Historic Round Lake Park
A small, historic downtown park built around a perfectly round lake β which used to actually be three separate ponds.
π°οΈ History & background
An 1888 plat of the area identified this lake as "Deep Water Lake," sitting alongside two smaller neighbors called Long Pond and Grass Pond β likely a set of sinkhole ponds fed by groundwater rather than a single natural lake. By 1908, the three had been consolidated into one and renamed Park Lake; the city's park commission later reshaped its marshy edges into the tidy round shoreline seen today, following a 1913 newspaper's call to "remove the unsightly marshy places" and create a proper "beauty spot." The result is one of the more deliberately designed small parks in the city, still shaped by a century-old piece of civic landscaping.
π What's there now
A quiet, low-key leashed loop tucked into one of St. Pete's oldest neighborhoods, ringed by a shaded walking path and a classic gazebo. Mature oaks, palms, and a large banyan shade most of the walk.
πΊοΈ Nearby
Worth a stop: Bad Mother, a well-loved pour-over coffee shop a short walk away in downtown St. Pete.