John Constantine Williams Sr.

John Constantine Williams, Sr. (died 1892) was the cofounder of St. Petersburg, Florida, with Captain Peter Demens. Williams Park is named for him.

Biography Williams came from Detroit, and purchased the land in the area of what became St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1876. Williams suffered from asthma and moved to Florida for his health. He lived in Tampa until 1887 when a yellow fever epidemic chased him across Tampa Bay.

Peter Demens (born Pyotr Alexeyevitch Dementyev) was instrumental in bringing the terminus of a railroad to the area in 1888. The Detroit Hotel still exists downtown after a conversion into condominiums. The oldest running hotels are the historic Pier Hotel, built in 1921, formally Hotel Cordova and The Heritage Hotel, built in 1926. Demens died in 1919.

Williams had a Queen Anne-style Victorian house constructed in 1891 at 444 Fifth Avenue South. It was moved to the campus of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg in 1995.