Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
In 1915, an elegant Queen Anne style house at this site was the residence of Chauncey W. Springstead. He was the vice president of the First National Bank.
This was built as the Martha Washington Hotel in 1928.
The first location of this church, organized as a mission in 1894, was at the corner of Baum Ave. and 11th St., on land donated by Jacob Baum. In 1896, Peter Tomlinson donated the present site, and this building was erected in 1899 in a Gothic Revival style. This was designated a cathedral by Bishop William Hargrave in 1968.
From 1906 to 1919, a ramshackle building behind this church served as St. Petersburg High School.
This congregation organized in 1889, and acquired a frame building in 1892 near the corner of Central Ave. and 7th St. It relocated to this corner in 1902 and built the present sanctuary in 1924-26.
In the early days fo St. Petersburg, this was the location of the famous shall fence of shell collector Owen Albright. It was a major tourist attraction until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1921.
This red brick structure was designed by Henry L. Taylor with a Romanesque Revival style, and resembles St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, which he also designed. It is said that Taylor made it similar to the church as a statement to the public that he was not adequately compensated for the church design. It is sometimes referred to as "Little St. Mary's".
D.F.S. Brantley, a local boat builder, built his own pier here in 1896, extending 1500 feet into the seven foot deep water. A small flatcar drawn by a horse brought passengers and freight to the shore. Two-thirds out on the pier was a 34-room bathing pavilion. The pier was bought by the St. Petersburg & Gulf Electric Railway in 1905. Lit at night by electric lights, it was known as the Electric Pier.
A municipal pier was opened on December 15, 1913, about ten feet north of the Electric Pier, which was torn down in 1914. The municipal pier was replaced by the Million Dollar Pier, built in 1925, which extended 1/2 mile into Tampa Bay and was open to the public without admission charge. There were spaces to park 1000 cars, a promenade, fishing balconies, radio station WSUN, a picnic area, shops, and a large convention and dance auditorium. The Casino at the end of the pier was begun on September 8, 1925, and was completed the following July.
The Casinio was torn down in August of 1967, and the present inverted pyramid pier opened in 1971.
St. Petersburg has the distinction of having had the first scheduled air service. The Tampa-St. Petersburg line lasted only 28 days during 1914 before going out of business.
The yacht club was formed in 1909 by A.T. Roberts and built its clubhouse in 1917. It was an early center of social life in St. Petersburg, and today the club is one of the largest and most influential in the South. The present building is on the former site of the city's first electric plant.
A 3000-foot pier was built here in 1899, as an extension of the railroad tracks which ran along 1st Ave. S. It provided a good fishing spot. On the pier was Ramm's Seafood Restaurant.
This baseball park was dedicated on February 12, 1947, and was named after mayor Albert Fielding Lang. Lang was responsible for bringing the St. Louis Browns and other basebal teams for spring training beginning in 1914. This park replaced the St. Petersburg Athletic Park, formerly located one block north of here.
The present stadium was dedicated on March 12, 1977, on the site of Al Lang Field.
This narrow park, stretching from 5th Ave. N to 7th Ave. S, was developed by the city in 1914.
Edwin H. Tomlinson drilled for water and constructed the Fountain of Youth, now a part of this park. It was a sulfuric artesian well with a strong smell. He also built the Fountain of Youth Pier near the foot of 4th Ave. S. On the land end was the four-story brick West Coast Inn, popular with baseball players training at Al Lang Field. The Inn was razed in 1967 to make room for the Hilton Hotel. At the eastern end of the pier was a bathing pavilion.
This $4.5 million entertainment and recreation center was opened here on May 5, 1965. It was substantially rebuilt and renovated in 2005.
Ed and Hattie Boore invested their life savings in 1939 in an old 16 seat restaurant at this location, across from the airport and the Coast Guard base. Developing a reputation for good food and fair prices, they expanded to 41 seats in 1942, 90 in 1955, 160 in 1960, and 220 in 1965.
In 1970, they bought a nearby restaurant which had been built in 1926, renovated it to an early 1900's decor, and opened it as Uncle Ed's Restaurant.
This landfill area was purchased by the city from Marguerite Cook and turned into an airport named after an early navy flier. The airport opened in 1928, and the first runway was an extention of 7th Ave. S.
