Walsingham House - Florida Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

BUILT: 1915 MOVED: 1984
AN EARLIER TIME
Jesse Walsingham came to central Pinellas in the mid 1890s. The young man fell in love with Mary O'Quinn, a member of the McMullen and O'Quinn pioneer families. They exchanged vows and settled in the Largo area before starting a family. For the next 30 years, Jesse engaged in various occupations: he traveled the peninsula delivering ice, operated a meat and citrus packinghouse, managed a hardware store, worked as a butcher and sold fertilizer.

BUILDING ON THEIR SUCCESS
When it was 'king,' Jesse was a leading truck farmer delivering his crops to regional markets. He grew strawberries, potatoes, cabbage, eggplant and navy beans plus come citrus. Jesse purchased land in 1913 and two years later the family moved into their newly built home. It was the center of their agricultural, commercial and civic activities including Jesse's leadership of the Largo Truck Growers Association, the effort to form a separate county in western Hillsborough and the Pinellas County Fair. In 1929 they sold this home but continued to live in the area. In later years the new owners rented rooms to boarders.

FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL AT THE FAIR
In 1916 Mary Walsingham and others in the Woman's Club of Largo planted the idea for the first successful fair for the new county of Pinellas. The Walsinghams won many medals for their prized produce. As the fair grew Jesse became its first general manager in 1928, a position he held until 1935.

RESIDENCE ON THE RIDGE
When built, this house dominated the landscape in a sparsely settled area of the peninsula. It combines ornamental, rusticated concrete blocks on the lower floor with a wood framed second story. Tenants used the rear stairs in later years when it was rental property.

TIDBITS FROM TIME
AN EAR FULL
Sumter Walsingham followed in his father Jesse's footsteps as a farmer. Sumter made front page news in 1917 as a Largo Agricultural School student and 'Corn Club' member, for his club project, he produced nearly 50 bushels of corn on an acre of land.

A FAMILIAR NAME
Walsingham Road and Walsingham Park are named for this family.

BE A HOUSE DETECTIVE
Look closely at the front of the home as is appears today. Can you find evidence of where the porch had been?

Marker Number: None Date: None County: Pinellas Marker Type: City Sponsored or placed by: Heritage Village Website: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   11/11/2023 Markerman62 visited it