Beach Memories,
Photos & Stories of the Old Days
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If you have any memories of the places in the photos above, we'd like to hear from you.  We are always looking for "new" old photos and stories about the "old days".   If you have pictures of places or people from St. Pete Beach that you'd like to share, or if you have a picture that you would like to find out more about, please email them to us by  clicking here. If you can't email them, have a copy made and snail-mail the copy to:

Johnson's Garage  This was Johnson's Garage (old McArthur's Garage) sent in by Caroline Johnson Dore whose father was Pete Johnson.

Western end of Corey Avenue  "Charlie And Dick's Oasis Pub" at the west end of Corey Avenue. Many no doubt recall the great times listening to Dick Watkins playing the accordion and listening to his sister June singing. In fact, many people sang and that's before Karaoke. BTW, the car pictured appears to be a 1958 Oldsmobile.

Corey Avenue ended where a fishing pier jutted out over Blind Pass, next to the beach. Later, the beach was filled in for a parking lot and paved, and Sunset Way joined Corey Avenue. This location is now Philthy Phil's.

Guess who this is?   She is a member of the Pass-a-Grille Woman's Club, Pass-a-Grille Beach Community Church and a docent at the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum. This picture was taken in 1960.

8th Street   This location of this picture is now Merry Pier on 8th Avenue. Date is unknown but it can be "guess-timated" from the age of the parked car.

21st Street   The Patton home (circa 1950) before the curbs were installed.  A Doctor's office was at the corner (not shown) which is now the location of the Circle K convenience store. Note the Pine trees that had to be removed as a fire hazard after a hard freeze. This home was trucked over the old Corey Causeway from the mainland in 1934.

Comments: The freeze that killed the Australian Pine Trees was in 1962, the same year my parent's fruit shipping business in Seminole (Bakers Fruit Shippers) lost their grapefruit trees which today are under the Bickley Annex Trailer Park. The Circle K formerly was where Dr. Kirkpatrick, an osteopath, had his office. He treated my Irish Setter Lady for a rattlesnake bite.
Barbara Smith

Pass-a-Grille Beach Hotel    The Pass-a-Grille Beach Hotel was located between 9th and 10th Avenue on the Gulf side. It was owned by the Eckerd family and was great for visiting guests and tourists. It burned down in 1969 from an electrical fire, I was told. We used to climb under the lunch deck shown in the photo and sift the sand for coins. Once we found .50 cents and were off like the wind to get a soda at the drugstore on 8th Avenue. The hotel was a great meeting place. 
Cleo Robertson

Hubbard Hotel    The Hubbard Hotel was located on the north side of 8th Street (it is now 8th Avenue), on the alley across from Shadracks and next to the Keystone Hotel (the lot is empty now). I do not know why it went away...fire perhaps. Hopefully someone will tell us; there are many Hubbards still around. Back in the 1950´s my brother, Tommy Robertson, was in the Air Force. On one of the few occasions he came home, Mom celebrated and took us all out to dinner (this is the only time we ever ate out, other than at the Seahorse, which was a rare occasion too.
Cleo Robertson

Old Brochures from Pass-A-Grille Beach Courtesy of Fairhaven Estate

(Click each photo to view the Brochures)