This home was built at a nearby site before 1888, and during that year was wired for electricity as the home of Gen. John Constantine Williams, the founder of St. Petersburg. It was designed and built by Charles Rouff. Also during 1888, it was used by the Williams family and about 50 others as a refuge from a widespread yellow fever epidemic.
The house was 15 rooms, and shows a Queen Anne style with gabled roof sections and a veranda. In 1906, it was converted to the Manhattan Hotel. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
This home was built in 1904 and was the home of C. Perry Snell, a former druggist who moved to St. Petersburg in 1904.
Snell's greatest work was the development of Snell Isle, located across Coffee Pot Bayou to the east of here. Of the total resulting 275 acres on Snell Isle, only 39 were originally above high tide. Substantial dredging and filling, going on while building construction progressed, was necessary to provide dry land for the development. To provide funds for this development, he mortgaged the Snell Arcade. He eventually lost the Snell Arcade on Central Ave. to foreclosure, but persisted until Snell Isle was complete.
Snell had also owned Crescent Lake Park until he sold it to the city for $35,000, a small fraction of its real value.
Prior to John C. Williams acquiring the property, this was the site of the old Hackney homestead, bought by Dr. James Sarvent Hackney on August 8, 1869, for 50 cents an acre.
After Williams filed the first plat of St. Petersburg in 1888, he discovered that the way he drew the streets had his house in the bed on 4th St. He filed a revised plat in 1890 rather than move the house. The house was moved 200 feet to the west in 1928 to make room for St. Mary's Church.
Three priests from Cuba acquired land south of Lakeview Ave. in early 1892 and began a Catholic community that grew to about 12 families by 1906. That year, a small frame church was built at 5th Ave. S and 6th St., replaced in 1908 by a better one at this location. A cement and brick church was built at the corner of 3rd Ave. S and 4th St. in 1912-16.
The present Romanesque Revival style church was designed by Henry L. Taylor and built in 1925. The stained glass windows, dating to 1930, were created by Heimer and Co.
This building was erected in 1925 as an automobile showroom, with the first and second stories visually separated by a stuccoed band of concrete. The red brick building shows elements of the Tudor Revival style. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The first public hospital in the city, the St. Petersburg Emergency Hospital, opened here in 1910, but was deemed inadequate from the start. A new one on the same property opened three years later.
The 35-bed Augusta Memorial Hospital was started here by Edwin H. Tomlinson, who named it in honor of his mother. Tomlinson later withdrew the name and it became City Hospital. In 1923, it was renamed Mound Park Hospital.
It had that name because of the large Indian mound on its grounds, which was taller than the original three-story Augusta Memorial. The mound had a stairway to a viewing platform on top, but it was removed by paving contractors who used the shells on local streets.
The first Orange Belt Railroad train arrived in St. Petersburg on June 8, 1888, on what was then the longest narrow-gauge railroad in the U.S. Peter Demens arrived six days later. By early December, the tracks were extended from 9th St. to this point. The first Orange Belt train station, completed in December of 1888 near the corner of 2nd St., showed Peter Demens' Russian influence on its design, as did all the buildings erected by his company during the 1880s.
The first Atlantic Coast Line depot was built here in 1906, and was razed in 1914. It was replaced by a Mediterranean Revival style depot which opened in March of 1915. On June 12, 1963, the station was moved to its present site on 36th Ave. N and 31st St.
A jail was established here in an old grocery store building after 1903. It continued to be the home of the police department until September 9, 1952, when it moved to 1300 1st Ave. N.
From 1907 until the present city hall was built, city offices and the jail were housed in this building. The fire station was also headquartered here for a time.
Edwin H. Tomlinson had erected this large building in 1902 for $10,000 as the Domestic Science and Manual Training School, a boys' military academy. The building accommodated 5000 persons, and other schools were encouraged to use it.
The building was converted into the city hall annex. It has also been the home of the Chamber of Commerce (1925), VFW (1930), State Welfare Board (1947), Child Guidance Clinic (1956), Welfare Building (1960), Office on Aging, Public Works (1975), and the Neighborly Center Headquarters (1979).
In his yard, Edwin H. Tomlinson erected a 14-story, 200-foot telegraph tower. He also had similar towers at his homes in Pass-A-Grille and on Pine Key. He intended the towers to be used for experimentation with radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi. The height of the tower was reduced by a lightning strike in 1901. Pennsylvania Congressman Joseph Sibley purchased the home in 1905.
