Knight, Peter Oliphant, 1865-1946

Public official, corporation lawyer, and president of Tampa Electric and other businesses in Tampa, Fla. Served in the Florida House or Representatives (1889) and as solicitor (1893-1899) and state attorney (1899-1902) of Hillsborough County, Fla., later becoming a spokesman for business and capitalism, with influence among the state's Democratic politicians.

Public official, lawyer, and businessman.

Peter Knight was politically and professionally active in Hillsborough County, Florida. He was a spokesman for Florida's business community, active in Democratic politics, and the president of the Tampa Electric Company from 1924-1946.

Peter Oliphant Knight was born in Freeburg, Pennsylvania on December 16, 1865. He attended Valparaiso University in Indiana, where he received his Bachelor of Law degree in 1884. That same year, he moved to Florida. He helped to incorporate Fort Myers, and was elected mayor before he turned twenty-one. Knight was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1886. In 1887, he was instrumental in the creation of Lee County, and subsequently was named the first county attorney. In 1888, he was elected to one term in the Florida state legislature.

In the winter of 1889/1890, Knight moved to Tampa, Florida. He supported and led many projects in the development of the Tampa Bay area. He co-organized the first electric street railway in 1892, helped create the Exchange Bank of Tampa in 1894, organized the Tampa Gas Company in 1895, and formed the Tampa Electric Company in 1899. Other companies that Knight helped to create or served as counsel or officer for included Tampa Hardware Company, Tribune Publishing Company, Florida Brewing Company, Tampa Phosphate Company, Tampa Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Tampa Union Station Company, Ybor City Land and Improvement Company, and Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad.

From 1893 until 1899, Knight served as State Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit (Hillsborough County). This was his last public office, although he continued to act as a civil lawyer and political lobbyist for the rest of his life. In 1926, he aided the city of Tampa in financing the development of Davis Islands, and in 1934 he helped the city acquire land on Davis Island to build a municipal airport, which would later be named in his honor. Also in 1934, he was awarded the Civitan Award for outstanding service to Florida. During World War II, Knight was general manager and Vice President of the American International Shipbuilding Company, which ran operations at the Hog Island Shipyard.

Knight also was a 33rd degree Mason, president of the Hillsborough County Humane Society, president of the Florida Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and a member of multiple bar associations, the Rotary Club, and the Knights of Pythias, amongst other organizations.

Knight died on November 26, 1946.

Source: Grismer, Karl H. Tampa: A History of the City of Tampa and the Tampa Bay Region of Florida . Ed. D.B. McKay. Florida: St. Petersburg Printing Company, Inc., 1950. Source: The Southerner . New Orleans: Southern Editors Association, 1944.