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OFFICIAL U.S. NAVY PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CLAUDE RIGSBY
Rigsby & Rigsby Aboard USS Missouri
Following is the original caption of this photo from May 2, 1949:
“A happy reunion of the Rigsby twins, Herman (Clyde), left, and
Homer (Claude), right, of Safety Harbor, FL, took place under the
guns of the ‘Mighty Mo’ when that vessel docked at Cristobal, C.Z.
(Panama Canal Zone), last Saturday. This is the first time the twins
Rigsby, Continued on Page 28 have seen each other in more than a year.”
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Claude Rigsby wasn’t Safety
Harbor’s first or only mayor, but at times it seemed that
way. In fact, he grew up with the granddaughters of the
city’s first mayor, G.W. Campbell. He served eight years as
mayor and more than 16 years on the city commission. He
single-handedly assembled the gallery of photographs of Safety
Harbor’s mayors that hangs in the commission chambers in
Safety Harbor City Hall.
Mr. Rigsby was proud to be one of only two
mayors actually born in the city, born March 6, 1925, the same day
the St. James Hotel opened at Main Street and First Avenue. He died
May 8, 2007 as the city was preparing to celebrate its 90th
anniversary. He not only had lived through 82 years of the
city’s history, but played a greater role than any other
individual in having shaped Safety Harbor.
Mr. Rigsby was an identical twin. He is
survived by his brother, Clyde Rigsby. Their mother died 12 days
after their birth as a result of the difficult labor and the boys
were raised by their father, Homer, and their grandparents. The
family was originally from Tennessee. Clyde later was to spend many
years living in Tennessee and returned to Safety Harbor only a few
years ago. Claude lived his entire life in Safety Harbor, except
for the time the brothers spent in the Navy during World War II and
a brief period following the war when Claude played professional
baseball and met his wife-to-be of 56 years, JoAnne.
Back in Safety Harbor after the war, the
brothers worked for their father, who owned a lumberyard and built
many homes and other structures in the city, including its first
library. The experience contributed to Claude’s encyclopedic
knowledge of the city and its history. He could cite not only who
owned and built particular homes but could add a wealth of detail
such as that a home torn down several years ago to expand parking
for the city’s new library was built with concrete imported
from Germany as part of post-war reparations at a time when booming
construction had created a nationwide shortage of the material in
the U.S.
When an opportunity arose to join the
local police force in the early 1950s, he eagerly took a night
shift beat, which allowed him to continue working another job
during the day to support his growing family. It was the beginning
of a 30-year career in law enforcement that propelled him into
local politics and a position of leadership during some of the
city’s most difficult years.
Safety Harbor suffered during the
Depression years as the twins grew up. Its roaring future forecast
in the 1920s had evaporated. Brick streets stretched to nowhere and
granite curbs outlined unbuilt subdivision roads. Claude and his
brother spent days hunting and fishing in the woods that surrounded
the city. He didn’t recall growing up poor, but of having
rich experiences. The brothers, who as boys spoke to one another in
a secret “twins language,” were pranksters. One of
their memorable stunts was holding their cousin Buddy Short upside
down by his heels out a second story window of the Safety Harbor
School, now Safety Harbor Elementary.
As only identical twins can do, the
brothers sometimes switched identities. Mr. Rigsby related a story
published by Tropical Breeze in 1995. “Claude and Clyde
re-enlisted in ’46 and were in Charleston, SC awaiting
orders. The morning they went to muster to be assigned a work
detail the Chief called out both their names and immediately
crossed off one thinking it was a duplication. They didn’t
correct him and simply alternated work days. When their orders
arrived, they both showed up. The Chief saw double, was furious and
told them it was a good thing they were leaving town.”
The twins enlisted the day after the
attack on Pearl Harbor in 1942, although they were only 17 years
old and still in high school. Their father signed papers giving
them his permission to enlist after the fact. The Navy made it a
firm policy to separate brothers after the five Sullivan brothers
were killed in the torpedoing of the USS Juneau and the two were
assigned to different ships, but both in the Pacific. Claude was
part of the initial landing of occupation troops in Japan in
September 1945.
While enlisted, Claude began pitching for
the Navy baseball team. The brothers had been football stars for
Clearwater High School, natural athletes and two of the biggest
players on the team. After three years pitching in Panama for the
Navy, Claude played professional baseball for the Washington
Senators farm team, the Orlando Senators, which was part of the
Florida State League. He pitched a no-hitter and was on two
championship teams and in a single game struck out 19 batters.
From working night shift for Safety
Harbor’s police force, Claude joined Clearwater’s
police force then returned to Safety Harbor as Police Chief. His
first elected office was as a Constable, which he noted dates back
to English common law and is superior to a Sheriff. He served eight
years in that position, presiding over a district that included
Safety Harbor, Oldsmar and parts of Clearwater and Largo. During
that time he was involved in an effort to form a County Patrol,
which would have functioned much as the County Sheriff’s
office does today. Elected as a Democrat, he said he had to be a
good politician to succeed in Florida’s (then) only
Republican-dominated county.
Mr. Rigsby’s most notable political
accomplishments came as Mayor of Safety Harbor. He battled
Clearwater as the larger city attempted to annex all of the land
north of S.R. 580 as it expanded into Countryside. The primary
leverage Clearwater held was its ability to provide sewer and water
service. Rigsby was instrumental in developing a modern sewer and
water system for Safety Harbor and the bond funding that allowed
the once impoverished city to afford to build it.
With years of experience in law
enforcement, he also was one of the first to recognize that Safety
Harbor was too small to afford to maintain its own police
department. He loathed the petty corruption that so readily
developed among such small town departments. Under his leadership,
Safety Harbor began contracting with the Pinellas County
Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services.
Safety Harbor repeatedly recognized Claude
Rigsby for his service. The city’s recreation center on
Second Street North was named in his honor and in recognition of
the nearby family homestead where he and his brother were born. He
was named as a Parade Marshal numerous times. The 90th Anniversary
parade held in May was dedicated in his memory.
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