Shore Acres is a mid-century waterfront neighborhood in northeast St. Petersburg, about 5 miles northeast of downtown, bordered by Tampa Bay, Smacks Bayou and Placido Bayou. It is about 21 miles from downtown Tampa and about 18 miles from Tampa International Airport by road. Most homes are concrete-block houses built after World War II, and many of them are on the water.
Shore Acres history
Shore Acres was developed by Nathaniel Janeway Upham, a real estate developer from Duluth. Platting began in 1923, and the first house sold that year. Upham expected drivers heading for the Gandy Bridge to Tampa to pass through, but the neighborhood never became a shortcut. After Upham died in 1942, his sons William and Nathaniel G. Upham carried on the development, and Shore Acres grew quickly in the post-World War II building boom. The 40th Avenue bridge that serves the neighborhood is officially named the Nathaniel J. Upham Bridge. Shore Acres marked its centennial in 2023, and the St. Petersburg City Council declared a Shore Acres Day that April.
Homes in Shore Acres
Shore Acres is overwhelmingly single-family. In MLS records, the large majority of homes were built from the 1950s through the 1970s, mostly ranch and Florida-style concrete-block houses, with a scattering of 1920s houses and some new construction since 2020. A small number of condominiums and townhouses are also in the neighborhood. About one in five homes that have come up for sale are waterfront, facing open Tampa Bay or the bayous, and many of those include private docks. Private pools are common.
Parks and recreation in Shore Acres
Shore Acres Recreation Center, at 4230 Shore Acres Blvd NE, was rebuilt and reopened in 2022. The campus has a two-story recreation center with a gym for basketball, volleyball and pickleball, multipurpose rooms and a catering kitchen. Outside are a six-lane swimming pool, a playground, basketball courts, an exercise zone and an open green space.
Weedon Island Preserve is a short drive north, about 7 miles by road. It is a county preserve of more than 3,000 acres on Tampa Bay with a fishing pier, a paddling launch and the Cultural and Natural History Center. Pinellas County lists part of the preserve's trail system as closed at this time. To the south, North Shore Park in Historic Old Northeast has 33 acres on the bay with a sandy beach, tennis courts and a dog park.
Getting around from Shore Acres
Downtown St. Petersburg is about 5 miles away, roughly 15 minutes by car. Downtown has the St. Pete Pier with its restaurants, the Museum of Fine Arts on Beach Drive, and The Dalí Museum. Downtown Tampa is about 21 miles by road and Tampa International Airport about 18 miles.
