APOLLO BEACH HISTORY
Apollo Beach, located in South Hillsborough County, Florida, is named for the mythical Greek God who brought light and warmth to the world each day. Apollo Beach boasts a beautiful waterfront community. It is a year-round haven for boating and fishing enthusiasts, with its many miles of canals and inlets. Perhaps the fifty-five miles of navigable canals are the best known characteristic of Apollo Beach. The canals average a depth of seven feet in the center and all are connected, eventually merging into Tampa Bay. The canals themselves are lined with magnificent homes, with lush tropical foilage. The majority of homesites have docking facilities with sail boats and motor boats lining both sides of each canal. The history of Apollo Beach started in 1923 on land used annually for farming and grazing pasture. Much of the land was estuarial in nature and mangrove swamps. It was all low and considered uninhabitable. The land at that time was owned by the Dickman Family, and it was then that Paul Dickman conceived the idea of a waterfront community. He felt the location was such that it lent itself to the development of a city, since U.S. Highway 41 lay approximately equal distance between Tampa and Bradenton. The Dickmans secured the services of an engineering firm in Miami, called 'Radar Engineering". They went to great lengths to design a subdivision, including roads, canals, schools, recreation areas, and all types of community services. Nothing happened until the early 1950s when Mr. Dickman negotiated the sale of the land to three gentlemen from New York: Turner, Dean and Clark. They came up with the name "Tampa Beach", believing the association with Tampa would attract interested persons more readily than a name which did not properly locate the area geographically. Construction began on the Flamingo Canal near U.S. Highway 41, and proceeded toward Fairway Boulevard. It was their intention to extend the canal to Tampa Bay so as to achieve access to open water. The task was becoming too large for the amount of capital they had invested and for the abilities of the persons involved, and in later 1956, they notified Mr. Dicknian they could not go through with the project. It must be remembered conditions at that time were very difficult. The land was agricultural, rural, a long way from civilized area, equipment for dredging and excavation was not as sophisticated as it is now, and the land was often swampy, marshy, inhabited by mosquitos, snakes and alligators. 'I here was a tremendous amount of undergrowth and vegetation, which made any construction extremely difficult. In 1957, Francis Corr, who had previously retired from business in Michigan was approached by a friend who was familiar with the tract of land. After learning the property was on the West Coast of Florida, and not California, he became interested. Mr. Dickman entered into many months of negotiations with Mr. Corr, during which time he visited Mr. Con and his family in Michigan, and checked out his qualifications and financial ability. Finally, Mr. Dickman arranged for a contract with Mr. Con for the sale of approximately 5,500 acres of land. In order to have a real community, homes had to be started to get FHA approval for the subdivision. Mr. Con started construction of 50 homes in the area between U.S. Highway 41 and Golf & Sea Boulevard. In early 1958, Mr. Con reached an agreement with Robert E. Lee, a South Carolina Contractor, to join in the development. Robert E. Lee was to continue the dredging of canals and in exchange, was to receive parcels of land. Apollo Beach, along with its neighboring communities--Ruskin, Sun City Center, Cypress Creek and Summerfield Crossing are fast coming into their own as thriving, growing communities; thus, an increase in newcomers and vacationers to the area is the expected trend for the future. (condensed from original Hisloiy of Apollo Beach by Charles L. Tea.)