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 the 100-year-old Princess Martha, one of the city’s first luxury hotels.

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 St. Petersburg’s Carnegie Library at Mirror Lake, built in 1915 and still standing today.

Long before C. Perry Snell’s crown jewel reached into the Sunshine City’s blue skies, the northwest corner of 4th Street and Central Avenue was known as the “The Hub of St. Petersburg’s Commercial Activities.”

The city’s original business district was located near 9th Street and Baum Avenue, but when Charles Durant opened a bakery on Central and 4th, the Durant Block was born. In 1897, as downtown continued to lure businesses from 9th Street, Arthur Norwood opened his second store on the Durant Block, connecting it to his 9th Street Store with the town’s first telephone line.

It was saltwater taffy magnate, Noel A. Mitchell, who made the corner the center of St. Pete’s universe. Soon after opening his real estate office in “Mitchell’s Corner” in 1907, the “Sandman” placed his first set of benches on the sidewalk for weary travelers to sit and learn about the property deals to be had in St. Pete. Although the original benches were not green, they soon would be.