Discreet Biohazard Cleanup Near Oldsmar Oldsmar, FL

Oldsmar is a city in Pinellas County at the northern end of Tampa Bay, between Tampa and Clearwater.

Oldsmar was founded by automobile pioneer Ransom E. Olds, the creator of the Oldsmobile and REO cars, who bought 37,541 acres of land on April 12, 1916 to build a planned community first called R. E. Olds-on-the-Bay.

Oldsmar was designed as a working-class city of 100,000 people, with broad streets fanning out from the bay in a spoke pattern modeled on Washington, D.C.

Oldsmar still carries its founder's personal stamp - Ransom Olds named some of the original streets himself, including Gim Gong Road, named for Chinese-American citrus horticulturist Lue Gim Gong of DeLand.

Oldsmar nearly bankrupted its founder: Olds poured about $4.5 million into the town, lost close to $3 million, and gave up on the project when only about 200 people lived there.

Oldsmar was renamed Tampa Shores in 1927 after a promoter was caught selling underwater lots, and the town did not get the Oldsmar name back until 1937.

Oldsmar stayed tiny for decades - just 280 people in 1930 and 345 in 1950 - before Tampa Bay suburban growth pushed its population to 14,898 by the 2020 census.

Oldsmar has about 5,586 households, averaging 2.65 people per household, according to Census QuickFacts.

Oldsmar is home to Tampa Bay Downs, which opened in 1926 under the name Tampa Downs and is the only Thoroughbred horse racing track on the west coast of Florida.

Oldsmar honors its founder at R. E. Olds Park, a waterfront park on the shore of Old Tampa Bay.