F.A. Davis: St. Petersburg’s First Big Dreamer

F.A. Davis arrived in St. Petersburg in the 1890s with a habit of thinking big. After establishing a successful publishing company in Philadelphia, he came south and helped pull the young town into the modern era.

In 1897, he secured an electric franchise and lit up St. Petersburg with its first power plant, a wood-fueled operation that residents celebrated as a major step forward. Davis (pictured) didn’t stop there. He launched the city’s first trolley system, took over the local telephone service, and even built the Electric Pier, intending to turn the waterfront into a bustling port. His freight and passenger steamship, the Favorite, became a familiar sight on Tampa Bay.

The national panic of 1907 wiped out much of his fortune, but it didn’t erase his impact. Davis moved on to establish Pinellas Park, promoting small farms and new settlements across the peninsula. Though his own ventures often ended in financial strain, his ambition pushed St. Petersburg years ahead of its time.