| THE HISTORY OF TIERRA VERDE &
THE LEGEND OF TIERRA VERDE ISLAND Tierra Verde was once fifteen islands covered with mangroves, pines and bush. These islands ranged in size from only a few acres to the largest, Cabbage Key, having over 289 acres. For centuries, Indians used the islands for ceremonial and burial grounds. A marker remains on the east side of Pinellas Bayway, just north of East Shore Drive, where Indian relics were found in a typical shell mound, excavated when the road was built to Ft. De Soto Park. The islands were sacred ground to Indian nations as far back as 500 years ago, archaeologists suggest, and deadly conflicts occurred when outsiders trespassed. Then the Spanish Explorers came. One explorer, Ponce De Leon, came to the area in 1513, and again in 1521, when he received wound he later died from after returning to Cuba. Later, Hernando De Soto, Navarez and John Ortiz explored, and then pirates and buccaneers sailed the area, including Jose Gaspar, Juan Gomez and Jean LaFitte. A treasure was reputed to have once been buried here.In 1848, Robert E. Lee, then a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, recommended that Mullet Key be used for coastal defense in Florida.
During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Fort De Soto was built on Mullet Key. Remains of the fort still stand, along with fortifications on Egmont Key. In 1948, the federal government sold Mullet Key to Pinellas County for park and recreation facilities, now Fort De Soto Park. Early settlers to the area included Baltimore sea captain William Bunce and Silas Dent, who with his brother had a dairy farm. Dent lived on Cabbage Key until he died there in 1952. Although two homes were built on Monte Cristo in 1923, and one in 1946, things were quiet until the mid-1950’s, when Dr. Bradley “Doc” Waldron went to Tallahassee and persuaded the State of Florida to sell him Pine Key, Cabbage Key, Pardee Key, and the surrounding bay bottom. This was about the same time construction of the old Skyway Bridge began. Waldron formed a partnership with two builders from Detroit, Hyman and Irving Green, who became majority owners of a group of 36 corporations. They named their island investment “Green Land.” Waldron-Green Associates applied for a dredge-and-fill permit in 1957. Their intent: to pump nine million cubic yards of sand and shells from the bottom of the bay and thus enlarge and raise the ground level of the three keys Doc Waldron had purchased from the State and join them to create one large island intersected with canals between the sections. Meanwhile, others sought Pinellas County and State permission to dredge and pump the bay bottom and build up Bird Key, today’s Bayway Isles and Isla del Sol. Miami developer, Leonard Ratner, purchased land which became the site of Eckerd College. Hamilton Disston, the largest landowner in the United States, began and lost his Disston City development, later renamed Gulfport. At first, the only way to get here was by boat. A ferry ran from Pass-a-Grille to a dock at the end of Madonna Boulevard. The State’s final road and bridge plans were approved in early 1960, and the developer’s dredging permit was granted in December of that year. The dredging would create approximately 5,000 acres of buildable land. Waldron-Green and their partners and corporations then sold the islands, with the dredge-and-fill permits, to Louis Berlanti, a contractor from New York City, and his son, Fred. Early in 1961, Louis and Fred Berlanti arrived on the scene. By June of that year, Louis was named president of the Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc.; Doc Waldron and H. D. Sluyter, of Dallas, Texas, were each appointed vice president. There was considerable speculation at the time as to exactly whose money it was that Berlanti represented. He was generally considered to be a “nominee” for Clint Murchison, the Texas oil tycoon, since both Murchison and Sluyter had been elected directors of the Association. On June 30, 1961, the Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc. Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Florida, and the original Declaration of Restrictions and Covenants were recorded in public records in August that same year. By December 1962, there was a road and a bridge to Tierra Verde. In January 1963, Guy Lombardo’s Port O’ Call Resort had its grand opening. Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Liberace, Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney, and many other musical and theatrical stars performed at Port O’ Call in the LeClub room. Lombardo promoted the resort all across the country when the band did a ten-week national bus tour to more than 20 cities. Every show included several minutes to promote Tierra Verde and “his and the Murchison’s Port O’ Call Resort.” All across the country, their bus had a Tierra Verde banner hung on its sides. Six months later, on August 16, 1963, Louis and Fred Berlanti were gone. Fragments of their bodies and their exploded airplane were found floating in Lake Okeechobee. No additional details of the questionable accident were ever reported. With the death of the Berlantis, Tierra Verde was in the hands of the Murchisons for more than 14 years. Guy Lombardo and his band returned for only one more season. He was quoted as saying he tried to strike a “new deal” with the Murchisons but had not succeeded. He never returned. Guy Lombardo died in 1977, the same year that real estate developer Frank E. Mackle, III,, was elected president of a new venture called the Tierra Verde Company, a joint venture between Madonna Corporation (a Munchison interest), and Delverde (Deltona) Corporation. Because of lack of local interest, the Tierra Verde Company worked with a network of international brokers and sold many lots to overseas investors. But growth on Tierra Verde was still slow. However, in 1984, Pinellas Bayway got an exit ramp off Interstate 275 and Tierra Verde property sales increased greatly because of the easier access. In January 1985, Deltona turned the community over to the homeowners. So, now we have Tierra Verde, named perhaps as much for the brothers Green as for its green land. We are 667 acres, an unincorporated portion of Pinellas County. Both St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach have bid for our annexation, but we’ve voted to stay independent. The 15 original islands are now the present six areas of Tierra Verde: Monte Cristo, Entrada, Pinellas Bayway, Sands Point, East Short (Bayview), and West Shore (Oceanview). We have waterways, 150-to-350 feet wide and some 15-feet deep, that are scientifically engineered so that the Gulf of Mexico’s tidal actions help sweep the waterways clean. We can fish the local waters, spot dolphin and sometimes manatees, sail to the Gulf of Mexico in minutes, and play on the beaches of Fort De Soto Park. In 1980 Tierra Verde real estate was valued at $15 million. By 1991, values soared to $304 million. In November, 1996, the Pinellas Property Appraiser’s Office evaluated Tierra Verde property at $349 million. At that time, there were approximately 2,000 single-family and multi-family structures on Tierra Verde, as well as a number of commercial enterprises. NOTE: Information for this article was taken from a brochure produced by and for The Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc., for the benefit of Association members. All information supplied is believed to be accurate at the time of printing. However, the Association assumes no responsibility for errors of facts. Special thanks to members of the Association for their valuable contributions in compiling information for this publication. Their efforts have helped keep the history of Tierra Verde alive. Tierra Verde Community Association, Inc.
1220 Pinellas Bayway, Suite 201
Tierra Verde, Florida USA 33715
(727) 867-9362 www.tierraverdecommunityassociation.org
Tierra Verde Community Association www.theislandreporter.com
The Island Reporter newspaper www.TampaBayWatch.org
Tampa Bay Watch
For more information, visit www.MyPinellas.com or the Pinellas County official website at www.pinellascounty.org. |
