Johnny Crittenden Green was born in Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1888, just a month before the first train arrived in St. Petersburg on the Orange Belt Rail Line. An early daredevil, he first gained attention as a motorcycle and automobile racer in Nashville. He became the first pilot to fly over Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga and among the first to complete a night flight. By 1913, he was in Miami experimenting with hydroplanes and purchased a model kit of the Curtiss Model F flying boat that he named “Betty” after his wife.
In 1915, Green brought his seaplane work to St. Petersburg, erecting a hangar near the Municipal Pier and running a small nightclub called the Green Lantern. Before World War I, he assembled seaplanes shipped to the city and sent them to naval bases across Florida. After serving in the Army's aerial warfare branch, he returned to operate charters, mail routes and gave flight lessons around Tampa Bay.
Green stopped flying in 1928 due to injuries from earlier crashes. He died in 1934 at his mother’s home in Kentucky and is remembered as one of St. Petersburg’s early aviation pioneers.
Discover more stories like Johnny Green’s and explore the pioneering spirit of early flight at the St. Petersburg Museum of History, where aviation’s local legacy continues to inspire.
Visit spmoh.com to learn more.
