City of Lynn Haven

W.H. Lynn was a Senator from the state of New York and publisher of the 'Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) National Tribune'. With an aging forum in the readers of his publication, Lynn saw an opportunity to help his fellow veterans and himself. Lynn pushed the idea of selecting sites in Florida for retirement communities for Union Army Civil War veterans. Encouraged by New York shipping tycoon Minor C. Keith, who had recently purchased vast acreage where Lynn Haven is now located, Lynn planned the communities of St. Cloud and Lynn Haven Florida. He formed the St. Andrews Bay Development Company to develop and market the new communities.

The Keith property was surveyed by W. H. Parker who divided the community into numbered streets running east and west, and avenues named for various states running north and south. The 50'x50' lots sold for $150.00 dollars each and included a five acre tract of land outside of town. Lynn advertised and promoted the communities heavily in his publication and sales started to boom. Property was sold through a lottery with the lots offered spread throughout the community. In this way all areas developed at about the same rate.

The citizens of Lynn Haven allocated land on Ohio Ave. near the St. Andrews Bay for public gatherings. The first event in this park, known as Temple Grove, was Memorial Day 1911. Captain J.W. Mitchell, Commander of the Spanish American War veterans, was the featured speaker. At the time Lynn Haven had no cemetery so at the end of the service flowers were scattered on the water of the bay.