St. Petersburg, Florida facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St. Petersburg
City
Downtown St. Petersburg Salvador Dali Museum Sunshine Skyway Bridge St. Petersburg Pier Vinoy Park Museum of Fine Arts (St. Petersburg, Florida) Tropicana Field Mahaffey Theater Sunken Gardens
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  "St. Pete"; "Florida's Sunshine City"
Motto(s):  "Always in Season"
St. Petersburg Location in Florida Show map of Florida St. Petersburg Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Pinellas
Founded	1888
Incorporated (Town of St. Petersberg)	February 29, 1892
Reincorporated (City of St. Petersburg)	June 6, 1903
Named for	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Government
• Type	Strong Mayor-Commission
Area
• City	135.49 sq mi (350.93 km2)
• Land	61.87 sq mi (160.24 km2)
• Water	73.63 sq mi (190.69 km2)
Elevation	44 ft (13.4 m)
Population  (2020)
• City	258,308
• Estimate  (2022)	261,256
• Rank	86th
• Density	4,175.08/sq mi (1,612.01/km2)
• Urban	2,441,770 (17th)
• Metro	2,870,569 (18th)
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
ZIP Codes	33701-33716, 33729-33734, 33736, 33738, 33740-33743, 33747, 33784
Area code(s)	727
FIPS code	12-63000
GNIS feature ID	290375

St. Petersburg is a sunny city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. Many people call it St. Pete for short. In 2020, about 258,308 people lived here, making it the fifth-largest city in Florida. It's also the second-biggest city in the Tampa Bay area, which has about 3.29 million people.

St. Petersburg is located on a piece of land called the Pinellas peninsula. It sits between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The city is known as "The Sunshine City" because it gets about 361 sunny days each year! It even holds a Guinness World Record for the most sunny days in a row (768 days between 1967 and 1969). The water temperature in the Gulf of Mexico is usually around 76°F (24°C). Because of its great weather, St. Pete has always been a popular place for people to retire, but more young people are moving there now. The city is run by a mayor and a city council.

History of St. Petersburg

Early Explorers and Native People

Long ago, when the Spanish first came to the Tampa Bay area, they met people from the Safety Harbor culture. These people built special mounds for their temples. One important group was the Tocobaga, who likely lived in northern Pinellas County. In 1528, a Spanish explorer named Pánfilo de Narváez landed near here. His journey was the first time Europeans explored inland North America. Only four of his 300 men survived. One survivor, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, wrote the first book describing the animals, plants, and people of inland North America.

How St. Petersburg Began

The city was started by two men: John C. Williams and Peter Demens. John C. Williams bought the land in 1875. Peter Demens helped bring the Orange Belt Railway to the area in 1888. St. Petersburg officially became a town on February 29, 1892, with about 300 people.

A fun story says that Williams and Demens flipped a coin to decide who would name the city. Demens won and named it after Saint Petersburg, Russia, where he grew up. Williams then named the first hotel after his hometown, Detroit. The Detroit Hotel is still downtown today, but it's now apartments.

Some of the oldest hotels still open are the Pier Hotel (built in 1921) and The Exchange Hotel (built in 1926). The first big newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times, started in 1884. In 1897, the city got its first electricity. A big fishing business started in 1899, shipping over 1,000 pounds of fish daily!

Growing into a City in the 20th Century

St. Petersburg became a city in June 1903. The port was made deeper, allowing bigger ships to come in. By the 1910s, the city's population had grown to over 4,000 people. In 1904, the first trolley service began.

In 1914, Al Lang invited the St. Louis Browns baseball team to train in the city. He worked hard to make St. Petersburg a popular place for baseball teams and fans. Lang later became mayor and helped the city's population grow a lot.

Also in 1914, the first planned commercial airline flight took off from St. Petersburg to Tampa. The pilot was Tony Jannus, flying a Benoist XIV flying boat. An award for great achievements in the airline industry is named after Tony Jannus.

The city's first library opened in 1915 and is still open today as the Mirror Lake Library.

In the 1920s, St. Petersburg became a huge tourist spot. Hundreds of thousands of visitors came each year by car, yacht, and train. The Gandy Bridge opened in 1924, making it easier to travel to Tampa. The city started to look like a Mediterranean town, with many buildings designed in the Old Spanish Trail style. The Million Dollar Pier opened in 1926, offering fishing, fun activities, and even a radio station.

