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Times Staff WriterA look back at the events, people and places that made North Pinellas the unique place that it is. The information is compiled from past editions of the St. Petersburg Times.
Aug. 8, 1931: Dunedin flyer crashes plane en route west
MOUNTAINVIEW, Ark. - Lester Glasscock of Dunedin was slightly injured late yesterday when his airplane crashed near Fifty Six in the Ozark national forest, 25 miles from here, after the motor stalled at an altitude of 5,000 feet.
Many of those gathered about the wrecked plane said they had never seen one close at hand before. Souvenir hunters took away many of the parts.
Glasscock, who has been a frequent visitor at the Albert Whitted airport, left Clearwater Thursday for Santa Monica, Cal., to enter the third annual cross country handicap air derby to the national air races at Cleveland.
Glasscock was flying from Montgomery, Ala., to Wichita, Kan. He left Montgomery early yesterday morning, he said, and stopped at Memphis. He had planned to go on finally to Los Angeles. Suffering minor bruises, he was brought here by automobile to spend the night.
The plane in which he crashed Friday afternoon was a two-place open cockpit Swallow biplane owned by Dunedin manufacturer B.C. Skinner, who was sponsoring Glasscock's flight.
Aug. 8, 1931: New Clearwater post office will replace gas station
CLEARWATER - The northwest corner of East Avenue and Cleveland Street has been chosen as the site for the new federal building in the county seat.
A filling station now occupies the site upon which the new Clearwater post office will stand.
The property is owned by H.E. Tooke and was offered to the government for $25,000. The federal appropriation for the new building set aside $200,000 for construction of the building, cost of the site to be included in the appropriation.
Aug. 4, 1936: Making a point
CLEARWATER - Proving the old adage that "Necessity is the mother of invention," Jesse Brown, chief of the county photostat department, today invented a motor-driven pencil sharpener to sharpen several hundred pencils needed for the senatorial election of Aug. 11.
Brown found an old electric motor and attached it to a common pencil sharpener by a long string belt. By using the machine, he was able to sharpen about 60 pencils a minute. The new machine is a big improvement over one used in past elections.
Brown has not yet decided whether to apply for a patent.
July 22, 1940: Honeymoon Isle owner sponsors "stork contest"
NEW YORK - "Honeymoon Islanders," former residents of the Florida island where newlyweds may spend two weeks without expense, were advised today that they are entries in a "stork sweepstakes." Clinton M. Washburn, owner of Honeymoon isle, told a hundred couples who spent their honeymoons as his guests that he would give the parents of the first 20 babies the palm-thatched cottages in which they lived. The ex-honeymooners formed an organization to promote honeymoon isles in other parts of the country, at which brides and grooms may spend their opening weeks of married life without financial worries.
Lucky parents will acquire with their old cottages a section of the beach front. Whether or not the island is sold at a later date, the property belongs permanently to the parents, Washburn said, although they may be obliged to lend them to other honeymooners on request of island authorities.
- Theresa Blackwell compiles the history column. She can be reached at 727 445-4229 or blackwell@sptimes.com