 Entrance to museum | |
 | |
| Established | 1920 |
|---|---|
| Location | 335 2nd Ave NE, St. Petersburg, Florida |
| Coordinates | 27°46′26″N82°37′50″W / 27.7740°N 82.6306°W |
| Type | Local History |
| Executive director | Rui Farias |
| Website | spmoh.com/ |
The St. Petersburg Museum of History (SPMOH) is a history museum located in St. Petersburg, Florida, dedicated to covering the area's history. As of 2020 [update] , the museum's director is Rui Farias. [1]
The museum was founded by Mary Wheeler Eaton [1] in 1920 as the St. Petersburg Memorial Historical Society. The city of St. Petersburg granted the organization the site after the 1921 Tampa Bay hurricane destroyed the aquarium standing on the land. It is the oldest museum in Pinellas County. [2] The mission of the museum is to collect, preserve, and communicate the history and heritage of Florida with an emphasis on St. Petersburg and the Pinellas peninsula. [2] The museum hosts a variety of traveling exhibits, evening events, guest speakers, and more. The St. Petersburg Museum of History has a significant archive that includes over 5,000 indexed city photographs, 32,000 artifacts, and other historic photos and documents. [2]
Notable holdings include a plus-sized pair of pajamas owned by William Howard Taft; a full-sized replica of the Benoist XIV aircraft; reading glasses owned by George Armstrong Custer; and the largest collection of signed baseballs in the world (called "Little Cooperstown"). [1]
Within its premises, the museum includes a research center accessible to academics, historians, and the general populace. This center offers resources, such as documents, photos, maps, and books, focusing on the history of St. Petersburg, the wider Tampa Bay area, and Florida. This resource enables research across a spectrum of topics, from the region's indigenous communities and early European settlers to its evolution into a significant metropolitan area. The research center also supports the museum's exhibits and educational programs by supplying historical data and information. [3] [4]
Pinellas County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107, making it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most densely populated county in Florida, with 3,491 residents per square mile. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clearwater is the county seat. St. Petersburg is the largest city in the county, as well as the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat.
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the state that is not a county seat. It is the second-most populous city in the Tampa Bay area, which is the second-largest metropolitan area in Florida with an estimated population of about 3.29 million in 2022.
Dunedin is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Dunedin is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan area and is the fifth largest city in Pinellas County. The population was 36,068 as of the 2020 census.
Gulfport is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, bordering St. Petersburg, South Pasadena, and Boca Ciega Bay. The population of Gulfport was 11,783 at the 2020 census. Gulfport is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater metropolitan statistical area.
Largo is the third largest city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, as well as the fourth largest in the Tampa Bay area. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 82,485, up from 77,648 in 2010.
Pinellas Park is a city located in central Pinellas County, United States. The population was 53,093 at the 2020 census. The city is the fourth largest city in Pinellas County. The City of Pinellas Park was incorporated in 1914. It is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area, most commonly referred to as the Tampa Bay Area.
St. Pete Beach is a coastal city in Pinellas County, Florida. Known as a tourist destination, St. Pete Beach was formed from the towns of Pass-a-Grille, Belle Vista, St. Petersburg Beach, and unincorporated Pinellas County. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 8,879 at the 2020 census.
Tropicana Field is a multi-purpose domed stadium located in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has been the home of Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays since the team's inaugural season in 1998. The stadium is also used for college football, and from December 2008 to December 2017 was the home of the St. Petersburg Bowl, an annual postseason bowl game. The venue is the only non-retractable domed stadium in Major League Baseball, making it the only year-round indoor venue in MLB. Tropicana Field is the smallest MLB stadium by seating capacity when obstructed-view rows in the uppermost sections are covered with tarps as they are for most Rays games.
The Tampa Bay area is a major metropolitan area surrounding Tampa Bay on the Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States. It includes the main cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater. It is the 17th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, with a population of 3,175,275 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
The Tampa Bay Times, called the St. Petersburg Times until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofit journalism school directly adjacent to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.
St. Petersburg College (SPC) is a public college in St. Petersburg, Florida. Part of the Florida College System, SPC offers several associate and baccalaureate degree programs. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Al López Field was a spring training and Minor League baseball ballpark in West Tampa, Tampa, Florida, United States. It was named for Al López, the first Tampa native to play Major League Baseball (MLB), manage an MLB team, and be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Al López Field was built in 1954 and hosted its first spring training in 1955, when the Chicago White Sox moved their training site to Tampa from California. Al López became the White Sox's manager in 1957, and for the next three springs, he was the home manager in a ballpark named after himself. The Cincinnati Reds replaced the White Sox as Al López Field's primary tenant in 1960 and would return every spring for almost 30 years. The Tampa Tarpons, the Reds' Class-A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League, played at the ballpark every summer from 1961–1987, and many members of the Reds' Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s played there early in their professional baseball careers.
St. Petersburg High School, founded in 1898, is a secondary school in the Pinellas County School District in St. Petersburg, Florida. The school's current building, a historic landmark, was built in 1926. It was designed by Missouri architect William B. Ittner. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The school was billed as the nation's first million dollar high school. The school previously occupied several other historic locations around St. Petersburg, including a location at Mirror Lake (1919–1926).
The Vinoy Hotel is an historic Mediterranean Revival-style hotel opened in 1925 as the Vinoy Park Hotel. It is located in St. Petersburg, Florida at 501 Fifth Avenue Northeast, on the bayfront area of downtown, overlooking the Vinoy Yacht Basin. The hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is a government agency that provides public transportation for Pinellas County, Florida. The authority manages a fixed-route bus system that encompasses over 40 bus routes - including two express routes to Tampa; the Central Avenue Trolley; the Suncoast Beach Trolley; and the bus rapid transit service, the SunRunner.
Rays Ballpark was the name used in project documents for a ballpark in the current location of Al Lang Stadium on the Tampa Bay waterfront in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, proposed by the Tampa Bay Rays as a replacement for Tropicana Field.
David William Foster is an American attorney and former mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. He was elected in 2009. Before being elected mayor Foster served on the city council and worked as a lawyer.
George Snow Hill (1898–1969) was a painter and sculptor in the United States known as a muralist. He lived in St. Petersburg, Florida until his death in 1969. He founded the Hill School of Art in St. Petersburg in 1946.
The St. Petersburg Library System is a free public library system for residents of the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, located in Pinellas County. The St. Petersburg Library System is part of the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative and consists of 7 branch locations.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of St. Petersburg in Pinellas County, Florida, United States.