The St. Petersburg flag was created in 1927. It has colors that represent the city's sunshine, water, and land. The pelican in the middle became a symbol for a fund that helps birds in winter.

Tourism slowed down during the Great Depression in the late 1920s and early 1930s. But the city recovered with help from the government, including a $10 million plan in 1939 that built the St. Petersburg City Hall. During World War II, the city grew again as a training base for the U.S. Coast Guard and the Army Air Force. Many soldiers who trained here later returned as residents or tourists.

In the 1950s, more people moved to St. Petersburg. The first Sunshine Skyway Bridge opened in 1954, connecting St. Petersburg to Manatee County. As more cars came, the city's streetcar lines were removed.

From 1955 to 1959, Black residents worked to end segregation at Spa Beach and the Spa pool. Even though the city tried to stop them, people kept protesting. After a court ruling in 1957 said the city could not separate people by race, and with continued efforts from residents, the beach and pool officially became open to everyone on January 6, 1959.

In the 1960s, the Howard Frankland Bridge was finished, creating another link between St. Petersburg and Tampa. The city also got its first stadium, the Bayfront Center, which hosted professional hockey. A new marina and the Museum of Fine Arts were also built downtown. St. Petersburg has one of the world's largest systems for cleaning and reusing water, built in the 1970s.

In 1968, 211 city sanitation workers went on strike for higher wages. This happened about a month after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed while supporting a similar strike in Memphis.

In 1984, a full-size flying copy of the Benoist XIV flying boat was built for the 70th anniversary of the first flight. This plane is now at the St. Petersburg Museum of History.

Modern St. Petersburg

In the 1970s, St. Petersburg started trying to get a Major League Baseball team. Plans for a stadium began in 1983, and construction started in 1986. This meant tearing down the mostly Black Gas Plant neighborhood, which was a difficult process. The stadium opened in 1990 as the Florida Suncoast Dome. After many tries, Major League Baseball finally gave St. Petersburg a team in 1995. In 1996, the dome was renamed Tropicana Field. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays team started playing there in 1998, giving the Tampa Bay area its first professional baseball team.

I-275 was expanded through St. Petersburg in the 1970s, with new roads I-175 and I-375 added downtown. The city's population kept growing, reaching 238,647 in 1980. After a period of slower growth, new interest in city living and the expansion of the downtown university have helped the city grow again.

Geography and Downtown Life

City Layout

St. Petersburg covers about 135 square miles (350 square kilometers). About 62 square miles (160 square kilometers) is land, and 73 square miles (190 square kilometers) is water. It's surrounded by three parts of Tampa Bay.

Downtown St. Petersburg

Downtown St. Petersburg is the city's main business area, with tall office buildings. The Tampa Bay Times newspaper has its main office here.

The downtown area is full of arts and culture. You can find the Mahaffey Theater, the Morean Arts Center, many art galleries, The Coliseum, Palladium Theatre, and Jannus Live. There are also several famous museums, like the Chihuly Collection, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Salvador Dalí Museum (which has the largest collection of Dalí's art outside Europe), the St. Petersburg Museum of History, and the Florida Holocaust Museum. The city hosts many outdoor festivals throughout the year.

St. Petersburg's downtown is considered one of the best in the South, with many parks and fun places along the water. The beautiful Gulf beaches are only about a 10-mile drive from downtown. You can even take the SunRunner Bus Rapid Transit line to get there.

The St. Petersburg Pier stretches half a mile into the bay and is a big tourist spot with lots of activities. The new Pier District opened in July 2020. It has green spaces, a market, a playground, a splash pad, and cool public art.

Downtown is also home to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and a branch of St. Petersburg College. Many parks are located downtown, often by the water or a lake. Straub Park is almost half a mile long and is next to the Museum of Fine Arts. Because of all its parks, St. Petersburg is ranked first in Florida for public park space among large cities. The historic Vinoy Park Hotel is by the bay and is a famous landmark. Vinoy Park hosts music festivals.

You can find many restaurants and nightlife spots downtown, especially along Central Avenue and Beach Drive. The city's lively nightlife has grown thanks to changes in rules, like bars being allowed to stay open until 3 A.M.

Tropicana Field, where the Major League Baseball team Tampa Bay Rays play, is in the western part of downtown. The Rays and the city have agreed that Tropicana Field will be torn down by 2027 to make way for a new stadium and a rebuilt Gas Plant neighborhood.

