Remembering St. Petersburg, Florida: Sunshine City Stories

The city of St. Petersburg is known as a thriving destination on Florida's beloved Gulf coast. For the thousands of full-time residents—and the thousands more who visit each year—St. Petersburg offers an inviting atmosphere, where the warm sun shines down and the soft lapping of sparkling Gulf waters on white sand beaches drifts on the breeze.

Not long ago, though, St. Petersburg was little more than a quiet, fledgling village—a smaller, quainter Sunshine City with seemingly limitless potent...