Tomlinson owned St. Petersburg's first automobile - an Orient - in 1905.
The headquarters of the Young Mens Christian Association building was built here in 1925.
The Royal Palm Hotel was built here in 1923. It and the adjacent Tropic Hotel were torn down to make room for a five-story addition to the Times-Independent complex, which was completed in November of 1968.
In 1925, the Famous Players Theater was built here with seating for 2,300. It was later renamed the Florida Theater, and was torn down in 1968-69 by First National Bank for a parking lot entrance.
Florida Power Corporation built its office here in 1925. It was abandoned during the early 1970s.
Abram C. Pheil owned the St. Petersburg Novelty Works at this location, and at the turn of the century was a major source of building supplies.
Located here is one of many St. Petersburg hotels used to house troops during 1942-43.
Here was a shopping center of 75 or more stores, all belonging to founder Earl "Doc" Webb. While living in Knoxville, Tennessee, he became part owner of a drugstore. He moved here in 1925 and entered into a partnership with R.H. Johnson in a 17 x 28 foot building that was close enough to the railroad tracks that when a train came by, the bottles on the shelves rattled. After three months, Johnson sold out to Webb, moved to a drug store on Central Ave. between 6th and 7th Sts., and eventually went broke.
Webb named the establishment Webb's Cut Rate Drug Company. During the Depression he added clothing, gasoline, food, tobacco, tires, typewriters, hardware, and meals. His promotions featured kissing bunnies, talking "mermaids", tightrope-walking roosters, beauty pageants, dancing ducks, and circuses. The complex, later named Webb's City, was known as the "World's Most Unusual Drug Store", and covered 10 city blocks. He sold a thousand prescriptions a day.
An out-of-town syndicate bought Webb's City in 1972, but without Webb it failed and closed in August of 1979. Doc Webb died in 1982. He generously endowed a senior citizens' center now named for him.
During the 1880s, black settlers generally resided in Pepper Town, an area along 4th Ave. S. In the 1890s, many lived in a nearby cluster of shacks belonging to Leon B. Cooper in this vicinity. The area became known as Cooper's Quarters.
The independent First Security Bank closed on June 9, 1930, as did First National Bank, but First Security reopened on August 30 of the same year. It was renamed on December 1, 1930, as Union Trust Company. It opened in its new home at this site. In 1935, it was one of only two banks operating in St. Petersburg. In October of 1972, it became a member of Consolidated Bankshares of Florida, Inc., and was renamed Landmark Banking Corporation during 1973. It was later the home of Union Trust National Bank.
During the 1880s, this was the site of an orange grove. This section of Central Ave. was cleared through the gove in 1893.
The seven-story Sumner Building was erected here in 1922 by R.H. Sumner, and was later known as the Professional Building. In 1968, it was demolished to make room for a parking lot for Florida National Bank, which opened in 1969.
In 1925, the St. Clair Boarding House was located here.
J.D. Bates built a small hotel here "way out in the country" in 1893, and three years later sold it to George L. King. At the time, Central Ave. was known as Sixth Ave., and the hotel was named the Sixth Avenue House. King remodeled it, added a third story, renamed it the Lakeview House, and in 1902 sold it to Williams H. Tippets, who named it the Belmont. In 1952, it was partially torn down and partially remodeled for stores.
This was one of the first modern hotels in St. Petersburg, built for Peter A. Demens in 1919. A. Neel Reid of Atlanta designed the four-story Classical Revival structure with a three-tiered veranda on each of the two main wings, intricate bas-relief on the verandas, and wrought-iron rails. It was constructed of buff-colored brick. This was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
George S. "Dad" Gandy built the La Plaza Theatre in 1912-13 for $125,000. The building was on First Ave. S, with the entrance on this corner. It had two wings, one residential and one with offices. The Spanish style building boasted the largest stage south of Atlanta. Opening night of March 8, 1913, featured "Il Trovatore", performed by the Royal Italian Company. Some called the theatre "Gandy's White Elephant". It was condemned in 1953 and demolished in 1957.
During the 1890s, a shed was erected here to house the horse-cart and hand pump of Alert Hose Company No. 1. The volunteer fire department used it for several years.
The present building started as First National Bank, which moved here from the southeast corner of Central Ave. and 2nd St. S. On June 9, 1930, the bank failed and depositors recovered 42% of what they had put into it.
