Early view of Albert Whitted Airport, Downtown St Petersburg (1913) and The Million Dollar Pier (circa 1940).

The 270-acre Historic Roser Park is bounded by Martin Luther King (9th Street S.) and 4th Street S. to the east and west, and by Booker Creek and Ingleside Avenue (11th Avenue South) to the north and south. Located in the Midtown Redevelopment Area, Roser Park encompasses local and national register historic districts, historic Greenwood Cemetery, and one of St Petersburg's most storied creeks. Roser Park was listed on the National Register for its significance in community planning and development, architecture, and landscape architecture. The first residential subdivision to be established outside of the downtown St. Petersburg business district, Roser Park was an early "streetcar suburb" conveniently located along the old Gulfport trolley line.

Roser Park is home to a wide variety of architectural styles and types, including Frame Vernacular, Bungalow, Prairie, Foursquare, Craftsman, Mediterranean Revival, Colonial Revival, Neoclassical and Tudor Revival. Approximately 173 structures are located within the district, only about 15 of which are noncontributing. Roser Park is also an excellent local example of development inspired by the City Beautiful Movement, which advocated the creation of livable cities through the inclusion of public parks and designed landscape spaces into the urban and suburban environment. The sensitive site design and attention to landscaping by early developers created the distinctive setting that enhances the neighborhood's natural character and beauty to this day.
The district retains many of its other original design features, including rusticated block retaining walls, brick streets, original hexagon sidewalk pavers, and granite curbstones. Roser Park's neighborhood association, HRPNA, is working hard to restore other original and period features, such as vintage street lighting and signage.

Like downtown St Petersburg itself, Roser Park is now experiencing a booming renaissance. Its historic character, scenic, brick paved tree-lined drives, and friendly community spirit alone make it a great place to live; but Roser Park also features a remarkably close proximity to new commercial centers, municipal facilities and services, hospitals, colleges, arts and entertainment, sporting arenas, boating, beaches and recreation, and regional and international airports. If you haven't had the opportunity to drive through Roser Park lately, it's definitely worth the trip to see for yourself how a carefully focused reinvestment can rapidly transform a neighborhood.
Roser Park was originally developed by C.M. Roser, an Ohioan who foresaw the opportunities of the Florida land boom of the early twentieth century. The prospect of a leisurely life on the balmy Pinellas Peninsula was drawing a steady stream of emigrants from the cold north, and to accommodate them, Roser purchased land on the outskirts of another developer's work. The location he selected along Booker Creek was picturesque, geographically and ecologically dynamic, and truly unique. To set his development even further apart, Roser determined to create a neighborhood that was as appealing and diverse as the environment itself, offering the widest possible array of architectural styles. To this day, Roser's vision remains essentially intact. Roser Park is a veritable, living museum of post-Victorian architectural style that continues to draw the interest and attention of preservationist, investors, and college design classes.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the selfsame vision of opportunity and promise that at first inspired the foundation of Roser Park, is essentially the same vision that has inspired its rejuvenation, and which has reestablished much of its original prominence and splendor. There is familiar and reassuring comfort in the idea that Roser Park is a place where good fortune and opportunity abounds, and it seem certain that after all these years, Roser Park remains the perfect place to pursue all the attainable dreams of an ideal life.

On May 21st, 2004 Roser Park celebrated the dedication of the renaming of Ingleside Avenue South (formerly 11th Ave South) with a ribbon cutting by Mayor Rick Baker. It was a small but surefooted step towards restoring some of the charm of Historic Roser Park that was lost to the numbered grid pattern of our city streets, one of many dubious advantages ushered in by a modernization that has eroded so much of our city's character over the years. Originally named Ingleside Avenue, City planners decided in the late1920's that numbers, rather than names, would be more logical for finding addresses. Current planners now seem to agree that Roser Park ought to remain the exception to the rule of cold, numeric logic, and that adding a little character back into the mix can go a long way towards promoting awareness and appreciation of our city's rare and valuable historic districts. Ultimately, this awareness and appreciation is what fuels the progress of redevelopment efforts by attracting responsible, civic-minded investors, solidifying community spirit, and stabilizing property values.

The Ingleside Dedication, held at the Bradshaw Mansion, was hosted by owners, Tom Barrett and Len Johnsen. Other city dignitaries and representatives in attendance included Deputy Mayor Mike Dove, Goliath Davis, and Fire Chief Jim Callahan.

Special thanks to Tom and Len for all their support, and for hosting this milestone dedication.

Roser Park's neighborhood association, HRPNA, is considering a few more numbered street changes within Roser Park, reverting them back to their original namesakes. These include 7th and 8th Streets between Jasmine Terrace and Ingleside, formerly "Mare Vista" and "Prospect Street" or "Prospect Court", 6th Street between Roser Park Drive and Ingleside, formerly Kirkwood Street, and a small section of Roser Park Drive connecting 10th Ave South just east of 6th Street, formerly Emma Avenue. Additionally, the association is considering changing 10th Ave South to Greenwood Avenue, in recognition of Historic Greenwood Cemetery. HRPNA may apply to the city for some or all of these changes soon, and is also discussing the implementation of period style, decorative street signage to further enhance the character of our neighborhood.