Postcard History

When winter arrives in the Northeast and Midwest, the snowbirds head to Florida to escape the freezing temperatures and snow. Let’s take a trip to St. Petersburg and exchange cold northern gusts for perpetual sunshine and the warm breezes off the Gulf of Mexico. St. Petersburg averages 361 days of sunshine annually and its Sunshine City nickname dates to 1910. By the 1920s, St. Petersburg attracted 300,000 visitors annually. Its population in the 1920 census was only 14,237.

The Million Dollar Pier in St. Petersburg opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1926. It was built after a 1921 hurricane devastated the waterfront and a newspaper editor challenged the city to build a “million-dollar pier” to provide entertainment facilities for the city’s tourist trade.

A fund-raising drive was conducted to construct a pier. Connected to downtown by a streetcar line, the 1,400-foot-long pier featured a swimming area (known as Spa Beach), a fishing facility, a Mediterranean Revival style casino with an observation deck, solarium for sunbathing, and a ballroom. Initially the ballroom was open air but was enclosed after summer rainstorms drenched dancers. Visitors to the pier could watch regattas, speedboat races, and water-skiing competitions. It quickly became the center of St. Petersburg social life and drew millions of visitors over the course of its lifetime. African Americans were banned from setting foot on the pier or using Spa Beach. Unfortunately, pier maintenance was poor and demolition came in 1967.

A postcard mailed in January 1939, shows St. Petersburg’s famous green benches. A local real estate developer installed the first benches to provide a place for residents and tourists to relax and socialize. Other businesses followed suit. A city ordinance adopted in 1916 required that the benches be painted green. It was estimated that there were 7,000 benches in long rows lining the city streets. The benches were removed in the 1960s when St. Petersburg officials decided that it gave the city a geriatric image and hindered the efforts to attract younger tourists, but even today, a few businesses have green benches as a nostalgic throwback to the early days. Like the Million Dollar Pier, African Americans were banned from sitting on the benches.

Overlooking Tampa Bay, the Soreno Hotel opened on January 1, 1924, and was one of ten hotels constructed in St. Petersburg during the 1920s. St. Petersburg’s first million-dollar hotel, the Soreno’s opening marked St. Petersburg’s emergence as a major winter tourist destination.

Six stories tall, the Mediterranean style hotel had 250 rooms, all with a private bath. A seventh floor was constructed in 1929, adding 50 more rooms. During World War II, the military used St. Petersburg as a major training center and commandeered most of the city’s hotels as military facilities including the Soreno. After the war, the Soreno reopened but was forced to close in 1984 after being cited for numerous fire code violations.

On January 25, 1992, the Soreno was imploded because the city had ignored attempts to save the historic landmark. Footage of the implosion was incorporated in Lethal Weapon 3 starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.

The Suwannee Hotel in downtown St. Petersburg opened on December 10, 1923, and became one of the Sunshine City’s premier hotels during the tourist boom of the 1920s. Constructed of orange brick, it had 118 rooms and cost over $1 million to build.

An additional 85 rooms were added in 1926. Unlike some St. Petersburg hotels that closed in the summer months, it remained open and it survived the Great Depression even though the Depression had a devastating effect on the tourist trade.

During World War II, the Suwannee was the only major hotel that remained open to tourists. In the 1980s, the Suwannee was converted into an office building, and it now houses offices for Pinellas County.

A group of shuffleboard players organized the Mirror Lake Park Shuffleboard Club in 1924 and attracted 426 members during its first season. By 1927 there was a clubhouse and there were four courts. In 1928, the club was instrumental in standardizing court dimensions at 52 feet over all in length, 39 feet from baseline to baseline, and 6 feet wide. Until then the size of shuffleboard courts varied across Florida. In 1932, the club had 3,050 members and was renamed the St. Petersburg Shuffleboard Club. The annual dues were $4. During the 1930s, the club regularly hosted national tournaments.

By the end of the 1930s there were 116 courts and in 1944 the membership had increased to 5,000. Through the 1950s and ‘60s membership remained steady, and the club survived an attempt to turn the site into a downtown parking lot. Today there are 2,600 members in the club and young hipsters have taken up the sport. Friday night games are open to the public and feature music and food.

Williams Park is named for a St. Petersburg founder, John Constantine Williams, Sr. The park was opened in 1888 and located in the center of the business district. Due to its location, it soon became a popular luncheon spot for downtown workers and shoppers. Its bandstand was built in 1894 and served as a venue for concerts, political rallies, and civic celebrations.

Many visitors to St. Petersburg would have used the open-air post office to send postcards to their friends and family. The St. Petersburg post office was the first of several outdoor post offices opened in the southern states. It was noted for the tremendous amount of mail sent during the winter months.

Any visit to the Sunshine City would not be complete without a stop at Webb’s City – “The World’s Most Unusual Drugstore.” Covering ten city blocks, Webb’s City had 77 departments offering one stop shopping for its customers selling everything from hardware to groceries. It also had a barber shop, beauty salon, coffee shop, cafeteria, soda shop, and of course, a drugstore. There was also a roof garden.

Founded in 1926 by James Earl “Doc” Webb (pictured on the postcard), the store’s operating philosophy was “stack it high and sell it cheap.” Webb offered entertainment to draw customers into the store including vaudeville performers, beauty contests, circus acts, and talking mermaids. Reportedly Webb’s City had the first escalator in western Florida. It also pioneered the “Express Lane” for customers with ten items or less. Webb sold his controlling interest in 1974 due to advancing age and declining health. Webb’s City closed in August 1979 and the building was demolished in 1984.