Ponce de Leon Neighborhood Association

Ponce de Leon Neighborhood Association

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Our mission is to enhance, improve and beautify the neigborhood of Ponce de Leon while promoting the general welfare, happiness and civic pride of the property owner, tenants and residents.

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About our association

Amenities/character/etc.

Amenities/character/etc.

Ponce de Leon enjoys a convenient location bordered on three sides by a variety of businesses including a post office, pharmacies, grocery stores, dry cleaners, restaurants, banks and many speciality shops. Fire protection is provided by Station #10, which is within the neighborhood boundaries. Interstate 275 and 34th Street (US 19) are nearby. The entire perimeter of the neighborhood provides access to the county bus system, which provides transportation to residents who prefer not to drive. Ponce de Leon's excellent exposure and easy accessibility are a major attraction to home buyers.

The neighborhood is one of the highest elevations in the City of St. Petersburg, which gives its residents peace of mind during tropical storms.

Architecture

Ponce de Leon enjoys many architectural styles. Housing plans vary due to the many builders who took part in the area's development. During the mid-1920s, bungalow style houses were built along the 24th Avenue corridor. Construction ceased until a building boom of the 1950s. The 1950s gave way to two bedroom, frame homes and larger, moderately priced, contemporary two and three bedroom, two bath, ranch style homes.

Many of these homes were built with the niceties of the day, including tile roofs, family rooms, dishwashers, garbage disposal, etc. These homes became the executive homes of the 1950s and helped St. Petersburg change from a retirement community to a family community. The 1980s brought more scattered buildings and a variety of attractive masonry styles.

History

The first individual to own the land, now known as Ponce de Leon, was Charles Russell. Original maps show that he owned the property during the late 1800s. Except for a few homes, Ponce de Leon remained pasture land until real estate developers began selling homes to buyers in the mid-1940s.

Residents here during the 1920s, told stories of traveling to downtown St. Petersburg, via cow paths, which where the only open routes of travel at the time. Storm water run off was aided by gullies and ditches that existed along 28th Street and 26th and 28th Avenues. Historical maps reveal that 31st Street was originally a portion of Booker Creek that travels through St. Petersburg and empties into the Bayboro Harbor. Booker Creek and the ditches teamed with poisonous snakes and other small wildlife including fox and possum. Sadly, this portion of Booker Creek disappeared along with the surrounding ditches and gullies as developers installed modern storm water drainage systems and roads during the early 1960s. The neighborhood's exotic wildlife disappeared with this period of modernization.

Much of Ponce de Leon's northwest end was developed by real-estate developer, Arthur Lowell. Lowell built his sales office on the northwest corner of 28th Avenue and 31st Street. As Lowell sold his land, he contracted builders who built custom homes for buyers. Many of these homes were built by the Todd and Vandervort Construction Company. Arthur Lowell died unexpectedly from a heart attack in 1968, and left his estate to his wife, Ann. She sold the remaining land parcels to various building contractors. This gave way to the many construction styles seen today. Builders included: Inman White, Edward Hiley and Homes by Lewis.

Ponce de Leon members are organizing an effort to further document the history of Ponce de Leon including its residents and its developers.

Organizations/programs

Ponce de Leon Neighborhood Association was founded in August of 1992. The Association has been incorporated since its inception. It has been a participating member of the Council of Neighborhood Associations since 1992, and some members have attended and graduated from the CONA Leadership Program.

Ponce de Leon has an active Crime Watch and has been closely involved with community policing.

Ponce de Leon members meet at the Gladden Park Center located 3981 30th Avenue North. Meetings are held at 7:00 p.m., the third Tuesday of every month. The Association's community police officer attends all meetings and is available to answer questions and seek solutions regarding neighborhood concerns.

Ponce de Leon mails a monthly newsletter to all residents of the neighborhood. Newsletters are funded by an annual garage sale, advertisers and association memberships. The newsletter includes current neighborhood news, a neighborhood police page, a gardening section to help neighbors in caring for specific yard needs appropriate to that particular month and other current topics of interest.

A neighborhood cleanup day is held annually. The association arranges the removal of collected household and yard debris by the Sanitation Department at no expense to homeowners. Clean up day is held the week following the annual garage sale.

Ponce de Leon held a huge neighborhood block party in 1995. The party was completely funded by corporate sponsors and was a great success in uniting the neighborhood.

The association is actively concerned with the health and welfare of its residents and arranges a CPR course for those who wish to participate. Future goals include organizing a basic first aid class for members and developing a hurricane and disaster plan in the unlikely event the neighborhood was required to evacuate.

Neighborhood grant projects

Ponce de Leon has received two Neighborhood Grants for landscaping and signage. The first grant provided an attractive wooden sign bearing our neighborhood name on the corner of 30th Avenue North and 28th Street. It is on the corner of Fire Station #10 and is surrounded with shrubbery. Another sign was placed in the treeline easement of 30th Avenue North near 32nd Street and is visible when driving in the eastbound traffic lane. A landscaping project was done along the entire treeline area.

The neighborhood worked closely with the Neighborhood Partnership Department and CONA to seek city funding for landscape trees along the southbound easement of 22nd Avenue North between 28th Street and 25th Street. The project was successfully completed in 1995.

Boundaries

22nd to 30th Avenues North from 25th to 34th Streets Nort