DEVIL RAYS CITY

St Petersburg is home to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, a professional Major League Baseball team. Saint Petersburg or St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 248,232, making it the fourth largest city in the state of Florida. The city was founded by John C. Williams, formerly of Detroit, Michigan, who purchased the land in 1876 and, with the help of Peter Demens, was instrumental in bringing a railroad connection there in 1888. Saint Petersburg was incorporated on February 29, 1892, when it had a population of only some 300 people. It was named after the Saint Petersburg in Russia, the birthplace of Peter Demens. A local legend says that John C. Williams and Peter Demens flipped a coin to see who would have the honor of naming the city. Peter Demens won and named the city after his birthplace, while John C. Williams named the first hotel after his birthplace, Detroit. The Detroit Hotel still exists downtown. In 1914, airplane service across Tampa Bay from St. Petersburg to Tampa and back was initiated, generally considered the first commercial airline. The company name was the "Airboat Line" and the pilot was Anthony Jannus. Air service was discontinued in 1924 with the opening of Gandy Bridge, the first across Tampa Bay, which allowed automobile traffic between the two cities. The city is located on a peninsula in between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, It is connected to the mainland to the north, connected with the city of Tampa, Florida to the east by causeways across Tampa Bay, and to Bradenton, Florida in the south by the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The city is a sea port, and a popular destination for tourism and retirement by people from parts of the United States with colder climate. With an average of some 360 days of sunshine each year, it is nicknamed "The Sunshine City." St Petersburg has a few attractions and points of interest, Saint Petersburg has a branch of the state university, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, as well as St. Petersburg College, Eckerd College, and Stetson University College of Law. The city has a Museum of Fine Arts, a History Museum, and the Salvador Dalí Museum, which houses one of the two best collections of Dalí's work including a number of famous paintings. The only sports team based in Saint Petersburg is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary on the western coast of Florida. Two prominent cities are located along the shores of the bay, Tampa and Saint Petersburg. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge crosses the mouth of Tampa Bay. The term "Tampa Bay" is also informally used as the name of the entire metropolitan area encompassing Tampa, Saint Petersburg, Clearwater and several other, smaller cities. The Tampa Bay Area settlers were originally from Spain. The Native Americans from this region are known as Seminoles. This is where the Florida State Seminoles got their nickname. Tampa is home to three different professional sports teams, Major League Baseball: Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, National Football League: Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, National Hockey League: Tampa Bay Lightning: St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.