Odet Philippe

Odet Philippe was the first permanent, non-native settler on the Pinellas peninsula in what is now the state of Florida, acquiring 160 acre of land in what is today Safety Harbor in 1842. He was a successful businessman who introduced cigar making and citrus to the Tampa Bay region. His descendants, including the McMullen and Booth families (for whom McMullen-Booth Road is named), are among the county’s most well known pioneer clans.

Philippe was buried in Philippe Park – his former plantation – in 1869, but the exact location of the gravesite is unknown.

Grave marker inscription
Odet Philippe

Born Lyon, France, 1787

Died at this Site 1869

As the first European

settler in Pinellas County

he established St. Helena

Plantation, now Philippe Park

Philippe was the first

to cultivate grapefruit

in Florida and introduced

cigar-making to Tampa

His descendants populated

this frontier. He was

said to be a doctor

and of noble birth