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.

(From Interstate 275, drive east on 54th Ave. S (SR 682), south on 31st St., east on Pinellas Point Dr., and south on 14th St. to its end at Pinellas Point Park.)(0.0 miles so far)

South end of 14th St. S, south of Serpentine Dr.

1....Site of Pinellas Point Midden Mound

This was formerly the site of a shell midden mound, about 2,200 feet long, running along the shore from 7th to 14th Sts.

(Walk north on 14th St., west on Serpentine Dr., north on Bethel Way, and west 200 feet on Pinellas Point Dr.)(0.6)

South side of Pinellas Point Dr., between Bethel Way and 20th St. S

2....Pinellas Point Temple Mound

This temple mound has been preserved as a city park that you can climb. Its original dimensions were 49 x 152 feet, with a height of 16 1/2 feet. This was the location of a large temple town serving about 200 to 300 Indians during the 1400s.

At this mound on June 26, 1549, the Calusa Indians clubbed to death Dominican friar Luis Cancer de Barbastro, who was in this area promoting friendship.

(Walk west, north and west on Pinellas Point Dr. and south 250 feet on Canton St.)(1.8)

West side of Canton St., between Pinellas Point Dr. and 67th Ave. S

3....Canton Street Midden Mound

This area, from Canton St. to 30th St., was once a shell midden about five feet high. This was one of the oldest midden mounds in Pinellas County, dating to 900-600 B.C.

(Walk north on Canton St., west on Pinellas Point Dr., and south on 34th St. until it ends.)(2.5)

South end of 34th St., south of Pinellas Point Dr.

4....Maximo Point

This point of land is named after Antonio Maximo Hernandez, St. Petersburg's first homesteader, who served as Col. Brooke's guide on hunting and fishing trips, and searches for pirates.

In 1859, Abel Miranda, William C. Bethell and John A. Bethell started a fish camp here, which continued operating until the start of the Civil War.

Near the end of the point was located the small Miranda Schoolhouse. In 1885, Rev. David Gilkinson Watt settled on Lakeview Ave. to the north and held Episcopal services in the schoolhouse here.

(Walk north on 34th St. and west on Maximo Park Rd. to the picnic area along the southern beach.)(2.9)

West side of US 19, across from Pinellas Point Dr.

5....Maximo Park

The picnic area is a grassy ridge, a midden mound about 1200 feet long which parallels the beach. It reaches a height of about five or six feet in the woods, and trails lead you on and around it. There is also a temple mound about ten feet high and 100 feet in diameter. When the area was explored in 1900, there was a framed cabin on top of it. This site was probably abandoned by the Indians before the Spanish arrived in 1528.

(Exit the park on the road you entered on, then walk east on Pinellas Point Dr., north on 31st St., and west on 54th Ave. to the first break in the median west of 41st St., and cross to the south side of the street.)(4.9)

South side of 54th Ave. S (SR 682), between 41st and 42nd Sts.

6....Eckerd College

Florida Presbyterian College opened in September of 1960 at the Maritime Base on Bayboro Harbor, and moved to this location in December of 1963. It was renamed Eckerd College in 1971 when Jack Eckerd donated $2.5 million and committed to a total of $10 million more.

The William Luther Cobb Library was donated by Mr. and Mrs. William Luther Cobb. It was opened on August 8, 1962. The Thomas Dreier Reading Room was dedicated on February 5, 1967. The building was designed by architects Perkins and Will of Chicago and Connel, Pierce, Garland and Friedman of Miami, and cost $500,000.

(Walk south on the main college road past the information booth, heading right (southwest) at the traffic circle, and continue south to the locator map near the Lewis House.)(5.4)

West end of Edmundson Ave.

7....Site of Fish Rancho

Near here, Antonio Maximo Hernandez had a fish rancho beginning in 1843, and sold fish to the Cuban market. On September 25, 1848, a hurricane with flood tides which rose and fell nearly 15 feet in six to eight hours swept the rancho away.

(Continue southeast and east on Edmundson Ave., then walk east and north on Avenue of States, east on 54th Ave. S, south on 16th St., east on Pinellas Point Dr., and south on 14th St. to the point of beginning.)(9.5)

Florida Historical Markers & Sites, by Floyd E. Boone (Gulf Publishing Company 1988)

Florida's Pinellas Peninsula, by June Hurley Young (Byron Kennedy and Co. 1984)

Indian Mounds You Can Visit, by I. Mac Perry (Great Outdoors Publishing Company 1993)

St. Petersburg and Its People, by Walter P. Fuller (Great Outdoors Publishing Co. 1972)

Click here for a copy of the trail rules.