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Lealman History

WHO IS BEHIND THE NAME LEALMAN?

The year is 1872 and the place is a small farming community outside of St. Petersburg in Hillsborough County, Florida.

Dirt paths connected the local dairies, egg farms and citrus groves. You can see the turpentine still down near the Orange Belt Rail Depot. Sparsely populated with families, this area had a very close sense of community. This is what Elza Lealman, Sr. found when he moved into this quaint little area from Suwannee County, Florida.

From 1862 to 1864, Elza B. Lealman, Sr. served as Suwannee County Sheriff. He again served Suwannee County as their Tax Collector and Property Appraiser from 1864 to 1866. He gave up his profession to come to, then, Hillsborough County, with his wife, Minnie Archer Lealman, and their ten children.

His first stop was at Allen Creek on Cross Bayou. But then he settled in the northwest portion of St. Petersburg. This area later became to be known as Lealman Heights. Their two-story homestead was located at 37th St. and Lealman Avenue, now 58th Avenue, and is still standing today.

Elza had planted the largest strawberry fields in the area and also raised oranges. He, as many of his neighbors, loaded their produce onto the Orange Belt at the Lealman Station, located at 52nd Avenue and Main St. North  

But that’s another story!
Anyone having any historical information, please contact Marcie Lauster at 343-8199