Live in Bartlett Park
A neighborhood back from the bay on Salt Creek, south of downtown, where FEMA maps six tenths of the ground in its coastal flood zone, Helene put water inside 66 of the 71 parcels the City assessed, and the City is building a $30 million pump station and sluice gate to hold the next surge back.
Bartlett Park takes its name from the park at its center, on land A. F. Bartlett gave the City, where the St. Petersburg Tennis Center has kept clay courts since the club that began in 1919 moved there, and where the Frank Pierce Recreation Center sits beside Salt Creek. This guide is the Bartlett Park Neighborhood Association's area less the part Roser Park's association also claims: 2,217 residents in 988 homes in 2020, nearly all of them inside the City's South St. Petersburg redevelopment area. It has no shoreline on the bay, yet FEMA puts 60.4% of it in the 1% annual chance flood zone, and after Hurricane Helene on 26 September 2024 the City recorded water inside 66 of the 71 parcels it assessed here. No price index follows its line: its two ZIP codes are dominated by downtown in one case and by the shore to the south in the other.
A park, a tennis club and a creek that carries the basin's water to the bay
The area the Bartlett Park Neighborhood Association serves, as the City of St. Petersburg's Neighborhood Associations layer maps it (OBJECTID 19813, NANUM 5, last edited 28 September 2026), less the area of the Historic Roser Park Neighborhood Association (OBJECTID 19814), which overlaps it and whose 210 shared residents are counted in the Roser Park guide; 219 acres measured on a 5 m grid, against 240 for the association's whole area. It is the association's own filed area, not a line the City drew. Bounded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South on the west, 4th Street South on the east and 22nd Avenue South on the south; on the north by 11th Avenue South at the western end and, for the rest, by the edge of Roser Park's area along about 12th Avenue South. Lake Maggiore and Boyd Hill Nature Preserve are south of 22nd Avenue, outside it, and 244 of its residents are also inside the Downtown Residents Civic Association's much larger area. All of it is in Pinellas County, inside the City's current limits, in Pinellas County Schools and in City Council District 6.
Three things here carry the name, and this guide means the neighborhood. The park at 2000 7th Street South is on land A. F. Bartlett, an educator, developer and citrus grower, gave the City. The St. Petersburg Tennis Club, founded in 1919, later moved its clay courts there, and the City took them over in 1993. Beside them are the Frank Pierce Recreation Center and Salt Creek. Some houses are a century old: John Gassman, a Swiss boat builder, built his Moorish Revival house on 14th Avenue South in 1924, and City records of 1937 called the area a place for the tourist class, clerical workers and skilled mechanics.
The line is an association's, not the City's. The City maps the area each registered association says it serves, and this guide is the Bartlett Park Neighborhood Association's, from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street South to 4th Street South and from 22nd Avenue South to about 12th Avenue, less the part Roser Park's association also claims, whose 210 residents are counted in that guide. On the 219 acres left the 2020 census counted 2,217 residents in 988 homes, 2,129 of them inside the City's South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area, which since 2015 has steered the growth in tax revenue inside its line into grants and loans here and adds no rate. How many homes are owned rather than rented was not tabulated for this guide.
The water is what decides it. Bartlett Park has no shoreline on the bay, yet FEMA's 2021 map puts 60.4% of it in the 1% annual chance flood zone, home to 1,112 of the residents. At the reference point the zone is AE, a coastal floodplain with a base flood elevation of 8 feet, and the parcel is in evacuation zone A, the first called. Helene pushed the St. Petersburg tide gauge to 6.31 feet on 26 September 2024, against a record of 3.97 from 1985. The City then assessed 71 parcels here, 47 with major damage and 66 with water inside; Milton added 64, two with water. Those are its inspection points, one per parcel, not a count of homes. Inside the flood zone, repairs reaching 49% of the structure's value, counted cumulatively, bring the whole building under current flood rules, which can mean raising it.
The City is rebuilding the drain. Lake Maggiore empties through Salt Creek and Bartlett Lake to the bay, and the City's project adds a sluice gate against surge and a pump station for when a high tide holds the water back. Dredging of Bartlett Lake began in March 2026 and is due to finish early in 2027; the pumps go on land just north of the lake, built from the fall of 2026 to 2028 at an estimated $30 million. Until then the protection is what it was in 2024.
