In exploring Walter P. Fuller’s remarkable life, I’ve come across another chapter: his account of becoming the very first Boy Scout in Florida.
Back in May of last year, I received a note from someone who had come across this blog:
I am chair of the Historical Committee for the local Boy Scout Council. In one of the old histories, it says that Fuller was the first official Boy Scout in Florida. Not sure if there is any other research that shows that. It was in 1908, in Bradenton. BTW, I went to Admiral Farragut.
— George Romagnoli
At the time, I wasn’t able to find anything that definitively confirmed or disproved that claim. However, last month Mr. Romagnoli sent me a 1931 newspaper clipping in which Walter P. Fuller himself wrote about his early Boy Scout experience.
Long before he became one of St. Petersburg’s most influential civic figures, Walter P. Fuller made local history as the first Boy Scout in the state of Florida. In the early 1910s, at a time when the Scouting movement had only just arrived from England, Fuller and his cousins in Braidentown (now Bradenton) discovered one of the earliest American articles about Boy Scouts. Inspired, they sent away for more information, studied the brand-new Scout handbook, and soon organized what became Florida Patrol No. 1, led by Fuller himself. When the official membership papers arrived, he received the first certificate issued to a Florida Scout.
From there, Scouting spread rapidly. As uniforms, badges, and the idea of organized outdoor adventure appeared around town, boys who had initially scoffed at the concept soon began forming new patrols. Camping trips, first-aid drills, and friendly competition fueled the movement, and Fuller never forgot the sense of purpose and camaraderie it created.
Years later, after moving to St. Petersburg, he helped organize the Pinellas Council and became the city’s first Scoutmaster, guiding local Scouts through hikes, service projects, and the early days of what would become a major youth institution in the region.
Fuller’s memories, recorded in a 1931 St. Petersburg Times article, offer a glimpse into the frontier days of Florida Scouting when the movement was powered by the enthusiasm of boys eager to explore the woods, bays, and wild coastline that surrounded early St. Petersburg.
Final note: Years after forming Florida’s first Scout patrol, Walter P. Fuller, along with his father H. Walter Fuller, went on to reshape much of the west side of the city, platting neighborhoods, developing hotels, building roads, and envisioning the Jungle Country Club area. His Scouting story adds one more layer to his legacy.
Original Boy Scouts of America handbook cover (1910–11). Cover art based on the British cover by Robert Baden-Powell.
