VINTAGE ST. PETE is a series focused on our city’s illustrious (and occasionally notorious) past. Many of these features have appeared in the Catalyst over the past...
St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman, via official proclamation, declared Nov. 19, 2016 Coney Island Day. The occasion was the 90th anniversary of Coney Island Sandwich Shop,...
This story appears in the book Vintage St. Pete: Th Golden Age of Tourism – and More (St. Petersburg Press) A photograph in the Oct. 2,...
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Trumpet player Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong said yesterday he’s given up plans for a government-sponsored trip to Russia because “The way they are...
From the corner of Rui Farias’ office, Doc Webb is always watching. Farias, director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History, considers Webb – the founder,...
Actor Henry Fonda, lured to the area with the promise of a day’s tarpon fishing, gave a short speech at the Fort De Soto Park dedication...
On a narrow stretch of sand in the town of Indian Shores, the earth has reclaimed Tiki Gardens. The tidy footpaths that meandered past neatly-manicured palm...
When filmmaker Robert Altman and a cast of A-list stars set up camp at the Don CeSar Hotel in 1979, everyone went – briefly – berserk....
The Duke Energy Center for the Arts Mahaffey Theater has been part of the downtown St. Petersburg landscape since 1965, although it’s changed considerably in appearance...
When professional musical theater made its grand entrance in St. Petersburg, it wasn’t with major-league stars, first class sound and lights and Broadway-style creature comforts like...