No price index follows the line. 1,531 residents are in ZIP code 33701, whose August 2026 Zillow value of $742,292 is downtown's, and 686 in 33705, at $331,140, a ZIP dominated by Pinellas Point and Coquina Key; the city's typical value was $355,759 in June. Every address pays 19.9197 mills for 2025, so a homestead at the 33705 figure owes about $5,758 a year on the base exemptions and a landlord about $6,596. Save Our Homes caps a homestead's assessed value at 3% a year and ends with a sale, so the seller's bill understates yours, and the City's stormwater fee, $12.67 to $59.08 a month, comes on the utility bill. The arithmetic is on the St. Petersburg page. PSTA's Route 4 runs about every 15 minutes on 4th Street South; the schedule changes on 4 October 2026.
- Get the elevation certificate and FEMA's zone for the exact structure
- Ask for the 2024 damage, the permits since, and any substantial damage determination
- Price a flood policy before the offer: from 2027 most Citizens policies with wind cover must carry flood
- Check the address against the pump station site and Bartlett Lake, where work runs to 2028
How Bartlett Park got here
- 1919The St. Petersburg Tennis Club is founded with four concrete courts; it later moves to Bartlett Park, on land A. F. Bartlett, an educator, developer and citrus grower, had given the City, and is today the St. Petersburg Tennis Center.
- 1924John Gassman, a Swiss boat builder who came to the United States in 1905, builds his Moorish Revival house at 630 14th Avenue South.
- 1937City records later quoted for the Gassman House describe the neighborhood as a place for the tourist class, clerical workers and skilled mechanics.
- 1993The tennis club disbands and the City of St. Petersburg takes over the tennis operation in Bartlett Park.
- 2015City Council approves the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area on 11 June, 4,777 acres that take in almost all of Bartlett Park.
- 2017The Gassman House is added to the St. Petersburg Register of Historic Places in January, one of two City landmarks inside the area.
- 2020The census counts 2,217 residents and 988 housing units inside the line.
- 2024Hurricane Helene, 26 September, pushes the St. Petersburg tide gauge to 6.31 feet, above the 3.97 feet of Hurricane Elena in 1985, the record since 1947; the City assesses 71 parcels here, 66 with water inside. Milton follows on 9 October and the City assesses 64, 2 with water inside.
- 2026Dredging of Bartlett Lake begins in March, due to finish early in 2027, the first step of the City's Salt Creek work; construction of a pump station just north of the lake is set to start in the fall and finish in 2028. PSTA changes its schedule on 4 October.
A park with a tennis club in it, and a preserve across 22nd Avenue
Bartlett Park holds the Frank Pierce Recreation Center, a playground, a sports complex, shoreline fishing on Salt Creek and the St. Petersburg Tennis Center, twenty courts. The City's recreation page calls it a 133-acre green space; its own parks map draws about 36 acres. South of 22nd Avenue, Boyd Hill Nature Preserve covers 400 acres on Lake Maggiore.
What the map does not show: Salt Creek is the drain for Lake Maggiore's basin, and Bartlett Lake is being dredged into a settling pond for the new pumps, so expect work around the lake and the creek into 2028.
Elsewhere in St. Petersburg, not Bartlett Park
19 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 19 places, nearest first.
Method: straight lines from OpenStreetMap's Bartlett Park node, beside 698 Paris Avenue South, times a road factor, with a tiered speed model for the drive: honest ranges, not routed times.
Every gym within reach
The Frank Pierce Recreation Center is in the park, with the tennis center next door. The nearest City pool, E.H. McLin, is open all year; for an indoor pool, the Jim & Heather Gills YMCA.
- Frank Pierce Recreation Center: about 0.5 km, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday
- E.H. McLin Pool: about 1.9 km, year-round, 1 to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday
- Jim & Heather Gills YMCA: about 5 km, indoor heated pool with lap lanes
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Frank Pierce Recreation Center open | The City's recreation center at 2000 7th Street South, inside Bartlett Park and the neighborhood: an exercise zone, a playground and a sports complex, with classes for all ages. Open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, to 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. Named for Frank Pierce, who headed the science department at Gibbs Junior College from 1957. | 2–4 min |
| St. Petersburg Tennis Center open | 650 18th Avenue South, in the park: 20 courts, 14 lit for evening play, run by the Tennis Foundation of St. Petersburg with the City. | 2–3 min |
| E.H. McLin Pool open | The nearest City pool, at 602 14th Street South, and one of the City's three year-round pools: open swim 1 to 4 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 7 to 9 p.m. on Fridays on the City's posted schedule. | 4–7 min |
| Jim & Heather Gills YMCA open | The YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg's wellness center at 3200 1st Avenue South: an indoor heated pool with lap lanes, a full gymnasium, a cycling studio and a climbing wall. | 8–11 min |
| Bartlett Park open | The free option: the park's open ground, its playground and the shoreline fishing on Salt Creek. | 3–4 min |
The free option is the park itself: the open ground, the playground and a line in Salt Creek.
