Pyotr Alexeyevitch (Dementyev) Demens (1850 - 1919)

Born 1850 in Tver', Kalininsky, Kalinin, Russia,

Biography of Pyotr Alexeyevitch "Peter DEMENS" DEMENTYEV

Peter Demens was born in Russia, in the province of Tver, near the city of Saint Petersburg, Russia in the early 1800s.

Peter Demens Immigrated to the United States and went into the Railroad business.

Peter Demens Builder of the Orange Belt Railroad on the west coast of Florida.

Peter Demens brought the narrow guage Orange Belt Railroad to Saint Petersburg, Florida in 1888. It was the first railroad in what was to become Pinellas County, Florida and greatly helped populate this western part of Hillsborough County Florida in the late 1800s.

Peter Demens Named several towns along the way, including Lealman and Saint Petersburg on his railroad maps.

Peter Demens had financial difficulties and eventually sold the Orange Belt Railroad to Henry Bradley Plant, creator of the Plant System of railroads and steamships.

Peter Demens passed away January 21, 1919 Peter Demens is remembered today in Saint Petersburg, Florida with a waterfront park named Demens Landing named in his honor.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Demens

• '"Pioneer Saint Petersburg" by Rita Slaght Gould. Saint Petersburg, Florida. 1987