St. Petersburg (often shortened to St. Pete) is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The city is known as a vacation destination for North American and European vacationers. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 248,232. As of 2006, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 248,098. The 2007 Census stated that the population of St. Petersburg increased to 249,079. That information made St. Petersburg the fourth largest city in the state of Florida and the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat. St. Petersburg is the second largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, which is composed of roughly 2.7 million residents, making it the second largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in the state.

The city is commonly referred to by locals as "St. Pete"; neighboring St. Pete Beach, Florida formally shortened its name in 1994 after a vote by its residents.

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 to the east by causeways and bridges across Tampa Bay, and to Bradenton 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, which branch off I-275 into the southern and northern areas of downtown respectively. The Gandy Bridge, conceived by George Gandy and opened in 1924, was the first causeway to be built across Tampa Bay, connecting St. Petersburg and Tampa cities without a circuitous trip around the Bay through Oldsmar.

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 – particularly New York City, Detroit, and Chicago. However, in recent years the population has shifted in a more youthful direction.

History

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, where Peter Demens had spent half of his youth. 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 (a hotel built by Demens). The Detroit Hotel still exists downtown, but has been turned into a condominium. The oldest running hotels are the , built in 1921, formally Hotel Cordova and , built in 1926.
Philadelphia publisher F. A. Davis turned on St. Petersburg's first electrical service in 1897 and its first trolley service in 1904. The city's first major industry was born in 1899 when Henry W. Hibbs, 1862-1942, a native of Newport, North Carolina, 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 a thousand 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 "St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line" and the pilot was Tony Jannus, flying a Benoist XIV flying boat. The is presented annually for outstanding achievement in the airline industry. Jannus Landing, a local music/entertainment venue on Central Avenue in Downtown, is also named after him.

The city population continued to multiply during the twentieth century. Booming in the 1940s and 50s with the advent of air-conditioning and through the 1970s as the town became a popular retirement destination for Americans from midwestern cities, reaching 238,647 in the 1980 census. By that time, however, the population had levelled off, and has grown by only 10,000 since then; this is primarily a result of the city being largely "built-out".

Geography and climate

St. Petersburg is located at (27.773053, -82.639983).

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.


St. Petersburg has a high-end humid subtropical climate with a definite rainy season from June through September. St Petersburg, like the rest of the Tampa Bay Area, is occasionally visited by tropical storms and hurricanes. The last time a hurricane directly struck the city was in 1921. Many portions of St. Petersburg, especially along the bay and in south St. Petersburg, have tropical microclimates. Royal palms and coconut palms, as well as other tropicals, grow to maturity and fruit.

Demographics

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 109,665 households out of which 23.85% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.295% were married couples living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no adult living partner present, and 43.8% were non-families. 35.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.865.

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 39.24 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 $27,860 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.

Government

The city government is managed under a strong mayor structure, wherein the elected mayor acts as the city's CEO and actively handles the operations of the city. The City Council is an eight member board. Council members are initially elected from individual districts and then elected city wide.

Languages

As of 2000, speakers of English as a first language accounted for 88.53% of all residents, while Spanish accounted for 4.43%. The third most spoken language as a mother tongue was German at 0.78%, and the fourth was French at 0.72%. In total, 11.46% spoke languages other than English at home.

Attractions and points of interest

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. The non-profit school is the owner of the St. Petersburg Times, a unique arrangement devised by the founder of both, Nelson Poynter.

The city has a children's museum (Great Explorations), Museum of Fine Arts, a History Museum (which has a full-size replica of the Benoist seaplane and is located near the approximate spot by the St. Petersburg Pier where the first flight took place), a Holocaust Museum, and the Salvador Dalí Museum, which houses the largest collection of Dalí's in the world, 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; these include: The Mahaffey Theater complex, The Coliseum, and Palladium Theatre, and The Midtown Royal Theater, The Arts Center, and the Florida Craftsmen Gallery.

The St. Petersburg Pier is a popular tourist attraction. It contains a small aquarium open to the public, retail shopping, adventure activities, and both casual and fine dining restaurants. Various sightseeing boat rides are also offered. Frequently docked at The Pier is the replica of HMS Bounty used in the 1962 MGM movie starring Marlon Brando, as well as the Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.

Downtown is the location of the BayWalk shopping complex which contains an IMAX Muvico 20 screen movie theater, as well as many chain restaurants and retail shops, catering to more of a middle and upper class audience. Baywalk is also a nightlife destination although it is less well attended than the block surrounding Jannus Landing, just south of BayWalk. Central Avenue, from the Yacht Club east to 8th Street, is also both more vibrant and "organic" than BayWalk with the exception of a couple underdeveloped blocks. Restaurants serving ethnic and domestic culinary specialties can be found throughout the downtown area. Every Saturday morning, from October to May, the downtown area hosts a farmers market of sorts in the parking area of Al Lang Field (aka Progress Energy Park). Local producers sell the fruits of the labors there (whether edible or decorative) along with barbecue vendors, and artists of all kinds including live music - the music is free.

