Featured image: Lodwick created publicity stunts like the “Purity League,” which had Mayor Frank Pulver measuring the length of ladies bathing attire to assure it complied with a (fictitious) city ordinance, image c 1922. Courtesy of St. Petersburg Museum of History

Babe Ruth is rightly credited with putting St. Pete on the national map, as early St. Pete Mayor and baseball booster Al Lang reflected, “The Yankees with Babe Ruth and their stars meant millions to this town.” But there was another promoter diligently working to do the same. His name was John Lodwick.

Lodwick was born in 1890. He began his career as a messenger boy at age 13 for the Associated Press in Cleveland, Ohio.… Read More

Featured image: For generations, Williams Park has served as St. Petersburg’s original city square. Image via Florida Memory.

On a recent Saturday during Localtopia, Williams Park didn’t feel like an afterthought. It felt like a destination.

Families filled the walkways. Food trucks lined the park’s edge. Neighbors lingered beneath 82 shade trees while music drifted from the bandshell. For a few hours, St. Petersburg’s first public space looked exactly like what it was meant to be in 1888: a town square.

That description isn’t accidental. “It was the first platted public space for the city,” said Shaun Drinkard, vice president of the St.… Read More

City Councilmember Corey Givens, Local Mural artist Laura Spencer, and PTB Executive Director Manny Leto in the new PTB space.

When Preserve the ‘Burg cut the ribbon on its new headquarters on November 8 in the Warehouse Arts District, the moment marked far more than an office upgrade. For the nearly 50-year-old organization, founded in 1977, and long operating without a walk-in space for the public, the opening represents a new era of presence, accessibility, and community engagement in St. Petersburg. 

“We’ve never had a public-facing office, a place where people could come and interact with us,” says Executive Director Manny Leto.… Read More

Jeff Schorr, who is moving on after 23 years running the Craftsman House, says the property made an impression on him from the first minute he saw it.

On December 10, 2025, the Craftsman House hosted a joint holiday and farewell party, marking the end of an era. For 23 years, this historic property in Grand Central District has been owned and tended by Jeff Schorr as a gallery, café, pottery studio, music venue, and community space. Now, as Schorr embarks on his next chapter, so will the house.  

As Craftsman House transitions into its next iteration, we’re taking a look back at 2955 Central Avenue’s storied century.… Read More

Want a New Year’s resolution that doesn’t require a diet? Perhaps consider getting to know and appreciate some of our city’s historic buildings a little better. Only one percent of the city’s buildings is designated a local historic landmark, however many residents and visitors know little about them. Let us take you on a virtual tour of a few.

Detroit Hotel (215 Central Avenue) 

It is said that the history of a city may be read on its buildings. That is certainly the case with the Detroit Hotel, the first building constructed in the city.… Read More

Featured image: Founder Michelle Sasha, left, and artist Jazzy Erickson are helping to lead the Love Thy Neighbor Project.

While street murals highlighting diversity and inclusion have been removed from the roadways around the region, those who still believe in that sentiment are finding new ways to express it. From flags to art to hand-painted signs in windows, neighbors are showing that love and tolerance still have a public face in our city. And at least one artist-driven movement, Love Thy Neighbor Project, is working to bring murals of empowerment and diversity to homes across Pinellas County.

Driveways, mailboxes, and doorsteps are being altered to host murals designed to, according to the project’s website, “celebrate inclusivity and honor marginalized communities.” The… Read More

St. Pete’s Historic Old Northeast neighborhood is a bland suburban HOA’s worst nightmare – in the best way possible. Few houses are alike. Many feature personalized touches like lawn ornaments, large artworks, fountains, or lush gardens – every block seems to have its own character.

One thing many residents do share: Historic Old Northeast Neighborhood Association (HONNA) flags hanging proudly from porches. The flags, and all HONNA branding, come in varying colors and designs, but with no unified theme – until now.

“We’re the oldest neighborhood in the city, and everyone knows who we are, so that made us a little lazy [about branding],” HONNA President Nick Bell said, laughing.… Read More

Ever since Lincoln declared an annual day of Thanksgiving in 1863, it became customary for presidents to issue a Proclamation of Thanksgiving each year. And in 1925, Calvin Coolidge did so on October 26th. His proclamation spoke to a year of national prosperity, noting that the nation was blessed with “resources whose potentiality in wealth is almost incalculable” and that the nation’s people “should set ourselves against evil and strive for righteousness in living, and observing the Golden Rule we should from our abundance help and serve those less fortunately placed.” (Coolidge incidentally made a visit to St. Pete with his wife Grace after he left office and stayed at the Vinoy Hotel.… Read More

As the adage goes, history repeats itself. But one St. Petersburg museum is intent on ensuring that never happens.

In their own words, the Florida Holocaust Museum (FHM) “honors the memory of millions of innocent men, women, and children who suffered or died in the Holocaust. The museum is dedicated to teaching people of all races and cultures the inherent worth and dignity of human life in order to prevent future genocides.”

The FHM, now one of the largest of its kind in the country, was founded in Madeira Beach in 1992 by Walter P. Loebenberg, a Holocaust survivor and U.S.… Read More

Pictured: Venouziou, right, and her friends Monica and Brian Guerrero celebrated her new citizenship outside the Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in Tampa.

For the last forty years, Ester Venouziou has felt as American as any of her friends and neighbors. But now, this renowned small business advocate has taken her oath and made it official. On August 5, 2025, alongside one hundred other applicants in the Citizenship and Immigration Services field office in Tampa, she became an U.S. citizen.

As the founder of LocalShops1 and St. Pete’s legendary Shopapalooza festival, Venouziou’s interest in small business began with her parents, two Greek immigrants who owned a fabric and linen business in Manaus, Brazil.… Read More