The U.S. Land Office published a map of Hillsborough County in 1882. The Jungle and the entire Pinellas Peninsula were in Hillsborough County at the time. The Division Bill of 1911 split Hillsborough County and created Pinellas County.
The map includes the names of property owners and it is noted that all unmarked lots are owned by the Disston Purchase or are railroad lands. Almost all of the land in the Jungle was owned by Hamilton Disston, a Philadelphia businessman who purchased about 11% of Florida in 1881. Other Jungle property owners noted on the map are J. Silven (Abercrombie Park), Henry, Levich (Jungle Prada), Ch. Norman, and someone with the initials J.M.W. There is a partially obscured name, possibly H. Murphy. While the map is dated 1882, some notations were added at a later date and land that was transferred prior to 1882 has not been updated.
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| Map closeup: Jungle property owners Disston, J. Silven, Henry, Levich, H. Murphy, Ch.Norman and J.M.W. |
NO ONE KNOWS, and probably no one ever will know, the name of the first white settler on lower Pinellas Peninsula. That first settler ... left no record of his identity ... There's no doubt, however, that itinerant fishermen lived on the peninsula early in the nineteenth century ... Many of the early comers probably were Spaniards who came to the fishing grounds around the point to catch fish for the Cuban market. The chances are we are indebted to those Spaniards for names given some of the passes, bayous and localities, like Pass-a-Grille and Boca Ciega Bay ... Although we do not know the name of the first settler on the lower peninsula we do know the names of the first property owners ... Joseph Silva, John Levich and Maximo Hernandez ... Levich settled at the Jungle ...
‒ Karl H. Grismer, The Story of St. Petersburg (1948)
Levich and Silva filed homestead papers in 1843 and after fulfilling requirements were granted ownership in 1849. After the Civil War, Levich sold his property to pay off a $46 grocery bill. By 1882, Levich and Silva were deceased and property ownership had been transferred.
Below, I've included a section of the 1882 map and a link to the complete map.
The section of the map below shows the towns of Pinellis (now St. Petersburg) and Bonifacio (now Gulfport).
Here is a link to the zoomable 1882 map on the Hillsborough County Public Library website:
https://digitalcollections.hcplc.org/digital/collection/p16054coll8/id/333/
