theirs in 1882. This was later the site of Mrs. Whitfield's cottage.
During the 1930s, the Garden Club landscaped and beautified this strip of land, making it Dunedin's first minipark. It was named Armston park in honor of Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Armston. He was a builder and she was the president of the Garden Club during the 1930s.
Maj. M.G. Anderson built and operated a horse-powered cotton gin here during the early 1870s. It was followed by the Douglas & Somerville Store. John O. Douglas and James Somerville began their business in a part of the cotton gin building, and later built a two-story structure at the water's edge. They sold general merchandise, staple groceries, dry goods, farm implements, etc.
They also built a long pier with a flat boarded car on 2 x 4 lumber rails to load and unload goods from the schooners on the gulf. The first Dunedin post office was established here in 1878, with James Somerville as the first postmaster. They called the settlement Dunedin for their birthplace, which translates to "Edwin's Castle-on-the-Rock".
Douglas & Somerville went bankrupt after the 1894-95 freezes, because the customers to who they had extended credit lost their crops. From 1903 to 1908, this store was occupied by Charles H. Gilchrist, and in 1908 it burned down.
Now Bon Appetit, this restaurant opened as McKown's in February of 1963.
There is some evidence that a man named John Branch operated a small store and trading post at this location during the 1860s, but moved away after two years. He had built a small dock and called his place Baker's Landing. This may also be the location of the store of George L. Jones, operated by him before he built his second house here during the late 1870s or early 1880s.
After arriving by schooner from Cedar Key, the family lived in a small house opposite and east of Edgewater Park. Later, they built a two-story home on this site.
As a rooming house later, it was known as the Blue Moon Inn, and later as the Royal Palms Lodge. At one time it was also the residence and office of Dr. J.A. Mease.
Here was located the home and pharmacy of Dr. Jason L. Edgar, who was the first practicing physician in Dunedin. During the early 1880s, he visited his patients by a horse-drawn buggy, eliminating the previous trip to Tampa that persons seeking a doctor were forced to make. Dr. Edgar moved his office to Clearwater after 1894.
Dr. Edgar and Joel McMullen began the first newspaper in Dunedin, The West Hillsborough Times, in September of 1884. Three months later, it was bought by A.C. Turner, who moved it to Clearwater. Turner sold it in 1892 to Rev. R.J. Morgan, who moved it and changed its name to The St. Petersburg Times.
This was the home of Dr. Charles Badeau, a retired physician. He sold it to Jesse C. Venning and his wife, Mary Ervin, who came to Dunedin from Sewickly, Pennsylvania, in 1923. Mr. Venning was an elder, and both were members, of the First Presbyterian Church.
Here was located the home or L.H. Malone. His wife admired Queen Victoria of England. In the early days, it was not necessary to have street names, but Mrs. Malone wanted an address. She chose a number and named the street after the queen.
This home was likely built during the early 1880s, and was later the residence of Mrs. Hubert Leland.
This was the home of Christopher B. and N.S. Bouton. In 1895, Christopher donated 200 books from his summer residence in Cleveland, and it was the start of the library in what came to be known as Library Hall. The library was operated by trustees who came mostly from the Bouton and Malone families until the city took it over in 1935.
This home was built by L.B. Skinner for Mrs. C.E.S. Holley. It was later owned by Francis L. Skinner and his wife, Susan Hainesworth Brumby Skinner.
In 1930, Cedric H. Collins took over the management of the West Coast Fruit Company, a position he held until he resigned in 1935. In 1938, Mr. and Mrs. Collins moved into this home and he took over as city manager. In 1941, he left that office and entered the business of real estate.
After William E. Roberts and his wife, Helen Foote, came to Dunedin in 1933, they purchased a home at this location. They served for years as members of the Dunedin Library Board. The house was later owned by Mr. and Mrs. Emil O. Lindner and was removed in about 2000.
This was the site of the home of John and Demaris Gumm, who came here in 1880. It was one of the first plastered houses in the area. Mr. Gumm was a drummer boy in Stonewall Jackson's army.
Dr. Willis Stanley Blatchley, a renowned naturalist, arrived in Dunedin in 1913, bought this property in Skinner Hammock outside of town, cleared the two lots with only one helper, and completed his home here in April of 1915. As much as he could, he preserved all existing trees and wild shrubbery. From a platform in a large live oak tree in the northeast corner of his land, he wrote a book entitled My Nature Nook in diary form.
