Downtown St. Petersburg

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Today, the Green-Richman Arcade is one of three surviving arcades in St. Petersburg. Also known as the Parsley and Stone Arcade, this arcade is deemed to be the most sophisticated building on the West Coast of Florida to this day. It was welcomed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. During the 1940s, it was one of the eleven shopping arcades in downtown St. Petersburg. This arcade was built by John Green and William Richman, who also assisted in the construction of other popular buildings, such as the Ponce de Leon Hotel and First Baptist Church.

2. Alexander Hotel

The Alexander Hotel was constructed on Central Avenue in 1919 for investor Jacob Alexander. The first floor of the four-story building held Bob's Cafeteria, run by Robert Ely, the hotel proprietor. The upper three floors of hotel rooms featured verandas facing Central Ave., decorated with Tuscan columns and iron railings. The hotel opened in 1920, a period when increasing automobile traffic was changing St. Petersburg from a small village to a tourist destination. The hotel eventually transitioned to a residential hotel, offering short and long-term rentals until it closed in 1984. The hotel building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for its association with Atlanta architect Neel Reid and its Classical Revival architecture. Soon afterward, the vacant building was renovated and became an office building. At the time of this article, the ground floor includes two restaurants, Tony's Pizza (533 Central) and Brick and Mortar (539 Central).

3. S.H. Kress and Co. Building

Located in downtown St. Petersburg, the S.H. Kress and Co. Building was one of numerous "five-and-dime" variety stores found around the nation in the 20th century. It is named after its founder, Samuel H. Kress, who established the company in Memphis, Tennessee in 1896. The building was erected in 1927 and became a symbol of economic development and progress. It remains an important landmark in the city. A fine example of Beaux-Arts architecture, notable features include a terra cotta exterior, multi-light transom windows, decorative terra cotta ornamentation, and urns along the edge of the roof. Various businesses and firms occupy the building today. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

4. Florida Holocaust Museum

Founded in 1989, the Florida Holocaust Museum is one of the largest holocaust museums in the United States. It covers over twenty-seven thousand square feet of space and houses thousands of photographs, records, and historical artifacts from the holocaust. It houses one of the only lasting railroad boxcars that were utilized by the Nazis to migrate the Jews from Auschwitz to Treblinka. Walter Loepenberg provided a desire for a memorial of the Holocaust, as Loepenberg found an opportunity to flee from the Nazis in Germany in 1939 to become a soldier in the American Army during World War II.

5. Snell Arcade Building

Designed by Richard Kiehnel and financed by prominent St. Petersurg businessman and landowner Perry Snell, Snell Arcade was constructed between 1926 and 1928. The building features a Mediterranean Revival style of architecture and makes use of terra cotta and Italianate finishing throughout the exterior of the building. This St. Petersburg landmark has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. The retail and office building has been home to department stores, architects, and numerous architects. In 2002, the building owner announced plans to create luxury condominiums in the building.

6. United States Post Office

Constructed in 1916, this post office was designed by architect George Stuart in the Mediterranean Revival style, which would become one of the most popular types of architecture in the city. While most of the earlier public buildings were designed in the Mission style, the post office was one of several buildings that mixed terra cotta with large and open building facades to encourage air flow through St. Petersburg's buildings in an era before air conditioning. The postmaster for the city took part in the building design, working with the architect to create a building that patrons could enter from any side of the street to have better access to their mailboxes and needed services.

7. Cordova Inn

This three-story Renaissance Revival building was built in 1921 at the outset of the Florida Land Boom, which would become America's first true real estate bubble. It was built of masonry and features an exterior covered in scored stucco to give the appearance of stone. Decorative details include the arcaded entrance with five keyed arches, a balustrade (railing) with urns, and a projecting cornice on the roof. The Cordova Inn is a contributing property of the Downtown St. Petersburg Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

8. First Methodist Church of St. Petersburg

This 1925 structure was and still is home to St. Petersburg's Methodist residents. Today it is known as the First United Methodist Church of St. Petersburg. This church is one of St. Petersburg's ten buildings constructed with a combination of Greek Revival and English Gothic architecture. These ten were constructed between 1887 and 1925. Its architect, James J. Baldwin, is well known to this day throughout much of the South for his courthouses, churches and other buildings he made throughout his lifetime.

