Odet Philippe was the first permanent, non-native settler on the Pinellas peninsula in what is now the state of Florida, acquiring of land in what is today Safety Harbor in 1842. He was a successful businessman who introduced cigar making and citrus to the Tampa Bay region. His descendants, including the McMullen and Booth families (for whom McMullen-Booth Road is named), are among the county’s most well known pioneer clans.
Philippe was buried in Philippe Park – his former plantation – in 1869, but the exact location of the gravesite is unknown.
Grave marker inscription Odet Philippe Born Lyon, France, 1787 Died at this Site 1869
As the first European settler in Pinellas County he established St. Helena Plantation, now Philippe Park Philippe was the first to cultivate grapefruit in Florida and introduced cigar-making to Tampa His descendants populated this frontier. He was said to be a doctor and of noble birth
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References
Who was Odet Philippe? Odet Phillipe Marker
See also Philippe Park Safety Harbor site