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PINELLAS PAST & PRESENT

 
Published Feb. 17, 1992|Updated Oct. 10, 2005

The building pictured on this postcard housed the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church from 1914 to 1967 at 332 Third St. N in St. Petersburg. In 1967, the new 1,300-seat church at 701 Beach Drive NE was completed. In May 1967, 1,000 members of the congregation marched the six blocks from the old sanctuary to the new one.

The old red brick building _ with 34 usable meeting rooms and offices, a fellowship hall that would seat 200, and a sanctuary with a seating capacity of 1,107 _ was offered to the city's tourist society members for $7,500 a year. The estimated operating cost was $15,000 a year, and it was thought the society, with more than 6,000 members, could support the cost with dues. Alas, that plan did not materialize, and there were no other takers.

Cuyahoga Wrecking Co. demolished the church in December 1967. There are now two empty lots on the site.

The First Presbyterian Church was organized in 1894 with 16 members. The group initially shared space with the Methodists. In 1901 the Presbyterians had their own building.

The church pictured on Myron Quimby's postcard sufficed for the growing congregation for 53 years, when it was deemed "bursting at the seams."

_ Information in this story came from the St. Petersburg Times library. The postcard was submitted by Myron Quimby.