Crystal Beach — Palm Harbor
Richard Garrison was the first to purchase land on this side of the bay. In 1868, Thomas B Law bought 131 acres of what is now Crystal Beach for fifty cents an acre. Four years later , it was sold to William T Mayo for thirty two cents an acre. A deed drawn in 1884 has the street names and the area is known as Seaside. The railroad starting serving the general area including Crystal Beach in the late 1800s and the station was where the post office now stands. The rail line is now the Pinellas Park Trail.
The real history of Crystal Beach begins in 1912 when two gentlemen from Texas took over the development started by Mr Avery and Mr Rebstock and Co which they named Crystal Beach after a place in Canada. The Texans, Dr J D Hanby and Mr A D Powers, laid out the streets in squares leaving a road along the water so that all residents could have access. Their brochure reads “ We will forever hold this strip of land as a park for the use of the lot owners and the residents of Crystal Beach. No building will be erected on this park except for park and pleasure uses. This park is for all the people all the time. It is the front yard of Crystal Beach.”
There were no houses between the railroad tracks and the highway for many years. Alternate 19 was unpaved and called Dixie Highway. At the entrance to Crystal Beach stood a large double archway with the name on it.