He wintered here until 1939, and wrote 13 books and 246 published articles. The historical society erected a plaque here in 1976.
Prior to the hurricane of 1918, the large island due west of this site was known as Hog Island. The storm cut the large island in two, and the south portion that can be seen from here was renamed Caladesi Island by E.S. Frischkorn, the developer of the Dunedin Isles subdivision.
The northern portion was named Honeymoon Island by 1920s developer George Washburn. He built thatched huts and honeymooning couples went there for two weeks. The construction of a causeway and development of the island has it now referred to as Dunedin Beach.
This school opened on September 2, 1958, and received an addition that almost doubled its size in 1962.
This church building, erected in 1888 at another location, was moved here in 1971 by the Dunedin Historical Society. It shows a Gothic Revival style. The interior has bare rafters of heart pine, hand-hewn by a single carpenter who died before he could complete the job. John Gouley Andrews donated $200 toward its cost, and it was named in memory of his son, William Andrews, who was killed by a falling tree.
It was used for Sunday school classes beginning in 1926, when Mr. and Mrs. L.B. Skinner donated a new sanctuary for the First Presbyterian Church. To make room for it, the building was moved down Highland Ave. to the rear of the church property. In 1970, the church elders decided that the cost of restoring the chapel was in excess of its value, and instead proposed to demolish it.
The Dunedin Historical Society raised the funds necessary to move it to this site. To accomplish this, the building had to be sawed in half to negotiate the streets along the way. In 1972, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Before 1912, Rev. William F. Nigels donated an acre of land here for a public school site. It was of rough board and batten construction, and was named after Nigels' German alma mater. In 1915, it was replaced by a $700 brick building, which closed in 1925.
This church is an offspring of First Presbyterian Church, and was chartered in 1958.
The city bought the Otten Tract here in 1963 for $50,000. On it was built the Community Center, dedicated on May 17, 1963, and the Dunedin Fine Arts and Cultural Center.
This school, serving grades 9-12, was completed in 1961 for a cost of about $1 million. It was dedicated and opened for use on April 1, 1962.
School was held in a log building here, erected prior to 1868. One of the earliest teachers was Mr. Dunwoody.
The school may have been named after Viney Hagler, who settled on the waterfront in 1866, and who may have been its first teacher.
Rev. Joseph Brown arrived by schooner in May of 1868. At the time, what is now Pinellas County had a total population of 200. Rev. Brown held services in the schoolhouse here, and the congregation called themselves the Ebenezer Church. It became the parent church of the First Presbyterian Church.
This was the site of a trailer park named Oak Bend, with trailers kept here on a temporary basis. Dunedin's first true mobile home park came later, in 1954, when Cedar Creek opened with spaces for the permanent location of mobile homes.
Thomas D. Moore came to Dunedin in 1906 and took charge of the citrus grove owned by his brother, Van Moore. It took up the entire block on which Mease Manor now sits.
On September 16, 1964, this 426-apartment retirement home opened. It was built by Fred Howland, Inc. of Miami using plans drawn up by Wyatt Hedrick of Fort Worth, Texas.
In 1902, Algernon S. Nelson bought this property and planted it in citrus. It was later developed as the Pleasant View Terrace Subdivision.
The first Dunedin Junior High School was built here in 1926. With grades 7-9 moved here, pressure was taken off the little red brick school.
In 1952, the $200,000 Dunedin Elementary School was built just to the west, to cover grades K-5.
This facility is named after A.J. Grant, who served as mayor during the Depression. In his later years, he was referred to as "The grand old man of Dunedin".
In 1958, these shuffleboard courts replaced the old ones located in Edgewater Park. The clubhouse was moved from that park to this location.
In 1883, Alex Smith arrived in Dunedin from Edinburgh, Scotland, and in 1895 he married Adella M. Beckett. They built their home on 2 1/2 acres given to them by her father. In 1904, they built their second home where the First Presbyterian Church parking lot now is on Highland Ave.
Algernon S. Nelson and his wife, Mary Ella Cobb, came here from Floral City in 1900 and bought this house.
