City of St. Petersburg

City of St. Petersburg Municipal Water Report Info

St. Petersburg maintains much of its charming resort-town character that its founders envisioned, with an ecosystem of pelicans, dolphins, abundant sunshine, and sailing vessels. In 1875, General John Williams arrived from Detroit and purchased 2,500 acres along Tampa Bay, visualizing a grand city with lush parks and broad avenues – features that define today's St. Petersburg.

The city's first hotel honored Williams' hometown, Detroit. Eight years later, Peter Demens, a Russian aristocrat, extended the Orange Belt Railway to St. Petersburg. The inaugural train arrived on June 8, 1888, carrying empty freight cars and a single passenger – a shoe salesman from Savannah. Built track by track despite unpaid workers and threatening creditors, the railway finally reached St. Petersburg, which Demens named after his birthplace in Russia.

St. Petersburg was officially incorporated in June 1903. The year 1914 brought two historic firsts: spring training baseball began when former mayor Al Lang convinced Branch Rickey to relocate his St. Louis Browns to the "Sunshine City," and Tony Jannus completed the first commercial flight, crossing Tampa Bay in 23 minutes at 50 feet above water. The city's inaugural library, funded by Andrew Carnegie, opened beside Mirror Lake on December 1, 1915, and remains operational today.

During the 1920s Florida boom, tourists flocked to the city by automobile, train, and yacht. The Gandy Bridge opened in 1924, reducing travel time to Tampa by half and positioning St. Petersburg to become Pinellas County's largest municipality. This era brought distinctive Mediterranean Revival architecture, championed by developer Perry Snell, who created the 275-acre Snell Isle subdivision. This architectural style remains visible in landmarks like The Vinoy Hotel, Jungle Country Club Hotel, Princess Martha, Snell Arcade, and residences along Coffee Pot Bayou and in Jungle Prada.

Although the Depression ended the land boom, St. Petersburg recovered through $10 million in Public Works Administration projects during the 1930s. The city's current City Hall was constructed with New Deal funding in 1939. The 1940s brought significant growth as St. Petersburg hosted a U.S. Coast Guard training facility on Bayboro Harbor during World War II. Daily anti-submarine patrols operated over the Gulf, and the War Department designated the city as a key technical services training center for the Army Air Corps. Over 100,000 trainees filled every hotel, creating housing shortages as families sought accommodations. Following the war, many service members returned to live or visit as tourists.