Due west of downtown on Central is a district called Grand Central which is contained within Historic Kenwood. It is known for its artistic community, LGBT presence and hosting of the annual St. Pete Pride parade. Like its name implies, Old Northeast is adjacent to downtown from the northeast. It is known for its historic status and eclectic architecture. Roser Park is another historic district, located just south of downtown. It is known for its stately architecture and somewhat dubiously for its proximity to the "South Side." Together, these ares comprise the urban core of St. Pete.
North of downtown is Great Explorations, The Children's Museum, an interactive museum featuring 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 Sunken Gardens. 4th Street as a whole, from Downtown up to Gandy Boulevard, is home to many restaurants running the gamut from fast food to haute cuisine.

Boyd Hill Nature Park located on Lake Maggiore is a preserve where you can see many of the endangered plants and rare wildlife of Tampa Bay. There is a bird exhibit which houses bald eagles, owls, hawks, and other species.

St. Petersburg is well regarded for its beaches. In 2005, Fort Desoto was rated the number one beach in America by the annual Dr. Beach rankings. TripAdvisor also has the beach ranked number one in the nation for 2008.
Also noted for its arts community, St. Petersburg regularly places top 25 in the nation among arts destinations Recently, St. Petersburg has become known and regarded as one of America's most livable cities.

The video for Coldplay's song The Hardest Part was filmed at the yacht marina in this city.

Downtown

Downtown St. Petersburg is the Central Business District, containing high rises for office use, most notably the Bank of America Tower. The St. Petersburg Times newspaper is headquartered in the Downtown area.
The Poynter Institute, which owns the paper, is located on 3rd St. S.

The Wikimedia Foundation has been located in Downtown St. Petersburg since its founding by Jimmy Wales. On September 25, 2007, the Foundation announced its move in late 2007 from St. Petersburg to the San Francisco Bay Area.

On the arts and culture side, many points of interest are located here. The Mahaffey Theater complex, The Arts Center, dozens of other art galleries, Haslam's used book store, The Coliseum, Palladium Theatre, and Jannus Landing are among the galleries and cultural venues featured downtown. Several prominent museums are located in the perimeter. Four of them have received notable accolades: Museum of Fine Arts, Salvador Dalí Museum, the Florida International Museum, and the Holocaust Museum. The city also plays host to many festivals throughout the year.

Downtown contains the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, and a downtown branch of St. Petersburg College. The downtown perimeter also houses several parks, most of which are waterfront or lakefront. Straub Park is nearly a half mile long, boasts a waterfront location, and is home of the Museum of Fine Arts. The Vinoy Hotel has a waterfront location, a spot on the National Historic Register, and a AAA Four-Diamond rating. Most of the dining downtown can be found on Central Avenue. Central also contains most of the nightlife; Jannus Landing and the State Theatre. Both Jannus Landing and the State Theatre hold concerts. However, Baywalk is an exception. All of these landmarks are connected via the Looper Trolley. In addition, a recent demographic change has brought more nightlife options to the downtown corridor.
Tropicana Field, home of MLB's Tampa Bay Rays is located in the western part of downtown. Until , the team played its spring training games at Progress Energy Park, right down the road. This setup was unique, making St. Petersburg the first city that played host to its baseball team during spring training as well as the regular season since the 1919 Philadelphia Athletics. At the end of 2007, there was a debate over a new stadium to be built on the downtown waterfront at the current Progress Energy Park site. This new ballpark would have an overhead sail to cool game-time temperatures and catch rain. Tropicana Field would be demolished and replaced with prime residential and retail space. Completion of the stadium was planned for 2012; however, the proposal has been tabled indefinitely while a community-based organization investigates all alternatives for new stadium construction.

Jutting a half mile into the Bay is the St. Petersburg Pier, a major tourist attraction with various activities. Due to its livability and myriad amenities, St. Petersburg's downtown has been rated among the best in the South. Also worth noting, the area's ranking beaches are a drive away from downtown.

Saint Petersburg boasts the largest dedicated public waterfront park system of any city in North America, with a waterfront park system that stretches seven miles and is used year round for public events, festivals and other activities. In the early 1900s the citizens and city leaders of St. Petersburg engaged in a long and boisterous debate over the future of the young city's waterfront space with one side advocating for commercial, port and industrial development and the other side advocating for a long-term commitment to parks and public access to the waterfront. The public access and park contingent won the debate when, on Christmas Eve 1909, the city announced the acquisition of the waterfront land that is encompassed by the waterfront park system.

