Historically St. Pete: How an open-air post office became a downtown St. Pete landmark

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The open air post office in downtown St. petersburg looking west in 1970 | St. Petersburg Museum of History

At St. Pete Rising, we are constantly providing comprehensive coverage on everything new and coming soon to the Sunshine City, but we think it’s also important to take a look back at our city's rich history.

Introducing Historically St. Pete, a new monthly column on St. Pete Rising written by Rui Farias, Executive Director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History, which will cover everything from the legend of underground mobster tunnels to the buildings and people that created the Sunshine City.

Follow us each month as we explore how these projects shaped St. Pete into the city we know and love today.

This month, we explore the history of downtown St. Petersburg's Open Air Post Office, one of the first of its kind in the United States.

John Bethel’s Big Bayou home, the only post office on the lower Pinellas Peninsula from 1876 to 1885 | St. Petersburg Museum of History

As you walk through the Snell Arcade, you cannot help but notice the amazing fresco of Venice high on the wall. It is a reminder of a time 100 years ago when C. Perry Snell and other city leaders used architecture, art, and our waterfront to transform St. Petersburg into an Italian paradise.

Homes, hotels, and high schools were built in the Mediterranean Revival style. Even Coffee Pot Bayou had its own gondola dock.

So why not our post office?

St. Petersburg’s early post offices included John Bethel’s Big Bayou home—the only post office on the lower Pinellas Peninsula from 1876 to 1885; E.R. and Ella Ward’s general store in Wardsville, the name given to the area near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and Central Avenue, when the Orange Belt Railway arrived in 1888; and, in 1905, a creatively designed wooden open-air post office built on Central Avenue by philanthropist Edwin Tomlinson.

As development accelerated and people poured into St. Petersburg, it became clear that the growing city needed a new main post office.

And not just any cookie-cutter, Washington-ordered, boring square building.

Construction of St. Petersburg’s open air post office in 1916 | St. Petersburg Museum of History

Local Postmaster Roy S. Hanna and others believed St. Pete needed a post office worthy of the newly Mediterranean-styled Sunshine City.

Hanna conceived the idea of a new Open Air Post Office in 1916, and architect George Stuart—who had also designed the St. Petersburg Yacht Club—was hired to bring the vision to life. Stuart looked to Italy for inspiration and found it in Florence. His design was modeled after the 1424 Ospedale degli Innocenti.

The First Congregational Church, which had stood at the corner of 1st Avenue North and 4th Street since 1889, was razed. Hanna secured a $100,000 appropriation from Congress, and construction began.

For a town determined to present the best of Europe to its winter visitors, the new Open Air Post Office was breathtaking.

The authorities in Washington, however, were not exactly thrilled that St. Petersburg had broken ranks with traditional post office design. The St. Petersburg Times reported on September 28, 1917, that the federal government was reluctant to allow an outsider to go over the heads of experienced post office architects.

Postal workers in 1919, William Straub is center back row | St. Petersburg Museum of History

But once the building was completed, the U.S. Postmaster General apparently had a change of heart and ordered identical Open Air Post Offices built in other cities around the nation.

When the new Open Air Post Office was dedicated in 1917, it was open on the north, south, and east sides, allowing customers to conduct their business in the open air. The post office boxes were accessible 24 hours a day, making it easier not only to retrieve mail but also to send those classic “wish you were here” postcards.

It was the only post office of its kind in the United States.

The tradition of delivering mail by bicycle was also conceived by Postmaster Roy S. Hanna. Bicycle mail delivery began in 1917 and continues today in the 33701 ZIP Code. St. Pete remains one of the few cities in the nation where mail is still delivered by bicycle.

Located in the heart of downtown, the Open Air Post Office quickly became a center of activity for residents and visitors alike. That included newsboys like me, selling the Evening Independent on its steps.

St. petersburg’s open air post office in the 1950s | St. Petersburg Museum of History

There was talk of demolishing the Open Air Post Office in 1972. But groups of enraged citizens stormed City Hall, protesting even the suggestion of tearing it down. The St. Petersburg Open Air Post Office was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1975.

A visit to the Open Air Post Office today is a stroll back in time. Much of the original building remains intact, with only a few modern additions—like air conditioning.

But be careful when heading back to your car. Those bicycle mail carriers still own the sidewalk.

A look at downtown St. Pete’s open-air post office in modern times | Facebook