This building was the home of Florida National Bank until 1969.
This building was erected in 1927, featuring glazed terra cotta decoration.
A hotel opened at this location on December 23, 1911, with proprietors Dr. G.W. Williamson, Arthur L. Schultz and Mrs. E.M. Vroom. During World War II, its 108 rooms were used to house troops.
This building was erected in 1904, and was later remodeled.
During the 1910s, the Pheil Building was constructed for the Pheil Hotel (later named the Madison) and the Pheil Theater. It took ten years to complete, because developer Abram C. Pheil, who had made his money in the dredging and phosphate business, refused to borrow money and worked on it when he had cash available.
Pheil opened the theater in 1918 with an unusual seating arrangement. Patrons enetered through one of two doors next to the movie screen and walk up the aisles - toward the "back" of the theater - to find a seat. Pheil had been in a theater fire in Chicago and designed his to be safer in the event of a projection room fire.
In 1960, the adjoining bank expanded into the building, partially demolishing the theater and combining with the remainder to make one larger building. What was the Pheil Theater foyer became the bank's lobby, mezzanine, and data processing area. The 11-story Pheil Hotel, later known as the Royal Trust Tower and then the First Union Tower, was remodeled in 1982.
Hamilton Disston attracted many individuals to the area, including Englishman Arthur Norwood. He tried farming with his brother, and then taught in a school at Tangerine Ave. and Disston Blvd.
He opened a grocery store on 9th St. and Central Ave., and added a clothing store at 4th St. and Central Ave. The first St. Petersburg telephone line in 1898 connected the two stores. In 1897, he moved to this location in the Durant block, and the business was continued by the Rutland Brothers.
Norwood sold the property in 1907 to Noel A. Mitchell, who opened a real estate office here in 1908. He called it "Mitchell's Corner" and for advertising, he ordered 50 benches, which he painted brilliant orange and printed on them "Mitchell the Sand Man - The Honest Real Estate Dealer - He Never Sleeps". Business improved, and a later town ordinance required all benches, including Mitchell's, to be painted a uniform green.
C. Perry Snell and J.C. Hamlett bought the property in 1914. For $750,000, they had this Mediterranean Revival style building erected in 1926-28 by E.B. Rang. It was designed by Snell and architects Richard Krehnel and M. Leo Elliott. It was built with an elegant patio restaurant/night club on the third level.
In 1926, it was called "the most artistic building in Florida". The arcade was originally filled with statues and building tiles collected by Snell in Europe, and connected to the southern entrance of the Open-Air Post Office.
This structure is notable for its lavish use of ornamental terracotta ornaments. It was restored in 1983, and is known as the Rutland Building.
A small frame structure at this location housed the city's first bank, St. Petersburg State Bank, which was founded in 1893. In 1905, Central National Bank opened here, and in 1911 a new building was erected. The building also housed stores and offices, including The Ladies Emporium and Western Union.
Southern National Bank was founded in 1936 and opened here, and in 1940 was renamed First National Bank of St. Petersburg. In 1976, it became the Century First National Bank of Pinellas County, and during the 1980s became the Royal Trust Bank of Florida, N.A.
In 1960, the bank expanded into the Pheil Building, combining the two buildings into a single structure. Over the next five years, the bank modernized the exterior. It is now First Union National Bank.
In the early 1900s, this was the site of the Tomlinson Building, with an open-air post office downstairs. The second floor was the Ansonia Hotel.
A building was constructed here in 1925-26 for the West Coast Title Co., acquired in 1938 by First Federal Savings and Loan Association for its main office. A handsome and expensive new interior was added in 1969.
In 1924, the six-story Neo-Classical style Hall Building was erected here, replacing the two-story Strowger Building. It was occupied by the American Bank and Trust Company. In 1969, the interior was remodeled.
A building was erected here in 1913 for the American Bank, unrelated to a later bank having the same name. It later housed the stock brokerage of Thomson & McKinnon Auchincloss, Inc.
From 1895 to 1897, the St. Petersburg post office was located in a small building here. In 1898, jeweler George B. Haines built a two-story wooden building here, with his business downstairs and his residence upstairs. In that building, the Willson-Chase Department Store began as a small business operated by Beulah Chase in 1905. In 1909, new owner E.B. Willson expanded it, and in 1922 a modern four-story expansion (the Haines Building) was added. It was razed in about 1970 by First Federal.