The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club was established in 1924 and gained attention as the "World's Largest Shuffleboard Club" with 110 courts and over 5,000 members in the 1950s and 1960s.

Neighborhoods

St. Petersburg has more than 100 neighborhoods.

Transportation

Airports

Nearby Tampa International Airport provides air transportation for most passengers. Smaller airlines, with destinations to smaller cities and towns, operate at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, with most tenants providing only seasonal services. Albert Whitted Airport provides general aviation services near the heart of downtown St. Pete.

Mass Transit

Mass transit in St. Pete is provided by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA). There is also a sightseeing trolley, called that travels to key downtown destinations daily.

Railroads

CSX operates a former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad branch line which sees daily rail traffic from north Tampa though Safety Harbor, Clearwater, Largo. As of March 2008, the portion that ran into downtown St. Petersburg and the adjacent western industrial areas was abandoned.

The former Seaboard Air Line branch from the western coastal portion of the county was abandoned in the latter portion of the 20th century and converted to a popular recreational trail called the Pinellas Trail.

Sports

St. Petersburg is represented by teams in three major professional sports (football, baseball, and hockey), and several minor sports. One, the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball, plays in St. Petersburg proper, while the other two play across the bay in Tampa. All of the teams are considered to represent the entire Tampa Bay metropolitan area. The Rays began play in 1998, finishing last in the American League's East Division in first eight of the first nine seasons they have played, including 2007. However, in , their 10th season, they held off the Boston Red Sox and won the AL East Division Championship for the first time. In the playoffs, they again faced the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. They defeated the Red Sox and won the American League Pennant. However, they lost to the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2008 World Series.

Until 2008, the Rays played their regular season games at Tropicana Field and their Spring Training games at Progress Energy Park, giving them the unique distinction of being the only team in Major League Baseball that played its Spring Training games in their home city in more than 70 years. However, starting in 2009, the Rays will host Spring Training at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, ending 94 years of springtime baseball in the city.
Tropicana Field, the home venue of the 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's IndyCar Series race, which was last held on April 6, 2008. The race has been confirmed to return every year until at least 2013.
See the Tampa Bay Area page for more details.
St. Petersburg is the home of many past and present 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. Major League Baseball pitcher Doug Waechter is also from St. Pete, as well as Minnesota Twins pitcher Boof Bonser. Indy Racing League driver and 2005 Indianapolis 500 Champion Dan Wheldon resides in St. Pete as well.

The Bay Area Pelicans Rugby Football Club has also made their home in St. Petersburg since 1977. The Pelicans play in USA Rugby's Division II competing against teams throughout Florida and the United States. Throughout its history, the teams have won honors as Florida Cup Champions as well as berths in National Championship Tournaments.

Despite not having a team in the city since 2000 (with the St. Petersburg Devil Rays), St. Petersburg is also home to Minor League Baseball's main headquarters. It is located on Bayshore Drive, adjacent to Progress Energy Park and its parking lot.

Gallery

Sister cities

• Takamatsu, Japan

• Saint Petersburg, Russia

Notable residents

• Mike Alstott, retired professional football player for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Rolando Arrojo, former baseball player, one of the first free agents signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays

• Lynn Barry, basketball player

• Angela Bassett, actress

• Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins band member

• Charlie Crist, current Governor of Florida

• Linda Crockett aka Christina Crockett, writer

• Michael France, film screenwriter

• Hobart Freeman, author and charismatic preacher

• Ernest Givins, former football player

• Dwight Gooden, baseball player

• Nicole Haislett, Olympic gold medalist in swimming

• Bob Devin Jones, playwright

• Jack Kerouac, leading figure of the beat generation

• Casey Kotchman, Major League Baseball player

• Jeff Lacy, professional boxer

• Richard Plankton - Professional Bowlers Association bowler who currently holds two PBA career titles and placed twenty sixth in 2007-2008 regional points list. Former candidate for the Floirda House of Representitives, district 51 in 2002.

• Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning

• John Loftus, former U.S. Justice Department Nazi war crimes prosecutor, the president of the Florida Holocaust Museum, and terrorism expert

• Gordon Mackenzie, former Major League Baseball player and minor league manager

• Johnny Nee, baseball scout

• Ron Plaza, former Major League Baseball player and minor league manager

• Ray Robson, a young chess master

• Charles Roser, cookie maker, real estate developer, and philanthropist

• Sean Waltman, American professional wrestler

• Dan Wheldon, Indy Racing League driver

• Ernest Vincent Wright, author of Gadsby: Champion of Youth'', a 50,000-word lipogram

• Winky Wright, professional boxer

• Chris Fuller, filmmaker

• B5, boy band

• Megan Fox, Actress

• Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder