Editing Gulfport, Florida (section)

==History==
Archaeological digs around [[Boca Ciega Bay]] indicate that settlements existed in the area circa 8000 to 3000 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gulfport Historical Society |title=Our Story of Gulfport, Florida |date=1985 |publisher=Gulfport Historical Society |isbn=0-9615746-0-7 |page=14 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=regional_ebooks |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-date=September 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910051643/https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=regional_ebooks |url-status=live }}</ref> The area was also densely populated during the [[Safety Harbor culture|Safety Harbor period]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Austin |first1=Robert |title=Archaeological Testing at the Anders Site: A Weeden Island-Related Midden on Boca Ciega Bay, St. Petersburg, Florida |journal=Florida Scientist |date=1988 |volume=51 |issue=3/4 |pages=172–181 |jstor=24319907 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24319907 |access-date=28 March 2022}}</ref> In 1528, the Spanish explorer [[Pánfilo de Narváez]] landed on the Pinellas peninsula, some say near present-day Gulfport, where he encountered the local [[Timucua|Timucuan people]].<ref>[https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=regional%20ebooks Gulfport Historical Society]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. (1985). pg. 14</ref>
 
Gulfport has been known by several names since its founding. The first settler in what would become Gulfport were James and Rebecca Barnett in 1868, and named the area Barnett's Bluff.<ref>[https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=regional%20ebooks Gulfport Historical Society]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. (1985). pg. 28</ref> As other settlers trickled in and homesteaded the area, the settlement became known as Bonifacio around 1880. In 1884, [[Philadelphia]] financier [[Hamilton Disston]] envisioned a thriving port town that he called Disston City. However, the [[United States Postal Service]] would not recognize the name as it conflicted with a town in [[Hillsborough County, Florida|Hillsborough County]], and the name Bonifacio was retained. Once that community folded in 1890, the Post Office allowed Bonifacio to be renamed as Disston City. In 1905, the town name was changed to Veteran City to reflect [[John F. Chase|John Chase]]'s vision for a retirement community of Civil War veterans. On October 12, 1910, the name changed officially to Gulfport<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/070101/Beaches/Three_names_shape_one.shtml |title=Three Names Shape One |website=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=July 1, 2001 |access-date=March 18, 2009}}</ref> when it got incorporated at the Gulf Casino located on the dock of Electric Railroad Company.

On April 1, 1886, a man named W. J. McPherson, who had moved to Disston City from Deland the previous year, published ''The Sea Breeze'', which was the first newspaper for the lower Pinellas Peninsula.<ref>Simonds, Willard B. (1983) "The Sea Breeze: The First Newspaper of the Lower Pinellas Peninsula," ''Tampa Bay History'': Vol. 5 : Iss. 2, Article 8. Available at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/tampabayhistory/vol5/iss2/8 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117130904/https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/tampabayhistory/vol5/iss2/8/ |date=January 17, 2021 }}</ref> With a population of about 150 people, Disston City was the largest settlement on the lower peninsula in the 1880s.<ref>[https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=regional%20ebooks Gulfport Historical Society]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. (1985). pg. 129</ref>

During the first two decades of the 20th century, there was a considerable leftist movement in Florida. This included Gulfport electing E. E. Wintersgill, a Socialist mayor, in 1910 and having four Socialists to one Democrat sitting on the town's council.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Griffin |first1=Steven |title=Workers of the Sunshine State Unite!: The Florida Socialist Party During the Progressive Era, 1900-1920 |journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly |date=Winter 2008 |volume=86 |issue=3 |page=347 |jstor=25594628 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25594628 |access-date=28 March 2022}}</ref>

Gulfport was a [[sundown town]] into the 1950s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Once a 'Sundown Town,' Gulfport Reaches Out to Its Black Residents |first=Cathy |last=Salustri |work=[[Creative Loafing]] Tampa Bay |publisher=SouthComm |date=January 15, 2015 |access-date=March 10, 2019 |url=https://www.cltampa.com/news-views/article/20760437/once-a-sundown-town-gulfport-reaches-out-to-its-black-residents |archive-date=September 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910051653/https://gum.criteo.com/syncframe?origin=publishertagids&topUrl=www.cltampa.com&gdpr=0&gdpr_consent= |url-status=live }}</ref> An informal policy prohibited African Americans from staying within town limits after sundown.<ref>{{cite news |title=Beckhard Hits Negro Bathing Beach Project |work=[[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]] |location=[[St. Petersburg, Florida]] |date=May 17, 1937 |page=6 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29366898/ |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |quote=Text of [town councilman Bruno] Beckhard's statement follows: 'In the first place Gulfport has never receded from the position it took when most of the men were fishing and women and children were left alone, that no negroes would be allowed within the town limits after sundown. This is not a matter of statute, it is merely a condition that no St. Petersburg negro questions.' |access-date=March 10, 2019 |archive-date=September 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240910051827/https://www.newspapers.com/article/tampa-bay-times/29366898/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Hurricane Helene Damage===

On Thursday, September 26, 2024, The storm surge from Cat 4 Hurricane Helene started affecting the areas around Gulfport. A storm surge up to 8 feet high swamped the downtown area of Gulfport and the surrounding residential areas, causing significant and heavy damage. As of 2025, cleanup and damage survey is still ongoing.

The city of [[Gulfport, Mississippi]] helped the city following Hurricane Helene by gathering donations for those affected.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wxxv25.com/city-of-gulfport-helping-gulfport-florida-with-relief-efforts-after-hurricane-helene/|title=City of Gulfport helping Gulfport, Florida with relief efforts after Hurricane Helene|publisher=WXXV News 25|website=WXXV25.com|last=Bitonel|first=Marco|date=September 30, 2024|access-date=September 30, 2024}}</ref>