With its stone arches and towering architecture, St. Pete’s Palladium Theater commands attention. What lies inside the historic theater at 253 5th Avenue North is no less inspiring. It’s a place for local acts to practice, perform, and entertain at a price dwarfed by the big-time costs of surrounding theaters.

“You’re not going to go broke playing the Palladium,” says the theater’s executive director Paul Wilborn.

Now and Then

The historic space didn’t start out as a theater. Built in 1925, the Palladium was originally a Christian Science church, the First Church of Christ, Scientist. Its white arches and cozy, tiled lobby ushered in religious St.… Read More

This year, St. Petersburg welcomes new Mayor Ken Welch, but he’s not the first member of the Welch family to play a starring role in this city’s government. David T. Welch was Mayor Welch’s father and a three-time city council member. Welch was first elected to the city council in 1981, making him the second African American council member in the city’s history. (The first was C. Bette Wimbish in 1969.) As an accountant, he owned Welch Tax Services and Accounting on 16th Street South and served as assistant director of fiscal affairs at St. Petersburg Vocational Technical Institute. He sang in the choir and taught Sunday school at Prayer Tower Church of God in Christ where his brother, Clarence, was pastor.… Read More

In the pre-dawn hours, before the onslaught of morning commuters, the Snell Isle Bridge rests. Long before the first rays of morning sun hit the tops of the tallest palms, figures emerge in the dark distance, one by one. Ghostlike, they come from every direction, gaining focus as streetlights reflect off the silver strips of their shoes and tank tops.

Who gets up this early?

It’s the morning runners. And they do mean runners; call them joggers at your peril. If you don’t know them, you might not understand. But if you know one, you probably know most of them – this tight-knit group of elite competitors for whom “going on a run” can mean 15 miles or more.… Read More

As you run, stroll, skate, or bike along the picturesque two-mile path bordering Coffee Pot Bayou across from Bird Island and Snell Isle, you may occasionally see a cluster of rapt spectators peering into the water across from a magnificent flowering tree at the intersection of 23rd Avenue NE and Coffee Pot Boulevard. Visitors excitedly nudge each other and wonder, “Can you see them? Are they there?” in hushed tones usually reserved for a sacred space.

What is going on? Passing traffic stops, children squeal, and adults quickly snap pictures on their phones as great whiskery snouts and paddle-like tails breach the water’s surface.… Read More

Before St. Petersburg was the Sunshine City, some early promoters tested a less beachy moniker: The City of Mounds. It might be surprising to learn that the area was dotted with Native American mounds of all sizes and shapes, most notably a complex of a least a dozen mounds close to the Tampa Bay shoreline around the vicinity of Booker Creek, Bayboro Harbor, and Mound Park Hospital, better known today as Bayfront Health St. Petersburg.

According to Robert J. Austin in an article published by the Florida Anthropological Society, the Shell Mound at Mound Park Hospital –  estimated to be about 20-25-feet tall with a diameter of 90-feet – was one of the most photographed mounds in Florida and a prominent tourist attraction for the growing City of St.… Read More

It must have been quite a sight to drive by the Museum of Fine Arts and see 120 Boston Terriers and their owners posing for a photo on the museum steps. Definitely a reason for a double-take. But this is St. Petersburg and we love our fur children so, it’s not really that surprising.

The occasion was the 4th annual Boston Terrier Pet Parade, held in December on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the Revolutionary War-era Boston Tea Party. Last year was the 248th anniversary of the infamous day when the ‘Sons of Liberty’ boarded a British ship and tossed a shipment of tea into Boston Harbor as a protest.… Read More

When the grandaddy of independent bookstores in St. Petersburg, Haslam’s, closed its doors at the start of the pandemic, no one thought it would be forever. A staple for local readers since the Great Depression, Haslam’s current 30,000-square-foot building is also prime real estate on Central Avenue. 

While rumors abound, dogged persistence by Tampa Bay Times reporters revealed in June that the famous Haslam Bookstore cats have been rehomed – at least for now. And third-generation owners Suzanne and Ray Hinst are “undecided” about the future.

The shuttering of Haslam’s leaves a sizable hole in the independent bookstore scene, but there’s still a lot for book lovers in the Bay Area to love, from traditional new and used sellers to hybrid shops and pop-ups.… Read More

Many birds in St. Petersburg were on the verge of extinction in the late 1800s. This was because their feathers had become unbelievably valuable. For example, the snowy egret’s fluffy mating feathers fetched thirty-two dollars an ounce – the same as the price of gold. Feathers had become quite fashionable, especially when displayed on women’s hats. The throat pouches of pelicans were made into tobacco pouches. There was even a market for wild bird eggs. The killing of birds for their feathers had become an industry for many hunters. And one of the most notorious of these was Jean Chevelier.

There is a love and obsession for dogs on Snell Isle, and in St. Petersburg in general. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love dogs, too. In fact, I am the proud owner of a pair of adorable Newfoundland’s (‘Newfies’ to those familiar with the breed). They are large, hairy, and slobbery creatures often mistaken for bears; wonderful dogs who are not very popular in the heat of St. Petersburg and more suited to the cold of the North.

But I digress. The real point of this article – and the idea that spawned it – came to me as I jogged by the beach along the path through the Old Northeast and down past Vinoy Park.… Read More

In 1961, local Black civic leaders and civil rights activists Dr. Ralph Wimbish and Dr. Robert Swain sent shockwaves through the baseball world. They refused to continue the practice of opening their homes and hotels to Black players who were not permitted to stay with their white teammates in local St. Petersburg hotels.

Their actions weren’t meant to discriminate against the Black players – just the opposite. Their stand effectively ended segregation of baseball’s spring training, and brought on the integration of hotels in St.… Read More