St. Petersburg, Florida

Encyclopedia : S : ST : STP : 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 [link], 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.

Contents

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Attractions and points of interest
5 Sports
6 Trivia
7
8 Notable residents
9 External links

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, 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. 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 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.

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".

Geography

St. Petersburg is located at [27°46′56″N, 82°40′3″W] (27.782254, -82.667619)^{[Geographic references#1GR1]}.

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.

Demographics

As of the census^{[Geographic references#2GR2]} 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.

Attractions and points of interest

Photo of downtown waterfront taken in 2000

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, whose building is right across the street from The Poynter Institute.

The city has a 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 . 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 the Sunken Gardens site, home to the gardens themselves, the local child-oriented science museum Great Explorations, 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.

Wikipedia is also based here, in St. Petersburg.

Sports

Club	Sport	League	Stadium
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Football	National Football League (NFL) - NFC	Raymond James Stadium
Tampa Bay Lightning	Hockey	National Hockey League (NHL) - Eastern Conference	St. Pete Times Forum
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Baseball	Major League Baseball - AL	Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
Tampa Bay Storm	Arena Football	Arena Football League (AFL)	St. Pete Times Forum
Tampa Bay Strong Dogs	Basketball	American Basketball Association (ABA)	TBA

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.

Trivia

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 (Bayflight).

Takamatsu, Japan
Saint Petersburg, Russia ("twin city" relationship)

Notable residents

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
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
Omali Yeshitela, civil rights leader

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.