Williams House

Built in 1891, the Williams House is one of the oldest surviving buildings in St. Petersburg. Featuring stained glass windows, a steep roof and an octagonal turret, the building was the home of General John C. Williams, a Civil War veteran and one of the co-founders of the city, who came to Florida in the mid 1870s and devoted his energy to bringing a railroad to Pinellas County.

Although the General only resided in the house for less than a year, dying in April 1892, his namesake building lived on. In 1906, the Manhattan Hotel Company purchased the Williams House and converted it to a lodging. The fifteen-room building boasted some of the finest furnishings of its time and was in use as a hotel for nearly ninety years at its original 444 5th Avenue South address.