Cookiemaker, vegetarian put Roser Park on the map

ST. PETERSBURG -- In 1999, Joseph Holt found history in a Dumpster.

"I was pretty excited. Being born here, I'm really into local history," said Holt, who discovered letters, telegrams and a photograph that belonged to the family of C.M. Roser, creator of the Roser Park subdivision.

Holt found his treasure-trove near his residence at Parklane Condominiums on Fourth Street N. Roser's only child, Eleanor, lived at Parklane and had died.

The letters illustrate remorse expressed upon Roser's death in 1937; the photograph captures Eleanor and the developer.

"It's a shame that a man so important to the city would have his (personals) thrown away," said Holt, 42.

Roser fathered the Fig Newton cookie, according to some historians, selling his cracker- and candy-making business to the National Biscuit Co. (Nabisco contradicted the account, saying the Fig Newton had been named in 1891 for the Boston suburb of Newton.) He came to St. Petersburg in 1910.

Roser built the Palm and Poinsettia hotels and Mound Park Hospital's home for nurses. He established Mercy Hospital for black residents, donated land for a school and gave the city Roser Park. His subdivision is his legacy.

"Mr. Roser was one of the city's most active builders and promoters," the Evening Independent said.

Charles Martin Roser was born in 1864. The Elyria, Ohio, native later established a Buckeye State cheese business with his brothers in Wellington. After tasting success, Roser and his father purchased an Ohio candy and cookie factory in the late 1890s.

"Uncle Charles developed the formula for the Fig Newton," Mrs. J. Paul Finley, the developer's niece, told the St. Petersburg Times. "He sold it to Nabisco for about a million dollars. He sold the factory, too."

In 1910, Roser left Kenton, Ohio, for St. Petersburg with his wife, Ruth. One year later, he built the Hotel Poinsettia at 458-460 Central Ave. Roser later sold the concern and purchased property at Fifth Street and Central Avenue, where he constructed seven stores and a cafeteria.

Roser began establishing his subdivision in 1911, after purchasing C.D. Hammond's 10-acre citrus grove and home south of the city limits for $12,000. He then bought another nearby 5 acres from J.P. Lynch.

"People didn't think he made that good of a deal," said resident John Thornton, 89. "They felt no one would drop money into that mud hole."

In June 1913, Roser purchased land from Alex Linn and increased his holdings around what had become Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue S. Two months later, the Independent trumpeted Roser:

"The first subdivision to be opened outside the city, with all brick streets (and) every other city convenience is the new suburb by C.M. Roser -- Roser Park. Georgia Engineering is laying brick. The 60 lots will have (12 blocks of) brick streets and sidewalks."

The subdivision eventually boasted 80 homes -- some resembling Swiss chalets -- and stretched between Sixth and Eighth streets, south of Seventh Avenue S. Brick was costly and rarely used, historian Walter Fuller wrote, yet Roser helped pioneer the use of the material. Roser's white-columned mansion sat at Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street S.

"Their home was full of art treasures," said Finley, a frequent visitor of Roser, whom she called quiet, small, serious, very much the businessman. "He was a vegetarian. Sunday dinner was a tremendous meal. We all ate chicken, but he'd eat mock veal cutlet."

Roser donated 5 acres of his development for Roser Park School, which opened in 1913. That same year, he purchased the Edgewater Inn on Seventh Avenue N and improved it with a $20,000 renovation.

In 1914, Roser paid a record $30,000 for 5 acres along Ninth and Sixth streets S, landscaped it and gave it to the city. On Feb. 27, 1918, that tract graced by Booker Creek became Roser Park. "Roser was constantly spending money on the park, streets and nurses home (Roser Hall) and never accepted any money from the city," the Independent wrote.

In 1923, Roser built the Royal Palm Hotel on Fifth Street S. A 99-year lease fell apart during the economic bust of the 1930s.

The press reported that Roser had been ill throughout the '30s but didn't disclose the malady. After a five-week confinement in Mound Park Hospital, Roser died on April 12, 1937, at age 73.

-- Scott Taylor Hartzell can be reached at hartzel@msn.com.

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