The Rolyat Hotel, now the Stetson University College of Law, is located in Gulfport, Florida in Pinellas County on the west coast of Florida.
In the early 1900s, Gulfport experienced its share of the Great Florida Land Boom, with the development of Pasadena-on-the-Gulf, now called Pasadena Estates. Pasadena Progress was the official newsletter published for the new Pasadena-on-the-Gulf community. This development was designed as a "residential paradise", and the Rolyat Hotel was the last phase of construction before the Great Depression hit.
Built in 1925, [1] the Hotel Rolyat (Taylor spelled backwards) was named after I.M. Jack Taylor, its owner and the president of Pasadena Estates, also known as "Handsome Jack" Taylor. The architectural firm of Kiehnel & Elliott of Miami, Florida designed the Spanish-themed hotel under the direction of project architect Paul Reed. George A. Fuller Construction Company of New York City served as the general contractor and John Wanamaker supplied the furnishings and china. [2] The Rolyat opened January 1, 1926 with celebrities in attendance and champagne flowing in the main fountain.
Designed to replicate a Spanish feudal castle with buildings surrounding a central plaza. The main tower was designed to resemble the Torre Del Oro (Tower of Gold) in Seville, Spain. The Rolyat boasted 100 guest rooms on its property of several buildings, towers, fountains and arcades. [3] The roof tiles came from Spanish monasteries; they were made by hand and created by shaping the clay over the upper leg. "All the woodwork is of solid cypress timbers colored and antiqued...with wooded trusses having ornamental bands-and the wooden timbers are brilliantly decorated with many colors on Medieval lines." [4]
[5] Hotel Rolyat Burgert Brothers Photographs
Pinellas County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107, which makes it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most densely populated county in Florida, with 3,491 residents per square mile. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clearwater is the county seat. St. Petersburg is the largest city as well as the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat.
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the largest city in the state that is not a county seat. Along with Clearwater, these cities are part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, the second-largest in Florida with a population of around 2.8 million. St. Petersburg is on the Pinellas peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and is connected to mainland Florida to the north.
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa and north of St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 117,292. Clearwater is the county seat of Pinellas County and is the smallest of the three principal cities in the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area.
Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area and is the fifth largest city in Pinellas County. The population was 36,068 as of the 2020 census.
Gulfport is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordering St. Petersburg, South Pasadena, and Boca Ciega Bay. The population of Gulfport was 12,029 at the 2010 census. Gulfport is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan statistical area.
Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,500, up from 69,371 in 2000.
Tierra Verde is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,721 at the 2010 census. The community is located on an island near the entrance of Tampa Bay, and is connected by the bridges of the Pinellas Bayway to both St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach. At the southern end of Tierra Verde is Fort De Soto, a county park.
Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887. In total, there are over 4,000 students currently enrolled at Stetson.
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 18th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
Stetson University College of Law, founded in 1900 and part of Stetson University, is Florida's first law school. Originally located near the university's main campus in DeLand, Florida, the law school moved in 1954 to Gulfport, Florida. The law school occupies a historic 1920s resort hotel, the Rolyat Hotel, designed by Richard Kiehnel. The College of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association and has been a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1931. The college also has a campus in Tampa, Florida that shares space with a working court, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal.
Timeline of Pinellas County, Florida history.
The Jungle Prada Site is an archaeological site featuring Indigenous Tocobaga mounds and the location of the historical Narváez expedition landing. The Jungle Prada site spans public and private property, including the Jungle Prada de Narvaez city park, in St. Petersburg of Pinellas County, western coastal Florida, in the Southern United States.
One Bayfront Plaza is a proposed supertall skyscraper in Miami, Florida, U.S. The building, construction of which has been approved, would stand at 1,049 feet (320 m), with 93 floors, becoming the tallest building in Miami and Florida. One Bayfront Plaza would primarily consist of offices and hotel space, but also would include a retail mall, condominiums, and parking garage on the lower levels, as well as possibly an observation deck at the top. The entire project consists of over 1,400,000 square feet (100,000 m2) of Class A office and hotel space, as well as a total building area of over 4,000,000 square feet (371,612 m2) including the large podium. One Bayfront Plaza is the first skyscraper over 1,000 feet (305 m) to be approved for construction in Miami. The building's primary advocate is real estate developer Tibor Hollo, who has won several awards for his 55 years as a developer in Miami, and is currently the president of Florida East Coast Realty.
The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail is a rail trail in Pinellas County, Florida. It stretches from Tarpon Springs in the north to St. Petersburg in the south, passing through the towns of Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Belleair, Clearwater, Largo, Seminole, South Pasadena, and Gulfport. It is utilized for walking, jogging, and cycling. Some trail users are able to commute to work using the Pinellas Trail instead of a motor vehicle.
Richard David Kriseman is an American politician who served as the 53rd Mayor of St. Petersburg from 2014 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 53rd district from 2006 to 2012.
The architectural firm of Kiehnel and Elliot was established in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1906. The firm did substantial work in Florida, and moved to Miami in 1922. From 1926, it was known as Kiehnel, Elliot and Chalfant.
A special election for Florida's 13th congressional district was held March 11, 2014, to elect a member of the United States House of Representatives, following the death of incumbent Republican Congressman Bill Young on October 18, 2013. Primary elections were held on January 14, 2014. Young, who had already announced that he would not be running for re-election in 2014, was re-elected in 2012 with 57 percent of the vote. With 100% of the precincts reporting, David Jolly was declared the winner of the special election.
Boca Ciega Bay is a body of water connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida. It is bordered by Gulfport, St. Petersburg, and other municipalities in Pinellas County. Clam Bayou estuary feeds into the bay.
The architecture of Jacksonville is a combination of historic and modern styles reflecting the city's early position as a regional center of business. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, there are more buildings built before 1967 in Jacksonville than any other city in Florida, though few structures in the city center predate the Great Fire of 1901. Numerous buildings in the city have held state height records, dating as far back as 1902, and last holding a record in 1981.