In a wooden building here in 1899, a telephone exchange was established on the second floor. In 1910, it was moved to 323 1st Ave. S.
J. Bruce Smith built a six-story office building here during the mid-1920s. In 1966, it was enlarged and converted into an apartment building. While Smith had his dry goods store here, it was known as "The Busy Corner". During the 1940s, it was known as the Empire Building.
Ed Durant came to St. Petersburg in 1885, and Ed T. Lewis arrived two years later. They went into merchandising at this location, and Lewis stayed when Durant later left.
After he split with Ed T. Lewis, Ed Durant went ino the tobacco retailing business on land that he owned at this site.
St. Petersburg's first filling station was located there, in a portion of the Harrison Bros. Hardware Store. It had begun as a general store known as the St. Petersburg Cash Store.
Located here was the first movie house in the area, opened in 1905 by Bill Carpenter. He sold it in 1916.
In the 1880s and early 1890s, this area was a swale which became impassable when it filled with water during the rainy season. It was bridged by a wooden sidewalk, then filled in during 1894 by Ernest Norwood.
Near this location was the store of John C. Williams, Jr., which opened in 1889. It became the busiest and most profitable general store on the Pinellas Peninsula.
Peter Demens built this 40-room hotel in 1888. He and John C. Williams flipped a coin to see who would name the new city. Demens won, and second-place Williams got to name the hotel, which he did after his former hometown.
This hotel was on a sand street, and there were no other buildings nearby. It was the center of the "Eastern City", which ran from 4th St. to the waterfront. The "Western City" clustered around the intersection of Central Ave. and 9th St. Between the two was an orange grove.
A gazebo was added to the top of the hotel during the 1890s. A large brick addition was completed in 1914.
A building was erected on this corner in 1887 facing Central Ave. and was turned later to face 2nd St. It was built by Dillon F.S. Brantley on a lot given him by Peter Demens to satisfy a sum owed for railroad cross-ties.
Brantley may have run a small restaurant in it for railroad workers, and the building is rumored to have been a house of ill repute. It later was the home of the Bradshaw Drug Store, a popular hangout for youngsters. It was also known as the Tine Store.
In 1902-03, a three-story brick bank building was erected here. In it, the West Coast Bank opened on February 9, 1903. In 1905, it changed its name to First National Bank.
At this site was St. Petersburg's fourth hotel, built in 1894 by Dr. W.E. Van Bibber. The building had been moved from four blocks west of here, where it had been used as a school. In 1885, he had delivered a notable speech naming Pinellas Point the healthiest spot on earth. The hotel burned down on December 17, 1899.
The Paxton House hotel was built here in 1890 by W.W. Coleman. It had 32 rooms for guests and remained open all year long.
A two-story store building was erected in the early 1900s by Tracy Lewis, the brother of Ed T. Lewis. In 1913, it was operated by the Ballard Brothers.
This seven-story, 85-room hotel was built in 1922.
Soren Lund from Denmark bought the old 1893 Erastus Barnard homestead here, plus some adjoining properties, for $125,000 and built the Soreno Hotel, which opened on January 1, 1924. This was the city's first million dollar tourist hotel. It is at the site of the previous two-story home of Joseph E. Merry, who came to the area in the early 1890s to decorate the Tampa Bay Hotel. In 1900, he moved to Pass-A-Grille.
Lund had bought the Huntington Hotel from C.S. Hunt in 1910, and operated it until he sold it to J. Lee Barnes in 1920.
At this site was the home of Lillian Livingston, the widow of town councilman B.F. Livingston. The house was known as the Manor, and was one of the community's grandest boarding houses in 1908.
John Constantine Williams bought land in St. Petersburg in 1876 (72.06 acres in what is now downtown) and 1878, and in 1887 made a deal with railroad developer Peter Demens which brought the railroad to this town rather than to Disston City. To get to the railroad, and have the railroad's final station located on his land, Williams gave Demens half his land, which had increased to 1600 acres. Williams filed the plat of St. Petersburg, including a block for Williams Park.
In 1910, this park was dedicated by Sarah Williams, the widow of John C. Williams. In 1894, while it was known as City Park, the Park Improvement Association erected a bandstand here.
