Woodlawn

Amenities/character/etc.

The Woodlawn Neighborhood is a beautiful community on the north side of St. Petersburg. The area is composed of older homes from the 1920s and more recently constructed homes from the 1940s and 1950s. Throughout the years, Woodlawn has been recognized for its cohesiveness and community pride. There is a unique sense of community within this area that is rarely found in Florida. This atmosphere has been likened to towns in the New England states where people know their neighbors and none is hesitant to say hello or lend a helping hand. The majority of homes in the area are private residences with a limited number of rentals interspersed throughout the area. The area has one designated park and several shaded, open areas.

The community has both an active neighborhood association and a crime watch organization.

Architecture

Architectural style in Greater Woodlawn is typical of residential construction throughout St. Petersburg from the first half of the 20th century. Many homes were built between 1910 and 1940 in the traditional Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, and Frame or Masonry Vernacular styles of architecture. There are also a few examples of the Mediterranean Revival style, popular in the 1920s, but not as many as in other parts of St. Petersburg. Most homes are one-story, generally containing 2-3 bedrooms, although many two-story houses, with 3-4 bedrooms are scattered throughout the area. Mixed in with the older homes are many houses typical of 1940s and 1950s post-World War II construction. These include concrete block and wood frame ranch style homes and modest wood-frame or concrete-block Minimal Traditional style homes.

Commercial buildings are primarily found along 9th Street North and include both historic and contemporary structures. One of the most unusual is the 6-story Skyline building at the corner of 26th Avenue North, built in the 1950s. Designed by an out-of-town firm, and inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum in New York City, this building has always been controversial but is well known. It originally featured a restaurant on the top floor with a wonderful view of St. Petersburg. Wilson Book Store and Memory Lane Antique Mall, also on 9th Street, occupy a former auto sales building originally designed in the Art Deco style.

Two churches are within this neighborhood, the Woodlawn Presbyterian Church, occupying a Mediterranean Revival style building, and the Open Bible Church, featuring a contemporary structure.

History

This half square mile neighborhood consists of 11 separate subdivisions and four quadrants. The earliest subdivision, Map of Pinellas, Addition to St. Petersburg, Florida, was platted in February of 1912, and consists of the entire northeast quadrant, with a park (today's Blanc Park) in the center. Three more subdivisions were platted in 1912, 1913, and 1920, occupying the southeast quadrant. Washington Heights, which occupies the west half of the northwest quadrant, was platted in 1914. The eastern half of this quadrant consists of four subdivisions, three of which were platted in the 1920s and one in 1950.

The Woodlawn subdivision for which the general area has been named covers the entire southwest quadrant and was platted in 1924. This subdivision is noted for it's prominent entrance pillars and unique circular road layout. This land was owned and developed by the Consolidated Development and Engineering Corporation, whose president was the Colonel Raymond C. Turk from Jacksonville, Florida.

Most of the earliest construction in the neighborhood was concentrated in the southeast quadrant, along 9th Street North (previously called Euclid Boulevard) and along 16th Street North, north of 26th Avenue North. Early maps also show that 30th Street was once called Johns Pass Road.

Organization/programs

The Greater Woodlawn Neighborhood Association (GWNA) was formed in May of 1995 and presently has approximately 150 members. The membership is committed to maintaining a high quality of life and fostering the sense of community that is so important to all that live here. The neighborhood also has a Crime Watch Program that has been active for approximately four years. Both organizations have become very successful in accomplishing their stated goals. Responsibility for Crime Watch was assumed by GWNA.

In addition to gaining support in increasing numbers from the residents of the area, each of these groups has also received outstanding support from businesses in the area, through in-kind and monetary donations.

The Greater Woodlawn Neighborhood Association was awarded "Up and Coming Neighborhood" at the 1996 Neighborhood Block Party and received the "The Best Neighborhood Project" award in 1997.

Neighborhood grant projects

Although relatively young, Greater Woodlawn Neighborhood Association (GWNA) has been very successful in obtaining project funding through the City of St. Petersburg's Neighborhood Partnership Grants Program. In April 1996, the Association was awarded approximately $12,000 in City funding to accomplish the following three projects: rehabilitate the Woodlawn Circle Pillars, purchase and install neighborhood signs at the major entrances to the area, and implement a membership drive and neighborhood survey. In 1997, they were awarded $18,000 to install decorative lighting along 26th Avenue North.

The GWNA Board of Directors is already in the planning stages of grant request development for the implementation of several additional projects in the community.