SPC was established on September 12, 1927, as
St. Petersburg Junior College (
SPJC) by Captain George M. Lynch, the city superintendent of schools for
St. Petersburg, Florida. It was founded as a private, non-profit institution to provide affordable, local access to higher education during the economic downturn preceding the
Great Depression. The college was also the state of Florida's first two-year institution of higher learning. SPJC began with 102 students and 14 faculty members in a wing of
St. Petersburg High School. After one semester, it moved to a former high school near Mirror Lake in downtown St. Petersburg. In 1929, 48 students became SPJC’s first graduating class. More than half received state teaching certificates. At the time, the need for certified teachers in Pinellas County was great and growing, and a two-year college diploma was all that was needed for certification. In 1941, SPJC erected its first permanent campus at 5th Avenue North and 66th Street in St. Petersburg, moving from the downtown area of the city. The college would begin offering classes at the new campus in January of 1942. The location would later be known as the St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus. SPJC converted from private to public school status in 1948, becoming the second such institution in the state to make the change. On September 3, 1957,
Gibbs Junior College (GJC), opened as one of Florida’s 12 original Black colleges and was named after
Jonathan Gibbs, Florida’s first Black cabinet member. GJC merged with SPC in 1965 and became the Gibbs Campus. It would later be renamed to the Skyway Campus before being phased out of operation in June 1967. In 1993, the college renamed its first permanent campus to the St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus to honor the contributions and impact that the former Gibbs Junior College made in furthering education in Florida. SPJC reached a defining milestone in 2001 when the Florida Legislature passed a bill that allowed it to become the first two-year college in the state to offer bachelor’s degrees. The college simultaneously updated its name, dropping the “Junior” to be known as St. Petersburg College (SPC), and also adopted a Titan for the new school mascot.
SPC presidents • George M. Lynch, 1927–1935 (his death) • Robert B. Reed, 1935–1944 (his death) • Roland A. Wakefield, 1944–1950 (his retirement) • Michael M. Bennett, 1950–1978 (his retirement) •
Carl Kuttler, Jr., 1978–2009 (his retirement) •
William D. Law, Jr., 2010–2017 (his retirement) •
Tonjua Williams, 2017–present ==Campuses and learning sites==