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Local Historic Landmarks |
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Thomas Whitted House |
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The circa 1911 Whitted House is almost entirely of frame construction and incorporate details of Craftsman, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles of architecture. The house is significant for its association with Thomas Whitted and his son Albert. Thomas Whitted served on the St. Petersburg Town Council from 1894-1895 and helped personally fund the filling of a swale at Third Street and Central Avenue and spearheaded the building of St. Petersburg's first public school. Thomas, and his wife Julia had a total of eight children, and one son, James Albert would become a pioneer in the field of aviation in St. Petersburg. J. Albert Whitted was born in St. Petersburg on February 14, 1893. He attended local schools and graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1912. In 1917, at the age of 24, Albert Whitted enlisted a the Naval Air Station at New Haven, Connecticut. He received Naval Airport license # 179 and was stationed at Pensacola Naval Air Station. He was stationed at Guantanamo, Cuba in 1919 and was discharged as a lieutenant in December of that year. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Albert Whitted purchased a seaplane named the "Bluebird" and became the local dealer for Indian Motorcycles. He operated commercial charter flights on the "Bluebird" from a hangar located on the Vinoy Yacht Basin near the present day site of the St. Petersburg Historical Museum. In 1923, Walter Fuller, an early St. Petersburg developer, offered Whitted $1,000 to buy a surplus Navy aircraft, recondition it and give Fuller flying lessons. The government was offering these aircraft to former navy pilots for $400. Whitted agreed. On August 19, 1923, while testing one of these planes, the propeller of his plane flew off and tore through one of the wings. The plane crashed into Pensacola Bay and Whitted was killed. When the City decided to build a municipal airport on landfill near Bayboro Harbor in 1929 it was named in honor of Albert Whitted. The Whitted house is a one story, L-shaped structure with a wood balloon-frame structural system on a brick pier foundation. The most prominent element of the building is its steeply pitched hipped roof with projecting gabled dormers at the front, sides and rear of the structure. These dormers have roof skirting which gives the appearance of the continuation of the roof through the dormers. The steeply pitched roof and roof detailing are common details of Queen Anne architecture and is an example of builders incorporating details from popular architectural styles into the Vernacular construction. There are two interior chimneys constructed of dark red brick with decorative corbeled chimney tops. The house has an extensive front porch which spans the entire front facade. A shed roof with two decorative pediments covers the porch. The porch columns are simple posts with no ornamental detail and the railing is a recent replacement constructed of wooden slats in an ornate scroll-work pattern. The house has regular fenestration with double hung, one over one light windows. The structure's original exterior fabric is wood drop siding, which has been restored. |
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