Thomas J. Rowe
(1872-1940)

Died aged c. 68

Thomas J. Rowe was born June 14, 1872 in Cambridge Post, Massachusetts. Educated in England, he returned to the U.S. at 21 and moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he dealt in real estate for more than 20 years. In 1919 he moved to St. Petersburg where he decided to build a large hotel on the beach. Construction began in 1926 and the hotel opened January 16, 1928. Even though the real estate boom was nearing an end, Rowe parlayed a $21,000 investment into a fortune of over $1million. Rowe named the hotel after his favorite opera star, Don Caesae de Bazan from the opera "Maritana." Thomas J. Rowe died at the Don CeSar Hotel, May 5, 1940.

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