Original profile (2019)

When my family moved to St. Petersburg and purchased a home in the Jungle Country Club subdivision in 1998, we knew very little about the history of the neighborhood. We came to learn that our property was formerly part of a historic golf course that was in operation from 1916-1944. The Jungle Country Club was one of the earliest examples of a planned golf course community, with residences overlooking and within the boundaries of the course. We learned that Babe Ruth and other notables of the era frequented the course and we began to wonder if the most famous celebrity of those days might have walked across our property. Eventually, I located a map of the course and found that our home was near the 6th green, confirming that Babe Ruth was, indeed, here in the 1920s and 30s with his golf bag filled with niblicks, brassies, cleeks, mashies, lofters, and jiggers – not to mention the Tampa cigars and bootleg booze. During my search for the course layout, I ran across many other interesting facts – some significant and some trivial - about the country club, the neighborhood, and the history of golf.

Email: steveofthejunglecc@gmail.com

Update

Long before writing this blog about west St. Pete, my passion for history took me to Greece in search of ancient artifacts in the Aegean Sea – and I actually found some! This is my story...

The Distant Past

In the summer of 1973, while studying mathematics and history at the University of Minnesota, I served as a diver/archaeologist on the underwater excavation of the sanctuary of Apollo at Halieis in Porto Cheli, Greece. In accordance with accepted archaeological practices, I collected and bagged submerged artifacts from the circa 500 BCE site, recording, on an underwater tablet, precise locations using trench coordinates and depth measurements.

During that summer and on a subsequent trip, I had the opportunity to explore many of the awesome islands and archaeological sites of Greece.

The author in Porto Cheli, Greece standing near the diving equipment platform

Artifacts excavated at Halieis, credit: Wikimedia Commons.

1973 Halieis excavation team, the hirsute author is third from the left on the bottom row.

These photos depict the controlled method that was used to collect artifacts
(Scientific American, Oct 1974)

After the excavation, I hung up my wetsuit and flippers and devoted most of the next 43 years to a career as an IT consultant. With my assignments came the opportunity, in my spare time, to visit historic sites in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, California, Minnesota, Tennessee, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, New York and Mississippi. My IT consulting resume can be viewed on LinkedIn.

Fast forward:

After retiring, I began exploring the history of my neighborhood, starting with my property. A massive amount of information from the internet was at my disposal and I soon discovered that the neighborhood had an awesome and unheralded history. Very little had been written about the Azalea neighborhood and I was determined to publicize its place in history.

At first I was uncertain if Azalea was part of the historic Jungle area. The deed for my property shows that my home is in the Jungle Country Club subdivision, but everyone I spoke with seemed to think that the Jungle included the Jungle Prada and Jungle Terrace neighborhoods, but not Azalea.

Searching through old newspapers, I learned about the Jungle Country Club. I found a 1916 plat map of the golf course and 1926 aerial photographs of the neighborhood. Eventually I was able to piece together a map of the nationally famous golf course transposed on the current Azalea street map.

I discovered that the drainage ditch that flows down the center of the street that I live on was once called Golf Creek. It is the last remaining vestige of the golf course that has not been replaced by roads and homesites.

I learned of the historic significance of the golf course and country club and found that the era's transcendent celebrity Babe Ruth had played on the course more than 100 times. He was a frequent guest at the Jungle Hotel (now Admiral Farragut Academy, in the Azalea neighborhood). I also learned that St. Pete's beloved mayor and city booster, Al Lang, was the president of the Jungle Country Club and lived on Park Street near the clubhouse.

To publicize Azalea's glorious history, I created a blog ‒ the Jungle Country Club History Project. As of this writing, there have been over 85,000 views of the blog and I have received enthusiastic reviews from readers including best-selling author Randy Wayne White, Robert C. Fuller (Walter P. Fuller's son), local historian Monica Kile and St. Pete advocate and historian Robert Blackmon.

I successfully petitioned the city to give a name to the historic creek that runs down the middle of Farragut Drive and in 2022 signs for the creek were installed.

Steve Elftmann, Dominick Griesi and Amy Elftmann at the sign unveiling ceremony.

In August 2024, the Azalea neighborhood began installing new "Welcome to Azalea: Historic Jungle Country Club" signs to emphasize the area's history. The signs were proposed a few years ago by Mrs. Steve of the Jungle and were designed by Steve of the Jungle. They were funded by a grant from the City of St. Petersburg.

The blog's primary focus is on the Jungle and the Azalea neighborhood, but has expanded to include all of west St. Pete.

Current Projects:

Bear Creek Gateway

Robert Blackmon and I initiated an effort to place a historical marker at the Bear Creek Gateway in Pasadena. This project continues to move forward.

Babe Ruth Event in St. Pete ‒ February 2025

There will be top Babe Ruth experts from around the country participating in this event commemorating the centennial of Babe Ruth's arrival in St. Pete to train with the New York Yankees. I am on the planning committee for this event and will be participating as an expert on Babe Ruth's Jungle experience.