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- There are only six resorts in Florida listed on the National Register of Historic Places and three are on Florida’s Beach -- the Don CeSar Beach Resort, Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Belleview Biltmore Resort Hotel.
- The Don CeSar, known as the pink palace, was once a R&R; center for the U.S. Military.
- The 103-year-old Belleview Biltmore is the oldest major resort in Florida and reputed to be the largest continuously occupied wooden structure in the world.
- The Renaissance Vinoy Resort was built in 1925 and underwent a $93 million renovation in 1992.
- St. Petersburg is the birthplace of commercial aviation. Scheduled airline passenger service originated in St. Petersburg in 1914 when a flying airboat called the Benoist carried one passenger from the city’s waterfront to Tampa while 34,000 spectators looked on.
- Florida’s Beach has several historical museums including the Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History which has Native American artifacts dating back 10,000 years.
- Early Spanish explorers Ponce de Leon in 1513, Panfilo de Narvaez in 1528 and Hernando De Soto in 1539 explored the area including a search for the Fountain of Youth at what is now Safety Harbor Spa. The springs at Safety Harbor are still considered to have healing powers.
- Fort De Soto regularly features Spanish-American War battle reenactments.
- Heritage Village allows visitors to experience a slice of early Florida with 22 historic homes and buildings and is home to the county’s Historical Museum.
- Philippe Park in Safety Harbor was home to Florida’s first grapefruit trees and is the site of a burial mound for Tocobaga Indians. The area was settled by a surgeon in Napoleon’s Navy, Count Philippe.
- The history of Dunedin is preserved in a Historical Museum constructed out of the city’s old railroad station.
- Pass-A-Grille south of St. Pete Beach was area’s first tourist resort. This quaint strip of land is still one of the most sought-after get-away spots in the area.
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