By Melinda Greene
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – Indian Rocks Beach was one of the earlier beach communities in Pinellas County, brimming with numerous family-owned seaside cottages that have since disappeared to make way for larger homes and developments.
Many of those families who built holiday homes for themselves are also gone but a few of their descendants remain in the area. One such family is the Moseley family.
Carl H. Moseley and his wife Caroline are one of the early pioneers of Indian Rocks Beach, purchasing as he did, beachfront property and over the years and building several cottages in which family members stayed in or lived in for several decades. Moseley, a Tampa attorney, began acquiring property in the 1930s, according to his grandson, R.B. Johnson, the current mayor of Indian Rocks Beach.
Johnson says he has many fond memories of a childhood spent romping in and out of the family’s four cottages located on the north and south sides of 12th Avenue in addition to another on Gulf Boulevard.
“I have rich memories of each one. Each one had a different style, a different quirk,” says Johnson, who stayed in all four cottages at different times in his life. Some had outdoor showers leading directly into a bedroom or sleeping porches and one had a round, brick fireplace.
While modest by today’s standards, the two-bedroom cottages were nonetheless roomy and comfortable. In an era before central air conditioning, the design of the cottages allowed each to catch the Gulf breezes, even in wilting heat of the summer The first cottage built by the family was in 1936, north of 12th Avenue and which the family still owns.
Another cottage, built circa 1939 across the street from what is now the 12th Avenue Park, was donated to the city, eventually moved and now houses the Indian Rocks Beach Historical Society.
In 1959, Moseley ventured into a partnership with businessman Lewis R. Snelling Jr. to build on vacant land located at 12th Avenue what became known as the Big Indian Rocks Fishing
Pier.
Moseley owned the property for many years and it was the frequent site for Sunday family picnics after church. The Big Indian Rocks Fishing Pier extended more than 1,000 feet in length, was constructed mostly of wood and jutted into the Gulf of Mexico.
“It was one of the longest fishing piers on the West Coast of Florida for many years and probably one of the most recognizable local landmarks.People came from all over the country to fish there. They stayed at the local cottages and motels,” Johnson said. He estimates the cost to build it was in the neighborhood of $100,000.
The pier remained a local landmark until 1985 when it was washed out to sea, courtesy of Hurricane Elena. For many tourists and locals, it spelled the end of an era. The only structure to remain intact on that site was the pier’s ticket office which, according to Johnson, was eventually converted into a one-bedroom cottage.
“Plenty of people still remember it. They still bemoan its destruction,” Johnson said.
With no insurance, the possibility of rebuilding it was remote.
Several years after the pier had been destroyed, the Moseley family approached the city commission to see if it wished to purchase the property and resurrect the pier. A petition in support of the pier purchase was circulated within the community but, according to Johnson, nothing ever came of it.
From time to time, renewed interest in rebuilding the pier would arise but costs entailed have proven prohibitive.
The Snelling family home is a three-story house located on the south end of Indian Rocks Beach. Johnson said the building still stands. Known as the Castle, he recalls a big, freestanding “S” (for Snelling) perched atop the house. In addition, there was a small fishing pier on the property that since disappeared.
Carl Moseley died in the early eighties and much of the Moseley properties including two of the cottages were sold to developers or donated to the city including parcels for the 12th Avenue Park and the Indian Rocks Beach Historical Museum.
Be sure to read past "Pioneers of the Beaches"
Frank T. Hurley served the common good shaping Pass-a-Grille