Jump to content
Main menu
Main menu
move to sidebar
hide
Navigation
Main page
Recent changes
Random page
Help about MediaWiki
Special pages
Niidae Wiki
Search
Search
Appearance
Create account
Log in
Personal tools
Create account
Log in
Pages for logged out editors
learn more
Contributions
Talk
Editing
Belleair, Florida
(section)
Page
Discussion
English
Read
Edit
View history
Tools
Tools
move to sidebar
hide
Actions
Read
Edit
View history
General
What links here
Related changes
Page information
Appearance
move to sidebar
hide
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
== History == {{More citations needed section|date=April 2022}} Belleair traces its origins to 1896 as a planned resort town with the construction of the [[Belleview-Biltmore Hotel|Belleview Hotel]] by railroad tycoon [[Henry B. Plant]]. Originally known as Belleair Heights, the village consisted of a few dozen homes, livestock stables, and a famed 200-seat coliseum where bicycle races and political rallies were held. Over 300 acres of land were cleared and streets platted. However, real estate development in the community did not meet expectations, and the population remained small. The former village of Belleair Heights fizzled out in the mid-20th century as [[urban sprawl]] blurred the lines between communities; the area stopped being referred to as Belleair Heights during the 1930s. Following the acquisition of the hotel by the [[John McEntee Bowman]]'s Biltmore corporation in 1919, management began purchasing large tracts of land south of the resort. The Florida Land Boom was in full swing in 1924, when the company's vice president and hotel manager Earl E. Carley announced a new real estate venture of Belleair Estates. Belleair Estates was designed by famed landscape architect John Nolen and was intended as Florida's most exclusive winter residential colony. The town initially incorporated in late 1924, though was re-incorporated in 1925 under the current name of Belleair. Development continued until the real estate bubble burst in 1926, which subsequently aided in the national [[Great Depression]] three years later. Following [[World War II]], Belleair began to develop in earnest, with over two-thirds of the town's residences built after 1950. The Eagles Nest Japanese Gardens was a tourist attraction in the town located on the private estate of Dean Alvord. It opened in 1933 and closed in 1952.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.townofbelleair.com/DocumentCenter/View/2713/FullReportFinalCompresed|title=Town of Belleair 2018 Historic Survey Report|website=Town of Belleair|access-date=September 17, 2018}}</ref>
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to Niidae Wiki may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see
Encyclopedia:Copyrights
for details).
Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Search
Search
Editing
Belleair, Florida
(section)
Add topic