City: Tarpon Springs   County: Pinellas   Year: 2020
Location: n Parkin Court, 0.1 miles west of Grand Boulevard

SIDE ONE: Built in 1883, the Safford House is one of the oldest structures in Tarpon Springs. Anson P.K. Safford was appointed governor of Arizona by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869 and reappointed in 1873. After leaving Arizona, Safford eventually moved to Florida and became a prominent land developer in Tarpon Springs. This house was originally a one-story dogtrot style, built with heart pine from a local sawmill. Safford later added a second story and a wraparound porch. He also added an observation tower for his young wife Soledad Bonillas Safford, sister Dr. Mary Jane Safford, and his children. Dr. Mary Jane Safford was one of the first female physicians to practice in Florida. As a young woman, she was a nurse during the Civil War, studied medicine in New York and Europe, practiced in Chicago, and taught at Boston University School of Medicine. She was active in the women's suffrage movement. She came to Tarpon Springs to live with her brother and his family. In 1891, Safford and his sister died of influenza. By 1900, Soledad sold the property and the house was relocated a block north from the corner of N. Spring Boulevard and Grand Boulevard to its present location. SIDE TWO: After the house was relocated in 1900, Soledad began using it as a boarding house that she called Villa Ansonia. A few years later, she subdivided the interior of the house into small apartments and renamed it The Miramar. At that time, the house was also stripped of its exterior Victorian trim, leaving a more simplified version with plain porch posts and without a balustrade. In addition, portions of the veranda were also enclosed to provide additional rooms. Soledad remained active in community affairs and was one of the founders of the local Woman's Club. She remarried twice, and maintained the house until her death in 1931. There were numerous owners of the house and several attempts were made to restore it during the mid-twentieth century. The Saford House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and in 1994, it was donated to the City of Tarpon Springs. With the help of grants from the Florida Division of Historic Resources and Save America's Treasures, it was restored to its original 1893 appearance.