Rights
Description
Gardenville was the name of a planned resort and community planned for the mouth of Bullfrog Creek
The following is an excerpt of an article by Historian Charles Nelson (Affiliate of HCC Ruskin on the South Shore history project) which was published in the Osprey Observer on October 8, 2019)
Gardenville and "The Roosevelt River [are] the 1910 marketing creations of Tampa realtor W. D. Davis. He informally renamed Bullfrog Creek in an attempt to bolster real estate sales in his two new subdivisions located where the ‘river’ empties into Hillsborough Bay. Although the Roosevelt River name did appear in land sale documents, it never popularly caught on and faded into history. More lasting was the name, Gardenville, a town established in 1912, which included those subdivisions.
But today, even the name of Gardenville has all but disappeared. The small village was ultimately swept into the town of Gibsonton, which got its start in 1923 when James. B. Gibson created the suburb of Gibsonton-on-the-Bay on the south side of the Alafia River. The Gardenville name survives as the site of a local park on Symmes Rd. in Gibsonton and includes the park’s restored 1926 Gardenville School, which houses Hillsborough County’s Aging Services facility.
The following is an excerpt of an article by Historian Charles Nelson (Affiliate of HCC Ruskin on the South Shore history project) which was published in the Osprey Observer on October 8, 2019)
Gardenville and "The Roosevelt River [are] the 1910 marketing creations of Tampa realtor W. D. Davis. He informally renamed Bullfrog Creek in an attempt to bolster real estate sales in his two new subdivisions located where the ‘river’ empties into Hillsborough Bay. Although the Roosevelt River name did appear in land sale documents, it never popularly caught on and faded into history. More lasting was the name, Gardenville, a town established in 1912, which included those subdivisions.
But today, even the name of Gardenville has all but disappeared. The small village was ultimately swept into the town of Gibsonton, which got its start in 1923 when James. B. Gibson created the suburb of Gibsonton-on-the-Bay on the south side of the Alafia River. The Gardenville name survives as the site of a local park on Symmes Rd. in Gibsonton and includes the park’s restored 1926 Gardenville School, which houses Hillsborough County’s Aging Services facility.
Identifier
HCC0101GIB052
Extension
HCCFL
HCCFL
IID
HCC0101GIB052
Restriction on Access
(None) Text by Charles Nelson (owner) and permissive use is granted