St. Petersburg has the third-largest public waterfront park system in North America. It stretches for 7 miles and is used all year for events and festivals. Long ago, people debated whether to use the waterfront for businesses or parks. Luckily, the park idea won, and the city bought the land for parks in 1909.

The city is also a popular place for kiteboarding at spots like Fort De Soto Park. The St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club, started in 1924, was once the "World's Largest Shuffleboard Club" with 110 courts and over 5,000 members!

The Northshore Aquatic Complex is a public pool and small water park downtown. It has a large swimming pool and a training pool, and is home to local swim clubs.

City Views

Neighborhoods to Explore

St. Petersburg has over 100 neighborhoods. Many historic areas are close to the bay. Downtown St. Petersburg has tall buildings, art galleries, museums, and parks. It's also a hub for new businesses.

North of downtown are the Historic Old Northeast and Snell Isle. These areas have beautiful historic homes, many in the Mediterranean style, along with parks and beaches. Snell Isle was developed by C. Perry Snell to create fancy properties and resorts like the Vinoy Park Hotel. The far north of the city, called the Gateway area, has big companies like Home Shopping Network.

The middle part of St. Petersburg includes the Grand Central District and Historic Kenwood. The Grand Central District is known for its cafes, art galleries, restaurants, and bars, many in the Craftsman style. Historic Kenwood also has many art studios.

South of downtown is Historic Roser Park, with historic homes and museums. This neighborhood is split by Booker Creek, which flows into Bayboro Harbor.

Climate and Nature

St. Petersburg has a humid subtropical climate, meaning it's warm with a rainy season from June to September. Because it's near the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay, many parts of the city have a tropical feel. You can see tropical plants like coconut palms and royal palms everywhere. The Gizella Kopsick Palm Arboretum is a 2-acre park with over 500 palms and cycads. St. Petersburg sometimes gets tropical storms or hurricanes, but the last time a hurricane hit the city directly was in 1946.

People and Culture

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1890	273		—
1900	1,575		476.9%
1910	4,127		162.0%
1920	14,237		245.0%
1930	40,425		183.9%
1940	60,812		50.4%
1950	96,738		59.1%
1960	181,298		87.4%
1970	216,159		19.2%
1980	238,647		10.4%
1990	238,629		0.0%
2000	248,232		4.0%
2010	244,769		−1.4%
2020	258,308		5.5%
2022 (est.)	261,256		6.7%
U.S. Decennial Census

Population and Diversity

St. Petersburg is home to a diverse group of people. In 2020, there were 258,308 residents. The city has many different cultures and backgrounds.

St. Petersburg, Florida – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White (NH)	170,396	157,409	159,792	68.64%	64.31%	61.86%
Black or African American (NH)	54,884	57,489	53,345	22.11%	23.49%	20.65%
Native American or Alaska Native (NH)	684	567	520	0.28%	0.23%	0.20%
Asian (NH)	6,569	7,672	8,942	2.65%	3.13%	3.46%
Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian (NH)	110	106	121	0.04%	0.04%	0.05%
Some other race (NH)	550	539	1,441	0.22%	0.22%	0.56%
Two or more races or Multiracial (NH)	4,537	4,773	10,858	1.83%	1.95%	4.20%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	10,502	16,214	23,289	4.23%	6.62%	9.02%
Total	248,232	244,769	258,308	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

In 2010, about 88.53% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken included Spanish (4.43%), German (0.78%), and French (0.72%).

Religion in St. Pete

In 2020, about 35.9% of St. Petersburg residents said they were religious. The largest group was Catholics, followed by Methodists and Baptists. The Diocese of St. Petersburg oversees many Catholic churches and schools in the Tampa Bay area.

Economy and Events

Jobs and Businesses

Many jobs and businesses are in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg. The average household income is $55,134. The biggest industries are healthcare, retail, and professional services. Common jobs include office support, sales, and management.

The city also has a program that gives money to commercial buildings and developments outside downtown to help create more jobs.

