The road now known as 22nd Street S was once a sprawling dirt trail on the edge of a fledgling St. Petersburg. This road and Ninth Avenue S became the home and eventual nerve center for St. Petersburg’s Civil Rights movement.
After the Civil War, African-Americans were enticed to journey to St. Petersburg with hope of securing jobs as construction workers, but were quickly routed to the southern edge of town.
This historic crossroads is now the center for a new African-American heritage trail. The trail was funded by a $50,000 state grant from the Division of Historical Resources for the installation of 20 signs denoting historic locations along the roadways.
The city searched for historians and people who had lived through the era to capture as much information as possible. Many elder members of the community began passing away in the past few years and former Mayor Bill Foster decided it was necessary to preserve the history of this area. A steering committee was formed for the determination of what should be included on the trail. The committee was headed by Gwen Reese, a long time resident of the Midtown area.
Jim Crow laws were prevalent through the South after the Civil War, causing members of the black community in St. Petersburg to be pushed south from downtown. This prevented them from appearing on the white side of town. They were denied entertainment, professional services and equal occupational opportunity.
The two corridors of 22nd Street and Ninth Avenue S became the answer to these needs. The 22nd Street S corridor was business and entertainment oriented, while Ninth Avenue S sported the Jordan Academy, a civic center for black equality.
Elder Jordan Sr., a paramount member of St. Petersburg, was born a slave but became a free man and ultimately an entrepreneur. Jordan began to lay the groundwork for what was to become a booming cultural hub.
He passed away in 1936 before ever seeing the neighborhood at its peak. The flag at City Hall was lowered half mast, a rare honor for an African-American at the time of his death.
Jordan gave a personal loan during the Great Depression and later created Jordan Academy, which expanded the potential for black education. The academy was later renamed Jordan Elementary.
Jordan created the Manhattan Casino, originally the Jordan Dance hall and a staple for community entertainment. The Manhattan hosted some of the finest American performers of the time, including jazz musician Louis Armstrong.
World War II offered an opportunity to American minorities that individuals like Jordan had been striving to provide. After the war minorities that enlisted to serve demanded that they not to be shoved back into their former social positions.
Leading the fight in civil justice for St. Petersburg was Dr. Ralph Wimbish and his wife C. Bette Wimbish. The couple began a battle for desegregation on every level of society while bettering the conditions of the neighborhood they called home.
Dr. Ralph Wimbish became the founder of the Ambassador Club which gave a voice to professional African-American men in the call for desegregation. His wife, C. Bette Wimbish, similarly fought for desegregation and was the first women of color elected to St. Petersburg’s City council.
The couple constructed the Wimbish building which housed the Doctor’s Pharmacy, the first black owned and operated pharmacy in the neighborhood. It was the actions of individuals such as Elder Jordan Sr. and the Wimbish family that formed a basis for progress of the black community in America.
The Manhattan Casino and modern day Sylvia’s restaurant flies by first at the northernmost point of the crossroads. An overpass of Interstate 275 looms high above, as if a gateway of another time, then continuing southwest until it crosses Ninth Avenue.
Travel southbound and a closer look reveals so much more than what initially meets the eye.
Despite a slight sense of age emitted from fading building fronts, St. Petersburg’s sprawling grid iron structure remains apparent.
The Royal Theatre with a semi-circular roof, is a typical Quonset-hut design popular in the South. Amidst these visions of the past stand new buildings and businesses. Even a St. Petersburg College location is present.
Along 22nd Street, there are grocery stores, doctor’s offices, beer gardens and nightclubs, while Ninth Avenue includes important churches, schools and neighborhoods.
The trail now illuminates and preserves a portion of St. Petersburg’s past. Any person interested in becoming more knowledgeable about St. Petersburg’s cultural history can explore and learn along the new African-American Heritage trail.
