Introducing St. Petersburg :
- Located In: Pinellas County
- Population: 249,068 (Source: Pinellas County)
- Community Type: Residential and business center
- Size: 59.25 square miles
- Government: Strong mayor/mayor elected for four-year term/eight council members elected from specified districts for four-year staggered terms.
History of St. Petersburg:
General John Williams bought 2,500 acres on Tampa Bay in 1875 and imagined a Gulf coast city with graceful parks and broad streets. The city’s first hotel was named after his birthplace, Detroit.
Peter Demens, a Russian aristocrat, brought the Orange Belt Railway to the area 13 years later. The first train arrived in 1888, carrying empty freight cars and one passenger. Demens named the city after his birthplace, St. Petersburg, Russia.St. Petersburg’s first population boom came in the 1920s as an onslaught of tourists arrived. In 1924, the Gandy Bridge opened, making St. Petersburg even more accessible.
Things To Do In St. Petersburg:
Enjoy a major league ball game at Tropicana Field, browse world class museums such as The Salvador Dalí Museum or The St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, take in a production at American Stage Theatre Company or spend a day exploring the outdoors along three miles of boardwalk at Weedon Island Preserve.
Dining In St. Petersburg:
- Athenian Gardens, 2900 Fourth St. N.
- Bella Brava, 515 Central Ave.
- Carmelita’s Mexican Restaurant, 5211 Park St. N.
- Columbia Restaurant, Suite 4001, 800 Second Ave. N.E.
- Crab Shack Restaurant, 11400 Gandy Blvd. N.
- El Cap, 3500 Fourth St. N.
- Red Mesa, 4912 Fourth St. N.
What Makes St. Petersburg Special:
The city envisioned by people like Williams and Demens has become a model of progress and ingenuity.
St. Petersburg witnessed the birth of commercial aviation in 1914 when Tony Jannus flew his Benoist airplane across Tampa Bay in 23 minutes, skimming across the water at a height of 50 feet.
The boom years of the 1920s gave way to the Great Depression, but St. Petersburg quickly recovered through large Public Works Administration projects through the 1930s including the construction of St. Petersburg’s City Hall.
Growth continued in the 1940s when the U.S. Coast Guard Station on Bayboro Harbor became a training base for World War II troops. As 100,000 trainees cycled through the city’s technical services training center, many military families settled in St. Petersburg.
Development persisted in the 1960s and ’70s with the construction of the municipal marina, the main library, the Bayfront Center and the Museum of Fine Arts.
Today, St. Petersburg’s downtown core continues its revitalization with projects that include retail shops, restaurants and movie theaters. More than 900 events bring over 10 million people each year to the city to experience yacht races, triathlons, baseball, basketball, cycling, cultural exhibits and music.
Long known as a vacation destination, the city continues to attract tourists with its cultural district that includes seven museums in the downtown area.
Home to a branch of the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg College, Eckerd College, 10 marine institutes and the All Children's Research Center, the city is committed to education and health care.
Baseball
The rich history of spring training and Florida's love affair with baseball began in 1914 when the city's former mayor, Al Lang, convinced Branch Rickey to move his St. Louis Browns to the Sunshine City for spring training.
The 1970s saw the beginning of St. Petersburg's quest for a Major League Baseball franchise, realized 20 years later with the arrival of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now know as the Tampa Bay Rays) in 1998 to their permanent home at downtown's Tropicana Field.