This hotel designed by Henry Cunningham has an eclectic style with Classical and Mediterranean elements. Erected in 1925, it is one of ten large hotels built by Nick Dennis during the boom period. The main facade is clad in cast stone and there are Corinthian columns at the main entrance. It was restored as the McCarthy residence hotel and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
In1913, the Woman's Town Improvement Association built a new meeting hall here. Although its front has been given a more modern look, it is still functioning here.
This congregation organized in 1892 and held services in a school on 8th St. near Central Ave. In 1893, it moved to a building on Central Ave. between 3rd and 4th Sts. In 1894, they built a small church on 2nd St. near Central Ave. The building was moved in 1896 to 6th St. and in 1912 to this site.
The old building was moved to the back of the lot in 1919 and the present sanctuary was completed later that year.
The First Congregational Church opened at this site in March of 1889. It was torn down in 1916 to make room for the post office.
George W. Steward designed, and M.C. Holliday built, this Mediterranean Revival style post office, which opened in 1917. It was paid for by a congressional appropriation of $107,500. It has granite, terracotta and marble trim. It has an open loggia on three sides to take advantage of the warm climate and offer easy access to the public. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
This Neo-Classical style brick hotel was first named the Mason Hotel after its principal owner and contractor, Franklin J. Mason. He had come to St. Petersburg for his health, and built the hotel at a cost of $1,500,000. It was bailed out of bankruptcy by William Muir, a wealthy winter resident. He renamed it after his wife, Martha. It was modernized in 1967.
The St. Petersburg Normal and Industrial School was built a little closer to 5th St. in 1902. Later, it was called the Normal and High School, then Central Primary School, and Central Grammar School. It was bought by Pinellas County in 1946, and two years later was moved a short distance west and remodeled into part of the County Health Building.
The present city hall was built for $389,415 under the auspices of the Public Works Administration. The law then in effect allowed funds to be used for only certain types of buildings, so this is officially known as the Public Utilities Administration Building. The completed building was dedicated on November 28, 1939. R.E. "Rube" Clarson was the builder.
The city hall is on the site of St. Petersburg's Graded School, built in 1893 for $700. It served as St. Petersburg High School from 1898 to 1902, when the high school moved to the Guisinger Building.
In 1899, a water tank was constructed here to hold water from Mirror Lake (earlier called Reservoir Lake) for the downtown business area.
The Tomlinson Adult Education Center here was built in 1924-26, and operated for five years as a boys' junior high school, then becoming coed in 1931. It has also been known as Tomlinson Technical Institute, Tomlinson Vocational School, and Tomlinson Vocational High School.
This building opened in 1919 and was St. Petersburg High School. When the Million Dollar High School opened in 1925 on Central Ave., this became a junior high school.
In 1913, Fire Station No. 2 was built at this corner.
F.A. Davis was granted a franchise for a streetcar line in 1902, one end of which was here. It ran south to Central Ave., west to 9th St., and south to Booker Creek. It was later lengthened.
A private hospital began here in 1922, named Faith Hospital. It faded during the Depression and the Sisters of St. Francis took it over on November 1, 1931. This was the first Catholic hospital on the west coast of Florida. It grew into the present modern hospital.
This stuccoed Colonial Revival home was built during the 1910s by Benjamin T. Boone from North Carolina. One of the city's oldest masonry homes, it was restored as offices in 1985. The following year, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This building opened on November 20, 1924, at a cost of $250,000. This was a fun palace known affectionately as the "barn". It hosted social events, conventions, exhibits and sports competitions. A twin was built on Davis Islands in Tampa, but it burned down after World War II.
This is the oldest formally organized lawn bowling club in Florida, and tenth oldest in the U.S. The clubhouse complex and two bowling courts were built in 1926 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
This was built in 1915, designed by Henry Whitfield as the architect for the Carnegie Fund, which donated $17,500 toward its construction. The builder was Walter C. Henry. The style is Neo-Classical, and it was the first public library in St. Petersburg. Ornamentation is of cast concrete, and the roof has a continuous parapet. It is one of only ten Carnegie-funded library buildings which retains its original facade.
This church was formed on October 7, 1888, as the United Church of Christ. The first services were held in a railroad car, then moved to a building near Central Ave., between 9th and 10th Sts. Work on this building began later that year, and was opened later that year.
The first meeting of Christian Science followers took place in St. Petersburg in April of 1899, and they were formally recognized as a society in 1901. They rented the Grand Army Hall in 1904 at the corner of 2nd Ave. and 6th St. N, and in 1909 purchased a building at 406 3rd St. S.
