St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg (often referred to by locals as
St. Pete) is a
city in
Pinellas County, Florida. The city is known as a vacation destination for
North American and
European vacationers, as well as a politically important
battleground in
U.S. Presidential politics and the home of the highly regarded
St. Petersburg Times. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 248,232. As of 2004, the population recorded by the
U.S. Census Bureau is 249,090 [
1], making it the fourth largest city in the state of
Florida. St. Petersburg is the second largest city in the
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan area, which is composed of roughly 2.6 million residents, making it the second largest
Metropolitan Statistical Area in the state behind
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, and the third largest in the southeast.
The city is located on a
peninsula between
Tampa Bay and the
Gulf of Mexico. It is connected to the mainland to the north, connected with the city of
Tampa, Florida to the east by causeways and bridges across
Tampa Bay, and to
Bradenton, Florida in the south by the
Sunshine Skyway Bridge (
Interstate 275), which traverses the mouth of the bay. It is also served by Interstates
175 and
375.
With a purported average of some 360 days of sunshine each year, it is nicknamed "The Sunshine City." For that reason, the city is a popular tourist and retirement destination, especially for those in the
United States from colder Northern climates.
The city was co-founded by
John C. Williams, formerly of
Detroit, Michigan, who purchased the land in 1876, and by
Peter Demens, who was instrumental in bringing the terminus of a railroad there in 1888. St. Petersburg was incorporated on
February 29,
1892, when it had a population of only some 300 people.
It was named after
Saint Petersburg,
Russia, the birthplace of Peter Demens. A local legend says that John C. Williams and Peter Demens flipped a coin to see who would have the honor of naming the city. Peter Demens won and named the city after his birthplace, while John C. Williams named the first hotel after his birthplace, Detroit. The Detroit Hotel still exists downtown.
The city's first major industry was born in 1899 when Henry W. Hibbs, a native of Newport, N.C., established his wholesale fish business at the end of the railroad pier, which extended out to the shipping channel. Within a year, Hibbs Fish Company was shipping more than 1,000
pounds (454 kg) of fish each day.
Dredging of a deeper shipping channel from 1906 to 1908 opened St. Petersburg to larger shipping. Further dredging improved the port facilities through the 1910s. By then the city's population had quadrupled to 4,127.
In 1914,
airplane service across Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg to Tampa and back was initiated, generally considered the first commercial
airline. The company name was the "Airboat Line" and the pilot was
Tony Jannus. The Tony Jannus award is presented annually for prestigious work in the airline industry. There is also a very popular local music/entertainment venue named after Tony Jannus called Jannus Landing on Central Avenue in Downtown. Air service was discontinued in
1924 with the opening of
Gandy Bridge, the first across Tampa Bay, which allowed
automobile traffic between the two cities.
The city population continued to multiply during the twentieth century through the 1970s as the town became a popular retirement destination for Americans from
midwestern cities, reaching 238,647 in the 1980 census. By the
1980s, however, the population had levelled off, and has grown by only 10,000 since then, primarily as a result of being "built-out".
St. Petersburg is located at (27.782254, -82.667619).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 133.1
square miles (344.7
km²)— 59.6 square miles (154.4 km²) of it is land and 73.4 square miles (190.2 km²) of it (55.19%) is water.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 248,232 people, 109,663 households, and 61,630 families residing in the city. The
population density was 4,163.1 persons per square mile (1,607.3/km²). There were 124,618 housing units at an average density of 2,090.0 per square mile (806.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.36%
White, 22.36%
African American, 0.31%
Native American, 2.67%
Asian, 0.05%
Pacific Islander, 1.07% from
other races, and 2.17% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 4.23% of the population.
There were 109,663 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.3% were
married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.8% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.88.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $34,597, and the median income for a family was $43,198. Males had a median income of $30,794 versus $25,860 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $21,107. About 9.2% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 19.1% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.
|
Photo of downtown waterfront taken in 2000 |
|
Photo of downtown waterfront taken in 2005. The barriers in the foreground mark the border of the Honda Grand Prix racetrack. |
St. Petersburg has a branch of the state university, the
University of South Florida St. Petersburg, as well as
St. Petersburg College and
Eckerd College. The
Poynter Institute, a school for journalists, future journalists and teachers of journalism, is also located in St. Petersburg. It is affiliated with the
St. Petersburg Times.The city has a children's museum (Great Explorations),
Museum of Fine Arts, a History Museum, a
Holocaust Museum and the
Salvador Dalí Museum, which houses the largest collection of
Dalí's work outside of
Europe, including a number of famous and large-scale paintings such as
The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. There are also various other smaller art galleries and entertainment venues, especially in the Downtown area, which has seen a boom in development since the mid 1990s.
