Gulf To Bay St. Pete Clearwater FL

If we were to time travel to Florida’s past, we’d no doubt see the villages of the Calusa, Tocobaga and other Native American tribes who laid their claims to St. Pete/Clearwater’s waterfront millennia before European settlers. They flourished for centuries, and you can visit their ceremonial mounds at Maximo Park and Jungle Prada in St. Pete and Phillippe Park in Safety Harbor. While Native Americans had the Florida life down, others were reluctant to brave the heat and mosquitoes. Some intrepid settlers, however, powered through to live and thrive here pre-air-conditioning and pre-medical breakthroughs against malaria and other diseases. They preceded the throngs who moved here after World War II by several decades.

Smugglers and homesteaders were the first to settle on the shores of this hamlet southwest of St. Pete. And if you ask some longtime residents, there are some old ghosts too. The Gulfport Casino, a minty green dance hall that had its heyday in the 1940s, can be found right on the town’s lovely little beach. It’s where you can get gussied up and enjoy ballroom, salsa and swing dances and lessons. Venture to the back to see the tomb of Morris the Cat, the famous TV feline who became the city’s unofficial mascot (and whose spirit is said to wander near the casino). Walking tours of the downtown area are offered by the Gulfport Historical Society. The Historic Peninsula Inn, a dog-friendly boutique hotel built in 1905, houses a restaurant, Isabelle’s, named after the inn’s friendly ghost.

This sprawling county park beloved for its unspoiled beaches held a fortified battle station in its first incarnation. The Historic Fort, which can be found by the Gulf Pier, got its name from Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and was erected in 1900 during the Spanish-American War. No shots were fired from the fort, but it provided a safe haven and place to store munitions for wars to come before the government donated it to the county. See some of Fort De Soto’s artillery and learn about the fort’s history at the Quartermaster Museum.

What’s old is new again at the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club, where families and couples take part in a time-honored Florida tradition. Neglected for several decades, the world's oldest and largest shuffleboard club was founded in 1924. Now it’s a hotbed of activity just like the olden days. The best time to visit is during its St. Pete Shuffle nights from 7 to 10 p.m. every Friday.

Pass-a-Grille, an old Tocobaga community and later an early settler fish camp, gets its name from the French “Passe aux Grilleurs,” literally translated, “passageway of the grillers,” according to historian W. H. Straub. You can learn more by picking up a self-guided walking tour that details the backstories of the historic homes and buildings you’ll pass by in a free brochure available at the fascinating Gulf Beaches Historical Museum, formerly a 1917 church.

Amid the chic and contemporary new haunts in St. Pete Beach, the town’s vintage landmarks give it a distinctive personality that hearkens back to the 1950s boom time of the great American road trip. Drive by condos with breezeblocks and motor hotels of yesteryear, such as the Bon-Aire Resort, and you can just picture horn-rim-wearing dads in station wagons pulling out their AAA maps to make sure they had the right place.

No doubt those mid-century American families stopped at the Polynesian Putter, one of the area’s kitschiest landmarks, to play a round of mini golf, putting through giant Tiki-style moguls.

Locals and tourists alike would gather for movie matinees at the Beach Theatre on Corey Avenue, which still has that Main Street USA vibe.

With a name inspired by a 1939 Life magazine contest for newlyweds, Honeymoon Island details its storied past and wildlife at the park’s Rotary Centennial Nature Center, where you can learn about the couples who won a honeymoon on what was once Hog Island (once connected to what is now Caladesi Island).

In 1957 when Westerns about cowboys going to battle with Apaches galloped across TV screens, the Thunderbird Beach Resort began beckoning families with its iconic neon sign in the shape of a Native American totem-style thunderbird forming the letter T. Even today, the town of Treasure Island still has that air of wholesome 20th-century fun, boasting a smattering of colorful vintage motels and residences still dotting the landscape.

Drive a little north to Madeira Beach, and the peppermint-striped Candy Kitchen, built in 1950, is still bustling, catering to beachgoers with lollipops and other confections, as well as ice cream.

Amid the towering palms lining Edgewater Drive, the Fenway Hotel, built in 1924, became a hot spot for flappers and their beaus during the Jazz Age. Home to “Live from the Fenway,” the Mediterranean Revival resort was home to the county’s first radio station. Reopened in 2018, the hotel has entered the 21st century with style, offering rooms with Amazon Alexa-powered amenities.

Greek immigrants settled and pioneered the sponge industry at the turn of the 20th century. The fishing village became a tourist attraction in the mid-20th century, and a remnant of that time still piles on the local lore and quirkiness heavier than the scent of garlic in a gyro restaurant. Spongeorama is a veritable slice of roadside America. Since 1968, the museum has used dioramas to educate visitors about the local Greek tradition of sponge diving.

2,000+ years ago: The Calusa tribe settled the shores of St. Pete/Clearwater.

1528-1539: The Spanish explorers Pánfilo de Narváez (1528) and Hernando de Soto (1539) are the first Europeans to visit the region. Local lore says they landed at Jungle Prada in west-central St. Pete.

1875: Detroit investor John C. Williams purchases land in what is now St. Pete.

1888: Peter Demens, who built a railroad that reached the area in 1888, inaugurates the city with Williams. Demens names it after his Russian birthplace.

1892: Henry Scharrer completes construction on his landmark Caladesi homestead on the island formerly known as Hog Island. He and his family live there until 1934.

1902: Sunken Gardens opens after George Turner, a plumber with a green thumb, purchases a 6-acre sinkhole and pond at 1825 Fourth St. N., and transforms it into a botanical paradise.

1906: Once named Clear Water Harbor for the springs by its bluffs, Clearwater is officially named.

1914: Pilot Tony Jannus makes the world’s first scheduled commercial flight, flying from St. Pete to Tampa, across Tampa Bay.

1924: The Gandy Bridge opens and is the first bridge to connect St. Pete/Clearwater to Tampa across Old Tampa Bay.

1925: Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig go to bat in New York Yankees spring training games in St. Pete’s Waterfront Park. The two are rumored to have played catch across the courtyard of their Flori-de-Leon penthouse apartments.

1928: Real estate scion Thomas Rowe opens the Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach.

1935: Dunedin magnate B.C. Skinner develops the first frozen orange juice concentrate for consumer use.

1956: Elvis Presley sells out three shows in one day in downtown St. Pete, drawing mobs to Central Avenue.

1957: The U.S. government donates a WWII airfield to operate as a commercial airport. Today it’s known as the St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.

1961: Doors frontman Jim Morrison began his college education at St. Petersburg Junior College (now St. Petersburg College) and recited poetry at the Beaux Arts Coffeehouse in Pinellas Park.

1965: Mick Jagger wrote the lyrics “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the pool of the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater four days before they went into the studio.

1972: Clearwater Marine Science Center (now Clearwater Marine Aquarium) is incorporated as a nonprofit organization by a group of dedicated volunteers who want to establish a permanent marine biology learning center in the area. 1983: The first Hooters restaurant opens in Clearwater on State Road 60.

1995: Dunedin Brewery, Florida’s first craft beer and ale brewery, opens in downtown Dunedin. 1998: The first-ever Tampa Bay Devil Rays Major League Baseball game is played at St. Pete's Tropicana Field.

2011: The new Dalí Museum designed by architect Yann Weymouth reopened in what Forbes magazine called an “architectural fantasy that would become one of the highest-rated museum attractions globally.”

2003: St. Pete Pride hosts the first Pride Promenade. Today, St. Pete Pride is the largest Pride celebration in the state of Florida.

2022: St. Petersburg Council designates Jack Kerouac’s house in Disston Heights as a historic site.

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