St. Pete is home to more than 150 parks, offering a wide variety of possible activities. There are over 100 picnic areas, 80 playgrounds, 44 miles of fitness trails, 30 basketball courts, 21 boat ramps, 11 softball fields, six dog parks, five beaches, three skate parks, two disc-golf courses, and one Jai-Alai court. But that’s not all! We also have 76 tennis courts. 33 football/ soccer fields, 31 baseball fields, nine volleyball courts, four historic sites, three nature preserves, and one splash pad. And, still, there’s more! Simply put, choose an activity (or choose to just relax) and there’s a city park that fits your needs.
If you’re looking for a quiet and shaded place to watch the sunset over the waters of Boca Ciega Bay then Abercrombie Park is a perfect choice. Located at Park St. and 38th Avenue N, it’s also a great venue for a serene walk, mediative contemplation, or brief reminder of the area’s human and environmental history.
A Brief Look at a Long History
One of several St. Pete parks with remnants of the area’s indigenous peoples, Abercrombie Park contains mounds and shell middens documenting the presence of village life during the early Weeden Island period (140-565 CE) and again during the early Safety Harbor period (890-1390 CE). By the time Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821, the Tocobago peoples of the Safety Harbor period had succumbed to the disastrous effects of European contact. For decades after their demise, the coastal landscape remained mostly uninhabited, except for the occasional fisherman or hunter. In 1843, a turtle farmer named Joseph Silva filed a homestead claim and became one of the area’s first white settlers. Changing hands over the next decades, the land eventually came into the possession of Josephine Watt, the daughter of one of St. Pete’s earliest doctors, John Bayton Abercrombie. A former Confederate soldier and slave owner, Abercrombie relocated to St. Pete in the 1880s. Sometime after his death in 1912, his daughter donated the land “to preserve … an unspoiled bit of the native beauty of Florida” in her father’s honor, as “a tribute to the memory of the Old South.”
Stroll, Contemplate, Learn
Thankfully the segregationist legacy of “the memory of the Old South” is no longer a guiding tenet for the park, but the goal to preserve the native beauty of Florida still remains paramount. Recently expanded by 2.4 acres of uplands and 1.2 acres of submerged land, St. Pete’s Parks & Rec department is focused on Abercrombie Park’s role as a destination for ecotourism and education. Used as a specimen site for indigenous flora, visitors can enjoy the growing number of trees and plants as they meander along the walking trails and boardwalk before stopping for a picnic. Educational signage throughout also offers visitors insights into the history of the area’s indigenous peoples. Learning new things is great but visitors don’t need an educational goal to enjoy the park. It’s a wonderful place to just “be.” As soon as a park-goer leaves the parking lot, the congestion of St. Pete’s roads can be quickly forgotten. A tree lined and paved path provides an easy route to the beach where visitors can immerse themselves in the beauty of the Boca Ciega Bay.
Thanks
Thanks to the Parks & Recreation Department for all they do! For more information about Abercrombie Park or any other of St. Pete’s many parks visit www.stpeteparksrec.org or call (727) 893-7441.
