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Wilder's Park collection, 1956-2002

 

Summary

Creator:
Irby, Lee
Abstract:
Collection has newsletters and research related to Wilder Park in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Extent:
2 boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Wilder's Park collection, Nelson Poynter Memorial Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection has 24 issues of Wilder's Park News, directories of Wilder's Park residents, and various newsletters and announcements from 1956 through 1979. There's a photocopy of Lee Irby's "Taking Out the Trailer Trash" article from the Fall 2000 issue of the Florida Historical Quarterly.

Biographical / historical:

During the late 1990s, Robert Lee Irby—a graduate student in history at the University of South Florida—wrote his master's thesis on the migration of retirees to St. Petersburg, Florida. As part of his research, he interviewed Fred E. Wilder, a veteran of the Second World War who moved to southeastern St. Petersburg in 1953. Wilder had acquired four acres of land at the intersection of Sixth Street and Thirty-second Avenue (formerly Bayou Lake Avenue) South. By 1954, he opened Wilder's Trailer Park, with offices located at 770-32nd Avenue South. During the next few years, Wilder's Park became a magnet for retirees from other areas in search of a second home for the winter season. Senior citizens made up nearly 90% of the park's early population.

This site, nestled between Lake Maggiore/Dr. Martin Luther King (Ninth Street) South on the west and Tampa Bay/Sixth Street South on the east, served as an excellent locationfor a mobile home park in the years following World War II. By 1947, a Harry W. McCormick occupied the present site of the Wilder park, while a Lake Shore Trailer Park began operations at 800-32nd Avenue South. After Wilder acquired the site, he developed the park with amenities not found at the earlier "Tin Can Tourist" camps of the1920s and 1930s that had dotted Florida's landscape, including water and sewerconnections and regular garbage collection service.

By the fall of 1956, residents began to receive Wilder's Park News, a newsletterhighlighting events at the park. For over twenty-three years, Henry Crossley served as editor of this publication. Issues include news of pot-luck suppers, social events, classified advertisements, and various recreational activities for park members. Publication coincided with the traditional period when seasonal residents stayed at the park, usually from November through April. As of 2002, the park remains in operation at the same location, under a homeowner's association.

Lee Irby acquired this collection of newsletters, as well as occasional lists of residents and other notices, from Fred Wilder during his thesis research. In 1999, Irby completed his thesis, entitled "Razing Gerontopolis: Green Benches, Trailer Trash, and Old People in St. Petersburg, Florida, 1910-1970." A copy is available for researchers at the USF library in Tampa. Irby currently serves as adjunct instructor of American History at both the University of South Florida and Eckerd College's Program for Experienced Learners.

Acquisition information:
Lee Irby donated these materials on Wilder's behalf to the Special Collections and Archives at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg for use by future researchers.

Access and use

Terms of access:

None. The contents of the collection may be subject to copyright. Visit the United States Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/ for more information.

Preferred citation:

Wilder's Park collection, Nelson Poynter Memorial Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg, FL.

Location of this collection:
140 7th Avenue South
St. Petersburg
FL
33701
USA