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Crescent Lake |
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Crescent Lake lies at the center of its neighborhood, surrounded by a manicured 56-acre public park. East of the lake is the "Great Banyan Tree", a living "jungle gym" for generations of children. The tree is featured on the neighborhood logo. To the south is Huggins-Stengel Field, once Spring Training home for the New York Yankees and now serving the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization. Further south still is the neighborhood's most visible landmark, a 1923 water tower, repainted as a giant salt water aquarium by local muralist, Tom Stovall. East and west of the park, residential streets, some with brick paving and hex-block sidewalks, slumber beneath stately trees. Nearly every street has a view of the lake. Beyond the residential sections lie busy 4th and Martin Luther King Streets North. New businesses along these streets are rapidly transforming the area into a dining and shopping Mecca.
The Crescent Lake Neighborhood is located one mile north of St. Petersburg's central business district. Crescent Lake Neighborhood is only a short drive from shopping, restaurants, medical facilities, waterfront parks and the interstate. A cypress dugout canoe dredged from Crescent Lake in 1924, provided evidence of a Native American presence in the neighborhood. The canoe, now in the Museum of History, is thought to date from about 1800. In the 1870s and 1880s, settlers of European origin arrived and put the land to agricultural use, chiefly citrus groves. This way of life did not last long. With the completion of a streetcar line out 9th Street to 34th Avenue in 1914, the groves became valuable suburban property and subdivision began.
The opening of Crescent Lake Park in 1927, heightened the neighborhood's appeal. The park was the brainchild of master developer Perry Snell, who acquired and held the necessary parcels until the city was able to buy them. Shortly after the park opened, the city built a ball field for the New York Yankees at the south end, ensuring that national sports figures like Babe Ruth, Lou Gerhig and Joe DiMaggio would join a long list of local business and civic leaders who have been our neighbors. The neighborhood acquired its final form just before World War II, when palm-lined drives went in alongside the lake. The building boom that gripped St. Petersburg and the nation immediately following that war quickly filled all remaining lots. The architecture of Crescent Lake is an eclectic mix of early and mid-twentieth century styles. Early styles include Foursquare, American Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Art Deco and Tudor. Eighth Street has a particularly fine collection of 1920s Tudor houses. Later styles include Minimal Traditional and Ranch. Along the lake are some early Ranch-type houses dating from the late 1930s.
Crescent Lake's buildings are diverse in form as well as style. The housing stock includes single-family homes, garage apartments and small multi-family structures. Businesses along 9th Street occupy large converted dwellings, helping this busy street retain the air of the grand residential boulevard that once was. The later development along 4th Street has left the neighborhood with a lively collection of automobile-related commercial structures in the Art Deco style. Because of its natural beauty, the neighborhood has remained popular. Renewed strength in the current decade, evidenced by the growth of the Crescent Lake Neighborhood Association and the adoption of the Crescent Lake Neighborhood Plan, has led to greater visibility for the neighborhood, higher property values, restoration of aging structures, and a higher standard of maintenance. The future looks bright. Crescent Lake Boundaries are 12th Avenue North to 22nd Avenue North between 4th Street North and Martin Luther King Street North.
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