A Stroll Through Downtown Dunedin

Dunedin is the quintessential small American town.  Centered on a Main Street that lies at the intersection of Edgewater Drive and Broadway Boulevard and within view of St. Joseph Sound, Main Street is the gathering place for the locals and tourists.  The origins of Dunedin can be traced back to the 1870's where the settlement was referred to as Jonesboro.  Two Scotsmen, by the name of J.O. Douglas and James Somerville, opened a General Store that became very popular with the locals and they promoted a new name for the village to be called Dunedin, which is the Gaelic interpretation of Edinburgh-the hometown of Douglas and Somerville.  The main crop was cotton, which remnants can still be seen along the Pinellas Trail as you walk north of Skinner Boulevard (580).  Cotton was replaced by orange crops when the Orange Belt Railway was developed in the late 1880's by Peter Demens.  At the turn of the century, Dunedin consisted of locals and wealthy northerner's who wintered in Dunedin and constructed many of the homes on Victoria Drive, Scotland Street, Edgewater Drive and Albert Street in the downtown area.  The oldest home in Dunedin is the home of J.O. Douglas located at 209 Scotland Street.  The home has since been converted to the J.O. Douglas House Bed and Breakfast and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  James Somerville built the home at 1037 Victoria Drive in 1888, per The Visitor's Guidebook to "Delightful" Dunedin, Florida.  The old plat map that is shown in Images of America Dunedin, shows that J. Somerville owned the parcel at the northeast corner of Victoria Drive and Monroe Street, which would lead you to assume that he built and owned a home at that corner, which would have been closer to his General Store.  Since the plat map does not extend to the northeast corner of Victoria Drive and Hancock Street one can only assume that he owned the parcel at that corner as well and constructed the home at 1037 Victoria Drive.  The Somerville Home is also referred to as the Francis Lee Skinner Home who was the 3rd owner.  The area was home to such names as: Walter Bull, mayor of Dunedin and developer; L.B. Skinner, citrus businessman, developer and owner of the Hillsboro Hotel in Tampa (lived at the corner of Victoria Drive and Jackson Street, which is presently Victoria Apartments); James Malone, yachtsman and businessman (951 Victoria Drive); Christopher Bouton, yachtsman and businessman (937 Victoria Drive); James Mease, physician and W.K. Kellogg, cereal king.  The architecture of the early homes of Dunedin were based on Medieval Styles (Queen Anne Victorian, Shingle, Gothic Revival).  After the turn of the century, large tracts of land were developed with Modern Style Homes (Prairie, Craftsman, Mission) and then the development of the Ranch and Contemporary beginning in the late 1930's.  There are a few Renaissance Classical inspired styles from the English, such as the Colonial, that can be spotted along Edgewater Drive, Scotland Street and Victoria Drive.

Today, Dunedin is a bustling little town center with fantastic shops and restaurants.  My favorite restaurants are: 1) Kelly's / Chic-a-Boom Room.  My favorite place to go for Egg's Benedict and a Bloody Mary.  Kelly's is a fast paced and very high energy eatery.  2) Cafe Alfresco.  A nice cafe to go for a pleasant and quite eating experience.  I go for the Salmon Salad w/ a Krusovice or one of their nightly dinner specials.  Their burgers are pretty good as well.  3) Casa Tina's.  A great Mexican eatery.  I go for the Enchiladas En Salsa Roja w/ one of their spectacular Margaritas. 

My favorite shops are: 1) Rasberries.  Where I go for all of my Vera Bradley bags.  They carry Brighton as well.  2) Paper Players.  The absolute best card, stationary and invitation boutique.  3) Rainbow's End Quilt Store.  The best quilting store that I have ever seen.  It is like the Home Depot of Quilting stores.  4) Rose Garden Boutique.  The owner's mother makes all of the knitted items in the store.  A great place to go for knitted baby items.  5) Kina Kouture.  A Chanel inspired boutique that has some fantastic classic style dresses.  I have purchased 2 dresses from them and absolutely love them!  My other favorites are: 1) Dunedin House of Beer - best selection of beer - period.  2) Strachan's Ice Cream Shop.  The fresh made waffle cones will make your knees weak as soon as you walk through the door. They have a 2nd store up in Palm Harbor at the corner of Alt 19 and Tampa 3) Flanagan's Irish Pub.  4) Kookie Krums.  Gift arrangements that you can EAT!

For local happenings and events I suggest adding http://www.dunedingov.com/ as one of your favorite links and keep an eye on the Special Event's Calendar. 

Links of Interest:
http://www.casatinas.com/
http://www.kinakouture.com/
http://kellyschicaboom.com/
http://www.kookiekrums.com/
http://www.paperplayers.com/
http://www.dunedinhob.com/
http://www.rainbowsendquiltshoppe.com/
http://www.theblackpearlrestaurant.com/
http://www.delightfuldunedin.com/
http://www.meranova.com/
JO Douglas House B&B 727-735-9006
http://www.dunedincottages.com/