In 1923, a group of local citizens organized a stock company to build the Fenway Hotel, but they lacked the funds required to complete it. On August 6, 1925, George H. Bowles, a Clearwater developer, bought a controlling intrest in it and had it finished. Furnishings were purchased from the Albert Pick Company of Chicago. After 18 months, because of payments that were missed, Pick auctioned off the furnishings and the hotel closed for two years.
In 1929, J.H. McGill and C.T. Scanlan bought the hotel, made the necessary repairs, and operated it until 1957. It was later sold to Marius Pauchey, and then to Richard C. Blair. In this hotel began the area's first radio station, WGHB, which had a 500 watt transmitter.
Dr. William T. Watson arrived in St. Petersburg in 1924, and was a founder of Trinity College in Temple Terrace, which was then moved to St. Petersburg. He later moved it to this location, which he bought in 1961 and renamed the Fenway Academy. Billy Graham, an alumnus of Trinity College, donated $10,000 toward the cost of the purchase.
Later, this became the home of Schiller International University.
Dunedin incorporated in 1899 so it could have the authority to enact an ordinance banning hogs from roaming the streets.
The city offices were moved to this location in 1958. The police and fire departments then took over the old city hall.
A two-story red brick school was built here between 1912 and 1914. It handled grades one through eight, and students desiring to attend high school traveled to the South Ward School in Clearwater.
This school closed in 1954, and the city purchased the building the following year for $20,000. It was used in the county's adult education program.
Before this was a hospital site, it was the baseball field used by the Dunedin Ball Club.
Dr. John Andrew Mease, Jr. was born on the Ute Indian Reservation in 1897, while his father was a trader with the Indians under an appointment from the Commission on Indian Affairs. In 1926, he came to Dunedin, became one of the town's two doctors, and began a one-man campaign to secure hospital facilities.
In 1929, he took over the former Blue Moon Inn at the corner of Main St. and Victoria Dr. and converted it into the Dunedin Sanatorium, a 10-bed facility. There was no place to perform surgery, but was a diagnostic center with an on-site laboratory.
Mease purchased this 10-acre site and formed the Dunedin Hospital Holding Corporation. Architect Theodore Skinner drew up plans for a 30-bed hospital, reduced to 19 before construction began. In September of 1934, Mease moved his office and family into the 60 x 150 foot building, and by 1937 it was an operational hospital. The name was later changed from Dunedin Hospital to Mease Hospital.
A second story and wings wre added during the 1950s. A modern medical clinic, designed by Raymond Stevens of Orlando, was built for $640,000 and dedicated on April 1, 1957.
Until 1926, all traffic from Tampa to St. Petersburg came through Dunedin. Main St. ended to the northeast of here at Skinner Blvd., which was then the main thoroughfare to get to Douglas Ave. or Broadway, which would take the travelers south. A secret meeting of ten citizens resulted in $10,000 to purchase the land on which this section of Main St. was built, providing a more direct route through Dunedin.
Having outgrown its previous homes, the Dunedin Times moved to this building in 1958.
The newspaper was moved to an office here in 1930 by Carlos W. Cleary. He and his wife built their first home behind it on Park St. In 1944, he sold the newspaper to Elbert Washington and moved to Kansas.
Later, they returned and opened a gift shop on Broadway in the Metzen Building. They then moved to Arizona, and returned in 1955 and built a home at the corner of Broadway and Beltrees St.
A one-room elementary school was built here in 1896, using materials salvaged from the dismantled Bethesda Church which had stood at the cemetery. It was surrounded by a fence to make it hog-proof. A second room and teacher were added in about 1906. In about 1912, the city bought this property and used it for the city hall and police station. The building was demolished in the 1960s.
This church began in 1910 with 13 members. Rev. R.H. Hicks held the early services in Library Hall. The first auditorium, built in 1914 and dedicated in 1919, was located on the corner of Wood St. and Highland Ave., and was secured with the help of a $1,000 loan from the Florida Baptist Convention. Rev. H.E. Parsons became the first permanent pastor in 1914.
A home was built here in 1870 by James Marston, one of Dunedin's earliest residents. He was a Scottish sailor who jumped ship in Wilmington, North Carolina, and made his way to Dunedin between 1850 and 1855. He served in the Confederate army during the Civil War. He married Mary H. Barnes, and their son, William R. Marston, ran a schooner out of Safety Harbor.
The present house was built by E.O. Townsend, and was later owned by his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Dann.
