William L. Straub came to St. Petersburg for his health in 1899 from North Dakota, where he had been one of the state’s leading journalists. In 1901, Straub became part owner and editor of the St. Petersburg Times, a position that allowed him to be a force in local affairs and ultimately to lead and champion the movement to preserve the city’s waterfront as public park. While Straub was a man of many enthusiasms and a tireless booster of St. Petersburg, the issue that would arouse his greatest passion was the debate that ensued over the development of the downtown waterfront.

One in six Americans, including Straub attended the 1893 World’s Fair held on the Chicago waterfront. When Straub came to St. Petersburg, he brought with him the idea of “City Beautiful” that had been exemplified at the World’s Fair and Straub was determined that St. Petersburg would model this new concept of urban expansion. Like many progressive reformers, Straub considered public parks as a prerequisite for community order and well-being. In the tradition of Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of New York’s Central Park, Straub reasoned that the inner city needed beautiful green spaces to compensate for the accelerated pace and unnatural character of urban life.

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