Fun Events All Year Long

St. Petersburg hosts many exciting events throughout the year:

• In January, there's the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Parade, with a "Battle of the Bands."
• Every March, the city hosts the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. This is a big IndyCar Series race that takes place on downtown streets.
• Bluesfest in Vinoy Park features live blues music and food.
• The Mainsail Art Festival is a free art show in Vinoy Park, with local artists, live music, and food.
• The Saint Petersburg Art Festival happens every February.
• The downtown triathlon includes swimming in Tampa Bay, biking along the waterways, and running through neighborhoods.
• The Green Thumb Festival, started in 1986, promotes planting trees and making the city beautiful. It's held at Walter Fuller Park.
• In June, St. Pete Pride weekend celebrates the LGBT community with festivals, concerts, and a parade.
• The 4th of July firework celebration lights up downtown St. Petersburg.
• "St. Pete Pitch Night" in October helps new businesses present their ideas.
• In November, Ribfest at Vinoy Park offers family fun, food, and country music.
• The SHINE St. Pete Mural Festival, started in 2015, brings artists from around the world to create murals.
• From late November through December, holiday events include a tree lighting, the Santa Parade, and Snowfest with ice skating. Parks are decorated with holiday lights.
• In mid-December, Tropicana Field hosts the NCAA football game called the St. Petersburg Bowl.
• On December 31, First Night St. Petersburg celebrates the arts across the city.
• The American Stage in the Park hosts shows at Demens Landing Park.
• The city hosts a "Second Saturday ArtWalk" every month.
• St. Petersburg hosted the 2024 Royal Rumble wrestling event in January 2024 at Tropicana Field.

Community Gatherings

Pride Month is celebrated every June to recognize and support LGBTQ+ people. The city has many events, including the annual Pride Parade.

The annual Women's March, which supports women's rights and equality, used to take place in Williams Park.

Demonstrations and protests also took place in the city following the murder of George Floyd.

Tourist Attractions

St. Petersburg has many museums for visitors. There's the Great Explorations children's museum and a Museum of Fine Arts. The Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement opened in 2021. The St. Petersburg Museum of History has a copy of the Benoist XIV seaplane, near where the first commercial flight took off. The Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum celebrates African American heritage. The Florida Holocaust Museum and the Salvador Dalí Museum are also here. The Dalí Museum has the largest collection of Dalí's works outside Europe, including famous paintings like The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. The Chihuly Collection shows amazing glass sculptures by Dale Chihuly.

There are many smaller art galleries and entertainment places downtown, like the Mahaffey Theater and the Palladium Theatre.

The old St. Petersburg Pier closed in 2013 and was replaced by a new pier that opened in 2020. The Bounty, a replica of a famous ship, used to be docked near the pier for many years.

The downtown Sundial shopping complex opened in 2014. It has a 12-screen movie theater, restaurants, and shops. You can also find many different kinds of restaurants downtown.

Every Saturday morning from October to May, downtown hosts a farmers' market at Al Lang Stadium. Local sellers offer fresh produce and handmade goods, and there's live music.

West of downtown, the 600 Block Arts District has unique art and clothing stores. The Crislip Arcade, built in 1925, is one of the few original shopping arcades left. Further west is the Grand Central District, known for its art and LGBT community, and the annual St. Pete Pride parade. Haslam's Bookstore, once the largest independent bookstore in Florida, was also in this area.

St. Petersburg has two historic neighborhoods: Roser Park and Grenada Terrace. Both are known for their beautiful old houses.

A bronze statue of Elder Jordan stands on 22nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Jordan was born into slavery but bought his freedom at age 15 and became a successful businessman in St. Petersburg.

North of downtown, the Great Explorations Children's Museum is an interactive museum with a pretend Children's Village. It's next to Sunken Gardens, a botanical garden.

4th Street, from downtown up to Gandy Boulevard, has many restaurants and bars.

Boyd Hill Nature Park, on Lake Maggiore, is a 245-acre preserve where you can see rare plants and wildlife, including bald eagles and owls.

The main shopping mall is Tyrone Square Mall, located in the northwestern part of the city.

Filming Locations

St. Petersburg has been a filming location for many movies, including Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Cocoon (1985), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Dolphin Tale (2011), and Magic Mike (2012).

Sports in St. Petersburg

Professional sports clubs in the Tampa Bay area

Club	Sport	League	Venue
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Football	National Football League	Raymond James Stadium, Tampa
Tampa Bay Lightning	Ice hockey	National Hockey League	Amalie Arena, Tampa
Tampa Bay Rays	Baseball	Major League Baseball	George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa
Tampa Bay Rowdies	Soccer	United Soccer League	Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg
Bay Area Pelicans	Rugby	USA Rugby Union	Sawgrass Park, St. Petersburg
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg	Auto racing	IndyCar	Downtown Waterfront

The Tampa-St. Petersburg area has teams in four major professional sports: soccer, football, baseball, and hockey. Two teams play in St. Petersburg: the Tampa Bay Rays (baseball) and the Tampa Bay Rowdies (soccer). The other two teams play in Tampa. All these teams represent the entire Tampa Bay area.

