The city of St. Petersburg granted the organization the site after the 1921 Tampa Bay hurricane destroyed the aquarium standing on the land.

[2] The mission of the museum is to collect, preserve, and communicate the history and heritage of Florida with an emphasis on St. Petersburg and the Pinellas peninsula.

The St. Petersburg Museum of History has a significant archive that includes over 5,000 indexed city photographs, 32,000 artifacts, and other historic photos and documents.

This center offers resources, such as documents, photos, maps, and books, focusing on the history of St. Petersburg, the wider Tampa Bay area, and Florida.

This resource enables research across a spectrum of topics, from the region's indigenous communities and early European settlers to its evolution into a significant metropolitan area.