Zoned schools by address, and a high school line that splits the neighborhood
Pinellas County Schools zones each home to one school of each level. The point is zoned for Campbell Park Elementary, graded A for 2026 after two Bs; John Hopkins Middle, B; and Gibbs High, C three years running, with no change proposed for 2027-28. Magnet applications open 5 January 2027.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Campbell Park Elementary School | Pinellas County Schools | 1051 7th Avenue South, the elementary school the district's School Zone Locator gives for 2026-27 at 698 Paris Avenue South, the address beside the reference point, with no change proposed for 2027-28. Graded A for 2026 and B for 2025 and 2024. |
| John Hopkins Middle School | Pinellas County Schools | 701 16th Street South, the zoned middle school at the same address, with no change proposed for 2027-28. Graded B for 2026 and 2025 and C for 2024. |
| Gibbs High School | Pinellas County Schools | 850 34th Street South, the zoned high school at the same address and, on the district's high school zoning map, for 1,687 of the 2,217 residents. Graded C for 2026, 2025 and 2024. |
| Lakewood High School | Pinellas County Schools | The zoned high school for the other 530 residents on the district's high school zoning map, so the area is split and a buyer should run the exact address through the School Zone Locator. Both high schools are in the district's South County application area for magnet and fundamental programs. |
Run your own address. On the district's map 530 residents are zoned for Lakewood High, not Gibbs; the School Zone Locator decides it.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel: the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- Highs near 20.6 °C and lows near 12.9 °C at Albert Whitted Airport on the 1991 to 2020 normals, which NOAA flags as representative rather than complete; the station is about 1.9 km east
- The district's first application window for magnet and fundamental programs for 2027-28 runs 5 to 15 January 2027
- Highs near 22.2 °C and about 51 mm of rain
- Localtopia fills Williams Park downtown on 20 February 2027, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Homestead filings for a house bought last year are due to the property appraiser by 1 March
- 1 March is the deadline for the homestead exemption
- The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg runs 5 to 7 March 2027 on a street circuit around the downtown waterfront and Albert Whitted's runway, about 2 to 3 km north-east
- Highs near 24.4 °C and about 66 mm of rain
- Highs near 27.2 °C and about 49 mm of rain, one of the two driest months
- A dry month is the one to walk the yard and the drains before the rainy season
- Highs near 30.2 °C, with about five days reaching 32 °C
- The Saturday Morning Market's season at Al Lang Stadium ends in May before it moves to its summer home in Williams Park
- The Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June to 30 November
- The wet season begins: about 172 mm of rain, mostly in afternoon thunderstorms, and about 15 days reaching 32 °C
- Highs near 32.0 °C and lows near 25.6 °C
- About 190 mm of rain; the City's Salt Creek pump station, due in 2028, is meant to drain the basin when a high tide or surge holds the water back
- The property appraiser sends the TRIM notice of proposed taxes in August; a petition to the Value Adjustment Board is due within 25 days of its mailing (by 11 September in 2026)
- The wettest month on the normal, about 213 mm, with about 19 days reaching 32 °C
- The Atlantic season peaks around 10 September
- Helene put water inside 66 of the 71 parcels the City assessed here, on 26 September 2024
- About 169 mm of rain
- PSTA's new schedule starts on 4 October 2026; the Saturday Morning Market returns to Al Lang Stadium on 3 October
- The district's South County magnet and fundamental fair is at Gibbs High School on 28 October 2026
- Tax bills go out on the last business day of the month; highs near 28.5 °C and about 55 mm of rain
- A 4% discount for property tax paid by 30 November
- Hurricane season ends on 30 November; about 37 mm of rain, the driest month on the normal
- Highs near 21.9 °C and lows near 14.8 °C, with about 61 mm of rain
- If you bought this year, the bill in hand was the seller's: Save Our Homes ends with a sale and the house is assessed at market value the next 1 January
Every photograph in this guide's library is above
This library holds 8 photographs and the page has already printed all of them, each once. The credits are in the footer.
About these photographs. Openly licensed images from the site's shared St. Petersburg library, found on Wikimedia Commons and served from there with full attribution. None of them is presented as a photograph of Bartlett Park.