The St. Petersburg Pier contains a small
aquarium open to the public. Retail shopping, adventure activities, and dining- most notably the historic
Columbia Restaurant, are also located at the Pier. Dolphin sight-seeing boats depart from The Pier to tour Tampa Bay. You can also rent boats to charter or captain yourself. Frequently docked at The Pier is the replica of the
HMS Bounty used in the
1962 MGM movie starring
Marlon Brando. The Bounty charges a fee for tours, and has recently returned from filming the sequel to
Disney's
Pirates of the Caribbean. This replica was also used in the filming of the 2005
adult movie Pirates.
Downtown is the location of the Baywalk shopping complex, home to a
Muvico 20 screen movie theater, as well as many chain restaurants and retail shops, catering to more of a middle and upper class audience. North of downtown is Great Explorations, The Children's Museum, a fun, interactive museum with many new exhibits, including a children's village with giant pretend stores, Fire House and Pet Vet Clinic, and preschool, science, music, art, and water exhibits. The museum is located next to the
Sunken Gardens (Florida) site, home to the gardens themselves, and a stretch of fine dining (on newly developing 4th Street) that includes many nationally recognized restaurants as well as numerous local specialties. Every saturday morning, from October to April, the downtown area holds a farmers market, of sorts. Local produce farmers can be found selling their fruits up and down the downtown region, as well as live bands, barbeque vendors, and artists of all kinds. The locally renowned "Ringside Cafe" features live Blues music every night from various musicians, and is always a hotspot among the locals.
The
Wikimedia Foundation is also based in St. Petersburg, as was
Wikia, Inc. before its re-incorporation in
Delaware.
St. Petersburg is represented by teams in four major professional sports. One, the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays of
Major League Baseball, plays in St. Petersburg proper, while the other three play across the bay in
Tampa. All of the teams are considered to represent the entire
Tampa Bay metropolitan area. The Devil Rays began play in
1998, but have yet to be a major contender - finishing last in the
American League's East Division in seven of the eight seasons they have played.
Tropicana Field, the home venue of the Devil Rays, played host to the 1999
Final Four. St. Petersburg is also home to the
"Honda Grand Prix" of St. Petersburg, the inaugural race was held in April 2005. The circuit itself is made of downtown streets passing
Progress Energy Park, the marina, and a runway in
Albert Whitted Airport, and streets are temporarily blocked off for the annual
Indy Racing League race, which was last held on
April 2,
2006. The race has been confirmed to return from
March 30 -
April 1,
2007.
See the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area page for more details.St. Petersburg is the home of many past, present, and future sports icons. In the area of hails the WBC and IBF Light Middleweight Champion
Ronald "Winky" Wright and IBF, IBO, and WBO Champion
Jeff Lacy.
Football is a big interest in the area.
Ernest Givins,
Stacey Simmons,
William Floyd, and
Pat Terrell are some of the famous retired
NFL players from the city.
Shaun King,
Marquell Blackell,
Aveion Cason,
Darren Howard,
Tim Carter,
Kenny Heatly, and
DeAndrew Rubin are some players currently in the NFL from the city.
Sam Smith,
Andre Hall,
Mike Ross,
Jason Teague,
Chris Davis,
Billy Henderson,
Chris C. Davis,
Omonigho Imeokparia,
Jovon Jackson,
Pat Carter,
Kevon Marion, and
Ralph "Ricky" Willams, and
Pat Carter are some players looking to enter the NFL in the next couple of years. Current Devil Rays pitcher
Doug Waechter is also from St. Pete.
* About one-third of
Ian Fleming's
James Bond novel,
Live and Let Die, is set in St. Petersburg.
*
Bayfront Medical Center is the city's largest hospital and has a flight-evacuation program (Bayflite).
*
Takamatsu,
Japan*
Saint Petersburg,
Russia ("twin city" relationship)*
Charlie Crist, Florida politician
*
Angela Bassett, Leading Actress
*
Bob Devin Jones, playwright
*
Nicole Haislett, freestyle swimmer
*
Jack Kerouac, leading figure of the beat generation
*
Jeff Lacy, professional Boxer
*
Tony Little, fitness guru
*
Lary Crews, writer
*
John Loftus, former U.S. Justice Department Nazi war crimes prosecutor, the president of the
Florida Holocaust Museum, and terrorism expert
*
Jimmy Wales, founder of
Wikipedia*
Dan Wheldon, race car driver
*
Winky Wright, professional boxer
*
City of St. Petersburg official site
*
St. Petersburg, FL Wikitravel Page*
St. Petersburg Museum of History*
Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg*
Salvador Dali Museum*
Honda Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg*
Pinellas County Geographic Information System*
NO
