When I first visited St. Petersburg in the early Fifties, there were green benches all over town.
The city popularized green benches in the early 1900s. They quickly grew in popularity to become a hospitality trademark of the city and drew tourists in from around the United States.
While no laws were implemented to restrict black residents from enjoying the benches, it was custom that police officers would only permit whites to use them.
“The wounds of a lifetime would take a long time to heal,” the historian said. By the 1960s, officials banned green benches in St. Petersburg.
As my friend, SterlingUSUK on Post explained,
"St Pete's "official green benches" started out as a symbol of the city's hospitality, the black population, however, knew better than to use them.
Over the decades as St Pete began to become increasingly associated with the elderly (and racism, a city of aged pensioners, "god's waiting room") the green benches used most often by those elderly, came to be a "symbol" of St Pete as a geriatric gathering place and they were ordered to be removed.
St Pete wanted the young, more vibrant tourists who were flocking to Florida vacations with their friends and families, St Pete needed an image change. They were ordered removed in the late sixties. Some survived over the years, but the city no longer laid claim to them."
