This historically Black neighborhood in Tampa Bay is finally getting a park
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County officials and community leaders, including David Baldwin, right, hold shovels to commemorate the groundbreaking of Dansville Community Park.
Flanked by county officials and community leaders, David Baldwin turned over a pile of dirt with his shovel, a symbolic gesture decades in the making for this community south of Largo called Dansville.
Why it matters: Baldwin helped break ground for the future Dansville Community Park, a long-awaited amenity in a historically Black neighborhood working to recover from generations of neglect.
- It's the latest fruit borne from a 30-year effort by a dedicated group of residents and Pinellas County officials to redevelop Dansville — while honoring its past.
What they're saying: "Thank you, on behalf of my grandfather, my family, for making this happen — this historical day," Baldwin, the grandson of the community's founder, Dan Henry, said at the Friday morning ceremony.
Flashback: Henry was a former sharecropper who in 1928 fled Georgia and came to Pinellas, lured by the prospect of railroad and citrus jobs.
- About 20 years later, Henry bought two 40-acre parcels of land where Dansville is today, nestled just north of where Ulmerton Road curves into Walsingham Road.
- It was rare in the Jim Crow south for a Black man to own land, and Henry made sure his relatives and friends got their own pieces of paradise. Residents remember him "stepping off" the land, measuring plots with his feet.
Fun fact: The name came about by happenstance. Henry applied for a liquor license for a bar he wanted to open, and state officials asked him where it would be located. The community didn't yet have a name, so he pulled from his own.
Friction point: For decades, the community was largely ignored by the county. Basic amenities like sidewalks, paved roads and indoor plumbing were lacking. Residents worked low-wage jobs as citrus pickers or cooks.
- What they didn't have in wealth they made up for in heart. Neighbors banded together to help with child care and held fish fries to raise money for a fire truck.
- When a new elementary school was built nearby in the 50s, residents brought plants from their own yards for landscaping.
The turning point came in October 1992, when a tornado slammed central Pinellas, killing four and destroying two dozen homes in Dansville.
- County officials stepped in to help clean up and began what has become a three-decade project to map the community, build up its infrastructure and preserve the story of how it came to be.
- Oral histories, old photos and more live at Heritage Village, a museum devoted to Pinellas history.
The latest: The neighborhood now has the amenities of a modern neighborhood connecting rows of homes.
- Some, like the lavender house of Baldwin's late mother, Ollie Mae, are from earlier days. Many are newer, built by Habitat for Humanity.
- A historic marker, unveiled in 2021, sits at the corner of Wilcox Road and Pine Street, in what will soon be Dansville Community Park.
Zoom in: The 12-acre greenspace, centered around a pond, will have two walking trails, restrooms and a pavilion.
- And it's right around the corner from Baldwin, who still lives in the community, a couple blocks from his two daughters and his mom's purple house.
- Gazing out at the park land, he smiled. "I'm gonna spend a lot of time here."
💠Kathryn's thought bubble: I got to know Dansville well back in 2018 while reporting out its history and future plans for the Tampa Bay Times. It was such a bright spot on Friday to reunite with Mr. Baldwin and celebrate how far the neighborhood had come.
- Read my deep dive here to learn more.