Iconic Pass-a-Grille Historian
Frank Hurley, Jr. was the real estate broker in Pass-a-Grille when it wasn’t much more than an historic fishing village on the sandy shore of the Gulf of Mexico. Before that, he was a journalist and an illustrator.
He had a great memory, a quick wit, a brilliant imagination, an excellent command of the English language and he loved writing. We eventually got him to give us a long-promised signed edition of his first book, Surf, Sand & Post Card Sunsets, which he said he gave to all home buyers who closed through his office.
It is an interesting, easy and entertaining read about the aboriginal Timucuan natives, the Spanish explorers and eventually the personalities that first settled in Pass-a-Grille. The book starts off, “There is a place called Pass-A-Grille, where it all began.” Among highlights: Broken pottery shards found in Timucuan Indian burial mounds on the beaches date to 1100-1200 A.D. … Ponce de Leon careened his flagship for hull cleaning on Mullet Key in 1513 … The “great gale,” the hurricane of 1848 that hit the area, was the most devastating in Florida history until Andrew in 1992 … John Gomez, self-styled “last of the pirates,” is credited with bringing the first “tourists” to Long Key and Pass-A-Grille from Tampa in 1857 on his schooner Red Jack. He’s also credited with “inventing” the legend of Jose’ Gaspar, whom he described as “a Spanish naval officer turned pirate in 1783 who cut a bloody swath through the Gulf for 38 years.” … In 1884, just 19 years after the Civil War ended, St. Petersburg’s early settlers visited Longboat Key and Pass-A-Grille … St. Petersburg Times editor William Straub, part-time Pass-A-Grille resident, was instrumental in getting a charter bill through the Florida Legislature, and on June 6, 1911, Governor Albert Gilchrist signed the bill creating the Town of Pass-A-Grille.
Hurley’s well-received first book, “Surf, Sand & Post Card Sunsets,” a history of Pass-A-Grille and the Gulf Beaches, published in 1977 and revised in 1989 and 2007, is a direct result of his long-time love of history. His Washington home was close to historic Fort Stevens, where President Lincoln came to observe a Civil War battle, and then Lt. Oliver Wendell Holmes reportedly shouted, “Get your head down, you damn fool!” His mother’s father was a boy in Virginia during the Civil War, and his father’s parents helped settle the Arizona Territories in the 1890s.
They lived on an Indian reservation where Grandma Hurley collected artifacts now in the Smithsonian and made an historic photo collection that Frank was able to restore. During World War I his mother became one of the first “Yeomanettes,” an organization created when the Navy realized women could be used in a variety of jobs to free up men for active duty. “Mom had graduated from business school and was working for National Geographic when she joined up,” Frank notes, “and was in the downtown Naval Department headquarters until the Armistice.”
Real estate was Frank’s third career, the first in journalism, split by a stretch with the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) from 1943-46. He grew up in Washington, D.C., covering his high school activities including sports for the Sunday Washington Times.
“I found a love for sports,” he recalls, “and was covering everything from wrestling matches to the Golden Gloves, which I had to skip my senior prom to cover. It was pretty heady for a kid of 16 to 18.” Frank volunteered for the USAAF and wrote briefly for several Army papers, then spent most of the war in the Pacific Theater on Okinawa with the ordinance section of the 7th Army.
After the war, he used veteran’s benefits to attend St. Petersburg Junior College, editing the student paper, and began writing for the now defunct St. Petersburg Evening Independent. His most vivid memory was his lead coverage of the 1950 Labor Day hurricane. “It was my first front page banner headline,” he notes. Moving to California, he was editor of the Arcadia Tribune from 1956-57 and was writing for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner when he was called back to Pass-A-Grille to help with the family realty business.
Frank’s nephew, Sean Hurley, who now heads the Hurley Associates realty firm, told Paradise News, “This company my grandfather started, has been a part of Pass-a-Grille and the city of St. Pete Beach for more than 75 years. It will continue to be a testament of our love for this community and this part of the neighborhood, so others can live the great beach life we have to offer.
“In early 2014 we lost Uncle Frank just before he turned 90. He was a true Renaissance man – Realtor, writer and historian. His first book, ‘Surf, Sands & Postcard Sunsets’, was the primer history book about the Gulf beaches.
“He never had children but treated me like a son. His widow, Betty, still lives in the area. Later that year we lost my dad, J. Kenneth Hurley. They had both worked together in our realtor business since 1966 when my grandfather, Col. Frank T. Hurley, died.
“The road ahead was a mystery. I had not realized how much their insight and depth of knowledge was relied on by me and the great people working with me at the firm. The times were changing, social media was more impactful, and online realty services were evolving and making bigger impact to the housing market than I would have dreamed. As a company we have worked to embrace these changes – applying the lessons learned from my father, my uncle and my mom.”
“As we found our stride, my mother June Hurley Young died. She had spearheaded the ‘Save the Don CeSar Committee’ in the 1970’s and found a buyer to rebuild the icon of St. Pete Beach. She was a TV personality – for 14 years as Miss June on ‘Romper Room’. She was always a force in every challenge she undertook.
“The people who guided me and were part of the St. Pete Beach fabric are gone, but as I move forward, I am more aware of the loss of their guidance and nurturing. The hole they left will never be filled, but the legacy they left on St. Pete Beach will live on in me, my sister and our next generation.”
Renee Roos encouraged Frank to write articles for the Grille Bits Newsletter she published for the Pass-a-Grille Community Association from 1987 to 1995. She computerized Frank’s typewritten drafts with handwritten corrections in all the margins in pencil, so that they could become his second book, “Pass-a-Grille Vignettes: Times Past and Tales Remembered.” Frank was also quite an artist. He personally arranged sketches he had done throughout his career into a booklet. He gave the Museum the rights to both. For more about Frank T. Hurley Jr., visit the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, 115 10th Ave., St. Pete Beach, Friday & Saturday, 10am-4pm, and Sunday, 1-4pm. During open hours only call 727-552-1610.
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Sean Hurley for his excellent comments and photos. Feature writer Steve Traiman, president of Creative, Copy by Steve Traiman, can be reached at www.traimancreativecopy@gmail.com for business writing services.