This land was donated by William Tate on January 8, 1886, for the construction of Andrews Memorial Chapel, which later was moved to city property at the entrance to Highlander Park. This church was built in 1926, and was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. L.B. Skinner.
In the early 1880s, George W. and Mary E. Trask arrived in Dunedin, and later in the 1880s built their home on this corner. Mr. Trask was Dunedin's mayor in 1899, and later served as postmaster. The home located here was later owned by Christine Jasper.
William Sidney Christie and his wife, Mary Land, came to Dunedin in 1912 and built their home the following year at this location. Mr. Christie was a manufacturer of specially designed concrete block.
The first Episcopal service in Dunedin was conducted in Library Hall by Bishop Weed on December 28, 1886. The original chapel erected in 1888-89 was located closer to the corner, and was later moved to its present site. It has been renovated and enlarged several times, but the original chapel still forms a part of the overall construction.
A major contributor toward the construction of the church was the Duke of Sutherland. On March 4, 1889, the day the church building was completed, the Duke got married in it. By 1899, its membership had dwindled to 3, but it was able to grow after the turn of the century.
The church had its first full-time priest in 1953, and became a parish two years later. Also in 1955, the original building was enlarged and moved to its present location on the southern part of the property. A 14-classroom addition to the parish house was completed in 1961.
A hotel was built here during the early 1890s by Julia and Matilda Bull to accommodate yachting guests during the winter. During the summer, they operated another hotel in the North.
By 1899, it had been acquired by C.B. Bouton, and its name was changed to Dunedin Lodge, and later to the Dunedin Hotel. Mrs. Stevens bought it in 1921, and added to it and modified it, including changing the main entrance from Albert St. to Edgewater Dr. The building was later owned by Eugene L. Webb, and was razed in 1970.
This home was built in 1949 by Fred Emerson, who had previously worked for the Arcadia Hotel. He took care of the acetylene lights which he helped install.
Dunedin's first jailhouse and enclosure to impound stray animals was located here on property purchased by the town council in the early 1900s. The jail was built of wood, and had two cells about 8 x 10 feet each. The roof was made of tin.
The first occupant of the jail was the carpenter who built it, then took his pay and proceeded to get drunk and disorderly. The second was a woman who screamed so loud that no one could sleep, so she was turned loose. The third took his cot and knocked off enough roofing to escape. The jail was eventually torn down and prisoners were taken to either the Clearwater city jail or the county jail.
This was built in 1885 and owned by Mrs. Moore, and William Simpson in the 1890s. It later became the residence of Cornelia Beckett Burns, a sister of Mrs. William Y. Douglas.
When they were married in 1894, William Y. Douglas and his wife, Sarah Florence Lovett, lived in a two-room house on the site now occupied by the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. Mr. Douglas was Dunedin's first photographer.
They bought a two-room cottage here in 1896. It has been added to several times, but the original structure is still a part of the present home.
Thomas D. Moore and wife, Mary Moore, were married in Tarpon Springs in 1899 and came to Dunedin in about 1906. They built this home in 1909.
Later, this as the home of Rhada L. and Lassie Priest Chalk, who married in Dunedin in 1925. Mr. Chalk served as the chief of police, superintendent of the street and garbage departments, and city manager from 1941 to 1945.
This home, one of the oldest concrete block homes in Dunedin, was built by the Demming family in 1915.
This home was built during the early 1900s for the Manget family, and was later owned by Mrs. W.B.Y. Wilkie, and then Mae Rice.
Archie Andrews started building his house on this site, but in 1913 decided not to complete it. He sold it to John Allen, who did complete it.
This church was organized in 1915 by Rev. J. Lawton Moon, who was at the time pastor of a church in Clearwater. He held services in Library Hall and in other public halls. Through the efforts of R.L. Addington, this site was acquired in 1917.
A home was built here for Mr. Zimmerman in 1914. For a time, he operated a gas station on the southeast corner of this intersection. Later, this became the home of R.U. Boyd, who served as stationmaster at the railroad station from 1934 until 1968. The house was torn down in about 2000.
A livery stable was operated here by Archie Andrews, a son of Allen G. Andrews.
From 1923 to 1928, the second theater in Dunedin operated here, showing movies and stage productions. Initially owned by Sam Young, it was later acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Jordan.
