John Stansel Taylor

John Stansel Taylor was a Largo, Florida politician, citrus grower, and businessman who served as the first State Senator from Pinellas County, Florida. He was born "six miles south of Largo" on March 21, 1871, before Largo became a municipality and when Pinellas County was still Western Hillsborough County. Taylor’s parents were among the Pinellas Peninsula's first pioneers, and he was one of the first residents to be born in the Largo area. He was one of four members of his family to serve in the State Legislature. He was one of the largest landowners in Pinellas County, owning citrus groves and a packing plant at a time when Largo was nicknamed "Citrus City."

Taylor was President of the Florida Citrus Exchange and a Member of the State Citrus Commission. He has been called "the father of Pinellas County." He died in 1936. Taylor Lake Park, a Pinellas County park, was named in his honor.

As a child, he worked in his family's groves and packing plant. On May 2, 1901, he married Flossie Campbell. In 1903, Taylor built his citrus packing plant at the corner of Missouri Avenue and Bay Drive in Largo.

Taylor served as a Hillsborough County's Representative in the State Legislature from 1905 until 1910 and advocated for the separation of Pinellas from Hillsborough County. In 1911 he served as mayor of Largo and in 1913 was instrumental in making Largo the first Florida town to use a council-manager government. He continued the campaign for the separation of the Pinellas Peninsula from Hillsborough County. He lobbied the Legislature and presided at a rally in Largo where the "Pinellas Declaration of Independence" (written by St. Petersburg Times editor W. L. Straub) was read. The Legislature created Pinellas County on January 1, 1912, and Pinellas County elected Taylor to the Florida Senate in September 1912. He defeated the Socialist candidate 384 to 307.

He also served as chair of the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners from 1915 to 1923. As a commissioner he helped reform the awarding of contracts for roads construction. He advocated for construction of a county wide road system at a time when Pinellas roads were inadequate and construction was controversial. In May 1924, he became president of the "Citrus City" Growers Association. In 1925, he became president of the Florida Senate.

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