The Detroit Hotel - significant in the history of St Petersburg because the story goes that two men flipped a coin over the naming of the city - the one from St. Petersburg, Russia won, and the one from Detroit, Michigan, was only able to name the hotel. The hotel was converted a few years ago into condominiums, many of which retain the original brick walls and wood floors. Just behind the hotel is Jannus Landing, site for many popular concerts.
This site is one of the stops on the nightly Ghost Tour of downtown St. Pete. Then you can learn who haunts Jannus Landing and the old Detroit Hotel.
This post was inspired by Mary Pope-Handy's blog about haunted buildings in her area. She even has a website HauntedRealEstate.com
so there must be LOTS of haunted houses in her home town!
I guess even haunted buildings can be attractive to some. Isn't St. Petersburg in Russia a tad colder than your hometown?
kk
Great post!
Mary - sounds like a good idea.
Kristal - it is, but St Petersburg, Russia, was one of the most enjoyable travel destinations I've been to. Lots of surprises: I found the Russian people warm, funny and very hospitable. The city is filled with canals and waterways, a Venice of the north, but with more land and parks. The architecture was fascinating - not only the typical Russian onion domes, but many buildings in the style of European palaces. It was a colorful city as well - apparently their zoning requires buildings from certain periods to stay in a certain color -- so you have blue buildings, and yellow buildings, and pink ones, etc. The beautiful domes may be gold leaf, or they may be multi-color. Had some wonderful adventures there, and I'd go back any time I had the opportunity.
And now you know.
Wikipedia says it concisely:
The city was co-founded by John C. Williams, formerly of Detroit, Michigan, who purchased the land in 1876, and by Peter Demens, who was instrumental in bringing the terminus of a railroad there in 1888. St. Petersburg was incorporated on February 29, 1892, when it had a population of only some 300 people.
It was named after Saint Petersburg, Russia, where Peter Demens had spent half of his youth. A local legend says that John C. Williams and Peter Demens flipped a coin to see who would have the honor of naming the city. Peter Demens won and named the city after his birthplace, while John C. Williams named the first hotel after his birthplace, Detroit. The Detroit Hotel still exists downtown but has been turned into a condominum. The oldest running hotel is the historic Pier Hotel, built in 1921.
We also have a downtown waterfront park called Demens Landing. That's where American Stage has their plays in the park.