Studebaker Building, Automotive heritage building in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Studebaker Building at 600 4th Street South is an automotive dealership structure featuring Tudor Revival and Art Deco details designed to showcase and service motor vehicles. The structure combines a prominent ground-floor display area with extensive workshop and storage spaces typical of major car dealers from that era.
This structure opened in 1925 during Florida's real estate boom as the home of the Peninsular Motor Company, which distributed Studebaker vehicles across the region. The dealership operated for only a short period before economic pressures led to its closure.
The building bears the name of Studebaker, the automobile company it once represented, and its Art Deco and Tudor Revival details reflect how car dealers shaped downtown streetscapes during the motor age. The ground floor still shows features that made it a destination for buyers seeking the latest vehicles and service expertise.
The building sits in downtown St. Petersburg and now serves as a federal research facility, so visiting is limited to authorized purposes or scheduled open times. Its exterior architecture remains on display and communicates the history of automotive retail in the city.
At its height, the dealership operation employed over 200 people across its various departments, making it one of the largest employers in downtown St. Petersburg during the 1920s. Few visitors realize that the building witnessed the rise and fall of Florida's first automobile boom in just a single decade.
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