9. Flori-de-Leon Apartments

Completed in 1926, this seven-story building became the first building cooperative on Florida's west coast. Owing to the hot summers and the lack of air-conditioning when the building was constructed, the architect utilized an "H-shape" that facilitated ventilation throughout each of the apartments. This building was home to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig during the Yankee's spring training. The building remains a co-op, and like each of the current occupants, these players owned apartments in the building.

10. Palladium Theater

This striking building is the Palladium Theater, which was built in 1925 as the First Church of Christ, Scientist, whose congregation moved to its current location in the 1990s. The theater hosts a variety of musical and stage performances in its 815-seat auditorium and its smaller space called the Side Door Cabaret. Architect Henry Lovewell Cheney designed the building in the Romanesque Revival style, modeling it after the Foundlin Hospital in Florence, Italy (that was the work of famous Italian architect, Brunelleschi). Notable features of the theater include a terra cotta roof, an arched portico with Corinthian columns, and a high vaulted ceiling. It is a contributing property of the North Shore Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

11. Boone House

Boone House is one of the oldest masonry residences in St. Petersburg and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The house was built by Benjamin T. Boone around 1919 in Colonial Revival architectural style. Boone was a developer in the early years of St. Petersburg's growth. The historical building was restored in April to June of 1985 by an architectural firm who established offices in the building. Boone House is now occupied by offices of General Accounting Systems. Behind the Boone House is a two-story wood frame and concrete block garage/apartment that was built on the property in 1920.

12. St. Petersburg Coliseum

One of the most iconic ballroom buildings in the South, the St. Petersburg Coliseum was designed by architect T.H. Eslick and completed in 1924. The historic venue hosted numerous events in the decades that followed. After falling into disrepair, the building was purchased by the city in 1989 thanks to the advocacy of area residents. It hosts a variety of events including concerts, dances, banquets, and arts and craft fairs.

13. St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club

Constructed in 1918, the clubhouse complex of the St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club (SPLBC) was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The organization is the oldest formally organized club of its kind in Florida and the tenth oldest in the U.S. The one-story, L-shaped wood-frame clubhouse was built one year after the club was founded, with additions to the structure in the 1920s and 1930s. A testing building was constructed in 1940 and has been used as an official test facility for the special "bowls" needed for this sport. The club opens for the season on November 1st and meets through April every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

14. Pennsylvania Hotel

When the Pennsylvania Hotel opened in 1926, it was the seventh major hotel constructed in the city of St. Petersburg and the tenth constructed in Pinellas County during the short-lived Florida Land Boom of the early 1920s. The building appears unique when compared to the art deco, terra cotta, classical, and Mediterranean styles of architecture that typify the city. This building was constructed in the Chicago Style that blended efficiency, steel frame construction, vertical windows to maximize light, and modern architecture with subtle classical features.

15. Mirror Lake Community Library

Built in 1915, the Mirror Lake Community Library (MLCL) was one of ten Florida libraries whose construction was funded in part by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Also known as the St. Petersburg Public Library or Carnegie Library, the MLCL was the city's first permanent home for a library and in 1915 represented the city's transformation from a rural community to a modern urban center with cultural institutions. The library is also an excellent and one of the earliest examples of Beau-Arts architecture in the city. It was built with buff-colored brick and features decorative cast concrete elements such as string courses, pilasters (columns), and a cornice. The library is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a contributing property of the Downtown St. Petersburg Historic District, which is also listed on the register.

16. St. Petersburg City Hall

Designed by architect A. Lowther Forrest and completed in 1939, St. Petersburg's City Hall is one several public buildings in the city that were constructed with a total of ten million dollars from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The WPA was a New Deal program that facilitated numerous public works projects in order to provide jobs and stimulate economic recovery. The city grew rapidly in the following decade as many of the pilots, soldiers, and sailors who trained in St. Petersburg returned to the areas after World War II.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Downtown St. Petersburg

Created by Sara Norton on November 3rd 2016, 8:30:31 am.

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Description

Combining architecture, historic hotels, and downtown landmarks, this relatively short walk starts at a trio of historic buildings and St. Petersburg's Holocaust Museum before moving on to the iconic Snell Arcade Building. Additional stops on the tour include the Palladium Theater as the tour winds back and concludes at City Hall. Other highlights of the tour include the city's famed open-air post office, landmarks buildings from the 1920s, and several hotels that were constructed during Florida's land boom.

Entries on This Tour

Downtown St. Petersburg

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