Information (historic, current) on "The Jungle," St. Pete (St. Petersburg: houseboat, neighborhood)

[Empidonax]

While doing genealogy research, I found that a great-uncle of mine and his family/descendants worked as fishing guides and lived in the "Jungle" area of St. Pete.

From what I can tell, the area (Park St., Jungle Ave., Elbow Ln., Stimie Ave, etc.) is quite developed now, but not sure. It seems that the area is referred to as "The Jungle," "Jungle Prada," etc.

It seems that back in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s this area was a bit of a dive, but not sure about that, either. My great-uncle had a houseboat there, and his children and other family members lived nearby-- all in the fishing and fishing guide industry.

Does anyone have any info on what that neighborhood was like decades ago, and how it's changed? I'm rather intrigued.

[Tim Tim Tim]

I have no info, but i am interested as well so I will be following

mind if I ask what your using to find this genealogy info?

[Empidonax]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

I have no info, but i am interested as well so I will be following

mind if I ask what your using to find this genealogy info?

One source has been U.S. Census data--many of the census documents list the street, and sometimes the dwelling number/address, of each respondent. I've been seeing census images/data via Ancestry.com, but you can get them at familysearch.org as well.

More helpful for specific addresses have been the many St. Petersburg city directories from the 1920s-1940s. I've been accessing these things via Ancestry.com, so not sure if the directories can be seen some other way, but they are very helpful and interesting. In the earlier listings, my great-uncle and cousins just put "The Jungle" or "Jungle Pier" as their address.

The great-uncle I mentioned had a dispute with two of his sons and a daughter-in-law back in 1938, and wound up killing her, wounding his sons, and taking his own life. The newspaper photos about the incident show a rather rustic residence, right near the water. I doubt that sort of thing exists there today, but would be interested to know more about the neighborhood.

[engineman]

It appears to be a nice area along Park street. One of the homes was the scene of a movie about older retirees some years ago, I can't recall the title just now. Park Street was paved with bricks which gave it character.

I am now up in north Clearwater and don't get down that way very often.

[Slhall05]

Originally Posted by Empidonax

One source has been U.S. Census data--many of the census documents list the street, and sometimes the dwelling number/address, of each respondent. I've been seeing census images/data via Ancestry.com, but you can get them at familysearch.org as well.

More helpful for specific addresses have been the many St. Petersburg city directories from the 1920s-1940s. I've been accessing these things via Ancestry.com, so not sure if the directories can be seen some other way, but they are very helpful and interesting. In the earlier listings, my great-uncle and cousins just put "The Jungle" or "Jungle Pier" as their address.

The great-uncle I mentioned had a dispute with two of his sons and a daughter-in-law back in 1938, and wound up killing her, wounding his sons, and taking his own life. The newspaper photos about the incident show a rather rustic residence, right near the water. I doubt that sort of thing exists there today, but would be interested to know more about the neighborhood.

My great grandfather is the person you mentioned having the dispute with two of his sons. My grandmother was the "daughter in law". Jungle Prada is now owned by the city and is a park that has a pier and a couple boat ramps. It's in a really nice area. I live nearby and visit it about once a week because it's a nice place to walk our dog. It's also a great place to see the fireworks from on the 4th of July. 😊

[mph101]

You're talking about the movie Cocoon'