The society was recognized as the First Church of Christ, Scientist in 1913. When they outgrew their building, they rented the La Plaza Theatre, and in 1916 used part of a building on the later Maas Brothers site. This building, now the Palladium Theater, was erected in 1925-26.
This was the home of merchant and civic leader Ralph Veillard, moved here from another location in 1979. Theodore Anderson and Henry DuPont designed this home with Queen Anne and Chalet elements out of rusticated concrete block. It was built in 1910 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Henry L. Taylor designed, and George A. Miller built, this luxury resort hotel in 1925 at a cost of $3,500,000. It was developed by Aymer Vinoy Laughner of Pennsylvania as one of St. Petersburg's earliest and largest hotels. The Mediterranean Revival style had a stucco exterior over hollow tile, and an interior with cypress ceiling beams and murals. The main portion of the hotel is seven stories, and there are three five-story wings and two two-story wings. A portion of the property is filled land, previously submerged.
During World War II, the hotel was the first to be occupied by troops undergoing basic training, and was the command headquarters until new offices were ready in the Empire Building. The hotel closed in 1974 and stood vacant for years. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
This land is the site of the first orange grove on the lower Pinellas Peninsula, planted by William Paul who arrived here in the fall of 1854. Later, it was the homestead of Charles Braaf.
A Guide to National Register Sites in Florida, (Florida Department of State 1984)
An Informal History of St. Petersburg, by Page S. Jackson (Great Outdoors Publishing Co. 1962)
An Uncommon Guide to Florida, by Nina McGuire (Tailored Tours Publications, Inc. 1992)
Bethel's History of Point Pinellas, by John A. Bethel (Great Outdoors Publishing Co. 1962)
Black Florida, by Kevin M. McCarthy (Hippocrene Books 1995)
City of Green Benches: Growing Old in a New Downtown, by Maria D. Vesperi (Cornell University Press 1985)
Florida Bed & Breakfast Guide, by Valerie C. Bondy (Queen of Hearts Publications 1995)
Florida Historic Stained Glass Survey: Sites of Historic Windows in Public Facilities in the State of Florida, by Robert O. Jones (Florida Members of the Stained Glass Association of America 1995)
Florida Historical Markers & Sties, by Floyd E. Boone (Gulf Publishing Company 1988)
Florida Under Five Flags, by Rembert W. Patrick and Allen Morris (University of Florida Press 1967)
Florida's History Through Its Places: Properties in the National Register of Historic Places, by Morton D. Winsberg (Florida State University 1988)
Florida's Past: People and Events That Shaped the State, by Gene M. Burnett (Pineapple Press 1988)
Florida's Pinellas Peninsula, by June Hurley Young (Byron Kennedy and Co. 1984)
Full Steam Ahead!, by Albert Parry (Great Outdoors Publishing Company 1987)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Guide to the Small and Historic Lodgings of Florida, by Herbert L. Hiller (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1991)
Historic Homes of Florida, by Laura Stewart & Susanne Hupp (Pineapple Press, Inc. 1995)
History of St. Petersburg: Historical and Biographical, by Karl H. Grismer (The Tourist News Publishing Company 1924)
The Illustrated Guide to the Florida West Coast, by M.C. Bob Leonard (Purple Islands Production 1992)
Indian Mounds You Can Visit, by I. Mac Perry (Great Outdoors Publishing Company 1993)
Pinellas County Historic Structures and Sites, by Pinellas County Diamond Jubilee Committee (1987)
Pioneer St. Petersburg: Life In and Around 1888, by Rita Slaght Gould (Page Creations 1987)
St. Petersburg and Its People, by Walter P. Fuller (Great Outdoors Publishing Co. 1972)
St. Petersburg and the Florida Dream, 1888-1950, by Raymond Arsenault (University Press of Florida 1996)
St. Petersburg: Once Upon a Time, by Del Marth (City of St. Petersburg, Florida 1976)
St. Petersburg's Historic Suite, by Milton Howarth (City of St. Petersburg 1980)
The Story of St. Petersburg, by Karl H. Grismer (P.K. Smith & Company 1948)
This Was Florida's Boom, by Walter P. Fuller (Times Publishing Co. 1954)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)
Yesterday's St. Petersburg, by Hampton Dunn (E.A. Seeman Publishing, Inc. 1973)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.