Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: This city park is located on the site of the first railroad pier in St. Petersburg, built by Peter Demens in 1889. Peter Demens (pronounced de-MENS) was a Russian nobleman, Pyotr Dementyev, who left Russia in 1881, came to Florida, and changed his name to Demens. He became an entrepreneur, investing in a sawmill and a construction company in Longwood, Florida. Later he took control of the Orange Belt Railroad, which he extended from Sanford, Florida to the west coast of Florida in 1888, to a town he had named St. Petersburg, in honor of the capital city of Imperial Russia. Demens also built the first hotel, The Detroit, and the first railroad depot in St. Petersburg in 1888, and is considered one of the founders of the city. Demens Landing was dedicated as a city park to honor Demens in 1977.