WEEDON ISLAND
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WEEDON ISLAND |
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NAME: Weedon Island COUNTY: Pinellas ROADS: 2WD GRID: 3 CLIMATE: Quite hot in summer, comfortable rest of year. BEST TIME TO VISIT: Any time |
COMMENTS:
Now a wildlife refuge. No residents except park staff. Canoe trail (high tide only!), fishing off reminents of old bridge. From St. Petersburg, take Gandy Blvd. to San Marino Blvd, follow signs to Weedon Island Preserve REMAINS: Little. Remainder of old wooden bridge, fondation of old airport waiting room. Possibly remains of the old hanger out in the underbrush. |
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Named after Dr. Leslie Weedon, who aquired the island known as The Bayou in 1898. Weedon's grandfather had been the attending physician to the Seminole leader Osceola. Through the years Weedon Island was the playground for aviators, land grabbers, bootleggers, smugglers, and the bored rich, and millenia before that (10,000 B.C. to 1200. A.D.), peaceful tribes of Native Americans. Submitted by: Phil Penne Not commonly known by many in the Tampa Bay area, Weedon Island was home to several major commercial airports and air bases that have since been shut down or become private airfields. Sky Harbor Airport was constructed in the 1920's. It was served by Pitcairn (forerunner of Eastern Air Lines) Aviation, transporting passengers to locations such as New York, Miami, and Washington D.C., until the 1930's. Once the airpor was abandoned, Sky Harbor's hangers were used to house floats used in St. Petersburg's "Festival of States" parade until the 1980's. By the late 1980's, the State of Florida purchased the former municipal airport's land to create the Weedon Island Preserve. The terminal was torn down years ago, but remains can still be seen near the main parking area. In addition are the long-abandoned and barely discernable telephone poles crossing through the mangrove swamps that stand still in the mangroves, but have not been for over 70 years. Mike Woodfin |
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