Later, this was the location of the Douglas Hardware Store, with a level wooden floor covering the sloped theater floor.
This was the home of the Dixie Cafe, run by "Miss Dixie". It later became the Blue Bird Cafe.
After the 1908 fire that destroyed his first store at another location, Mr. Gilchrist rebuilt at this site. Also on the property was a small home in which the Gilchrist family lived. Ralph Fordyce Blatchley of Indiana came to Dunedin in 1914, and with William Paden operated the store. Blatchley was the postmaster from 1928 to 1933.
The store was later used for the manufacture of cigars by the Pinellas Cigar Company owned by Percy D. Niven, who had come here from Wadesboro, North Carolina, in 1910. It was also a pool room before it was dismantled to make room for a gas station.
The Orange Belt Railroad of Peter Demens came through Dunedin in 1889, and was absorbed by the Plant System in 1895. Later, it became part of the Atlantic Coast Railroad, and then Seaboard Coastline Railroad. The present station building was dedicated on April 17, 1924.
Since January 31, 1976, this building has been the museum and headquarters of the Dunedin Historical Society.
Near this site was the original site of the Dunedin Ice Company, the first such business in Dunedin, founded in 1910. It was located in the Chamber of Commerce building.
Percy D. Niven, Jesse Boyd and M.W. Moore erected this, originally as a three-story building. While it was owned by Ted Mock, it was condemned and the necessary remodeling included a reduction to two stories.
Located here was the town's first movie theater, opened by Albert M. Lando on November 27, 1919. Amy Houghton played piano to accompany the silent movies.
The bank was organized on July 28, 1913, by Peter O. Knight and opened here on October 20, 1913. In 1922, the bank sold this building, anticipating a move across the street to a two-story building to be built for $60,000. In 1936, it was the first bank in Southwest Florida designated as an approved mortgagee by the Federal Housing Administration, and as such it was authorized to make long-term mortgages.
The bank's move across the street was delayed until 1949. The delay increased the price of the new building from $60,000 to $80,000.
In 1908, George Cozens sold his house here to Edna Fowler Trask Hope. She used a portion of it as the post office, and the balance as her home. She served as Dunedin's postmaster from 1902 until 1929. During World War II, the Dunedin Servicemen's Lounge was set up in this building.
During the 1970s, First National became part of Sun Banks of Florida, now SunTrust.
E.T. Pooser operated a store here, which was later known as the Times Hotel. It was in later years the home of Mrs. Thomas Adrianson.
In 1920, George W. Park purchased the property and conducted a seed business here, buying in bulk, printing his own seed packets and catalogues, and marketing them from here.
The first issue of the Dunedin Times was printed here on February 7, 1924, by Frank Joy, who had purchased the property in 1923. It was acquired by Donald Call, and in 1928 it was sold to Carlos W. Cleary and wife, Vera Black.
This is the first Dunedin home constructed of masonry blocks made on the premises. It was built by then mayor Walter Bull in 1905. To the rear of this house stood the two-room, two-story home of Capt. Kate Johnson.
In 1911, Albert Goss and wife, Katherine Heffoner, came to Dunedin and later bought this house. Mr. Goss repaired watches and clocks in his home. Mrs. Goss taught violin and piano for over 50 years in Dunedin.
J.O. Douglas had John Gumm build him this two-story Frame Vernacular house in about 1880, the first home in Dunedin constructed of sawn lumber. It includes a one-story hipped-roof porch with jigsaw tracery, and a sawn balustrade at the main entrance. Before the turn of the century, it was acquired by Lydia and Matilda Bull. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
A store here was run by George W. Trask, assisted by his daughter, Mrs. Hope, who lived upstairs.
This marina was constructed during the 1930s. In 1938, the city leased to the Dunedin Boat Club the land on which the clubhouse still stands.
A Walking Tour of Historic Area, Town of Dunedin, by Dunedin Historical Society, Inc. (1976)
Dunedin...Thru the Years 1850-1978, by William L. Davidson (Delmar Printing Co. 1978)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Florida's Pinellas Peninsula, by Jane Hurley Young (Byron Kennedy and Co. 1984)
History of Dunedin, by W. Lovett Douglas (Great Outdoors Publishing Co. 1965)
Yesterday's Clearwater, by Hampton Dunn (E.A. Seeman Publishing, Inc. 1973)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.