The Tampa Bay area hosted the Super Bowl LV in 2021, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played at Raymond James Stadium.

The Rays baseball team started in 1998. In 2008, they won their division for the first time and made it to the 2008 World Series, but lost. They also played in the 2020 World Series.

The Rays play their regular season games at Tropicana Field. From 1998 to 2008, they also held their spring training games at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg. This was special because they were the only team to do both in their home city for over 70 years. Since 2009, they train in Port Charlotte. Tropicana Field also hosted the 1999 Final Four college basketball tournament. The main office for Minor League Baseball is in St. Petersburg. Due to hurricane damage, the Rays played their 2025 season in Tampa.

St. Petersburg hosts the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, an IndyCar Series race that started in 2005. The race takes place on downtown streets, including a runway at Albert Whitted Airport. In 2012, a road was renamed Dan Wheldon Way to honor Dan Wheldon, a racer who won the 2005 race and later died in an accident.

The Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer team moved to Al Lang Stadium in 2011. This stadium is named after Al Lang, a former mayor who helped bring baseball spring training to the city. The Rowdies have made Al Lang Stadium a soccer-only facility.

The Bay Area Pelicans Rugby Football Club has been based in St. Petersburg since 1977.

Education in St. Petersburg

Schools for Kids

Public schools in St. Petersburg are managed by Pinellas County Schools. High schools within the city include:

• Gibbs High School
• Lakewood High School
• Northeast High School
• St. Petersburg High School
• St. Petersburg Collegiate High School

Private high schools include:

• Canterbury School of Florida
• St. Petersburg Catholic High School
• Shorecrest Preparatory School
• Admiral Farragut Academy

Some high schools just outside the city limits are:

• Hollins High School
• Keswick Christian School
• Northside Christian School

The Science Center of Pinellas County teaches thousands of students each year through field trips and workshops.

Colleges and Universities

St. Petersburg has several colleges and universities:

• The University of South Florida St. Petersburg is a campus of the University of South Florida system, with 6,500 students.
• Eckerd College, founded in 1958, is a private four-year college.
• The Poynter Institute is a journalism institute that owns the Tampa Bay Times newspaper.
• Stetson Law School is in Gulfport, next to St. Petersburg.
• St. Petersburg College, founded in 1927, is a state college with 11 campuses and centers, four of which are in St. Petersburg.

Other colleges in the wider Tampa Bay Area include the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa.

City Services

Getting Around St. Petersburg

Roads and Bridges

St. Petersburg is connected to Tampa by bridges across Tampa Bay. To the south, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (Interstate 275) connects the city to Bradenton. The Travel Channel called the Skyway Bridge one of the top 10 best bridges in the world. Other interstates, I-175 and I-375, lead into downtown. The Gandy Bridge, opened in 1924, was the first bridge to connect St. Petersburg and Tampa directly.

Airports

Tampa International Airport (TPA) is nearby and serves many passengers. St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) has flights to smaller cities, with Allegiant Air offering year-round service. Albert Whitted Airport is a smaller airport near downtown.

Public Transportation

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) provides public transportation. A sightseeing trolley called The Looper travels to downtown spots like the university, Sundial, and museums. You can also rent bikes through Coast Bike Share.

In 2022, PSTA launched the SunRunner, a fast bus service connecting downtown St. Petersburg to St. Pete Beach. It's the first of its kind in the Tampa Bay Area.

Trains

CSX Transportation operates a train line that runs through nearby cities. The part of the line that used to go into downtown St. Petersburg was closed in 2008. A former train line on the western coast was turned into a popular walking and biking path called the Pinellas Trail.

Ports and Marinas

The Port of St. Petersburg is a main sea transportation area downtown. There are also boat marinas like the Municipal Marina and Harborage Marina. A ferry service runs from St. Pete to downtown Tampa.

City Utilities

Duke Energy provides electricity to St. Petersburg. TECO Energy provides gas to businesses. The city of St. Petersburg provides its own water services.

Global Connections

Sister Cities

St. Petersburg is part of the Sister Cities International group, which connects cities around the world.

• Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan (since 1961)
• Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo, Mexico (since 2016)

Each year, St. Pete sponsors three high school students to visit Takamatsu, Japan, for a summer exchange.

Twin Cities

• Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Figueres, Catalonia, Spain (since 2011)

See also

In Spanish: San Petersburgo (Florida) para niños