On March 3, 1845, Florida became the 27th state of the United States. After 23 years as a U.S. territory, and centuries under Spanish rule with […]

Albert Fielding Lang, known as Al Lang, was a businessman and mayor of St. Petersburg from 1916 to 1920. Born in Pittsburgh in 1870, he moved […]

On November 3, 1985, Willy T. Ribbs won the inaugural St. Petersburg Grand Prix, a high-octane street race that drew thousands to the downtown waterfront. Bayfront […]

Charley Pride is best remembered as a groundbreaking country music star, but before Nashville, he was chasing a very different dream: professional baseball. Pride was born […]

World War II forced America to rethink who could serve, and women were ready. In 1942, the WAAC, later known as the WAC, and the Navy’s […]

For Florida, the treaty meant a formal transfer of sovereignty. Spain surrendered its claims to territory east of the Mississippi River, closing a chapter marked by […]

On February 20, 1919, St. Petersburg celebrated the grand opening of one of downtown’s newest showpieces, the Pheil Theater, built by former mayor A.C. Pheil just […]

Born on February 18, 1894, Hubert Whitfield Rutland Sr. was one of St. Petersburg’s most influential entrepreneurs, helping shape downtown through retail, real estate, and banking. […]

On May 6, 1968, more than 200 Black sanitation workers in St. Petersburg walked off the job. They were demanding fair pay and better working conditions, […]