If you’re hunting for a st pete times obituary, you’ve probably run into a bit of a naming snag. Honestly, it’s a common trip-up. People still call it the "St. Pete Times" even though the name technically vanished over a decade ago.
On January 1, 2012, the St. Petersburg Times officially rebranded to the Tampa Bay Times. It wasn't just some random corporate makeover; it was the result of a massive legal settlement with the now-defunct Tampa Tribune. This matters because if you're searching for a loved one’s record or trying to place a notice today, you have to look under the "Tampa Bay" banner.
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Finding these records can be emotional. It's often stressful. You're trying to piece together a family tree or just notify friends about a service. Here is the real deal on how to navigate the archives and the current system without losing your mind.
Where the archives actually live
Digital footprints are messy. For anything recent—meaning from the last few years up to today, January 17, 2026—your best bet is the official Tampa Bay Times obituary section, which is powered by Legacy.com.
But what if you're looking for something from, say, 1974? That’s where things get interesting. The St. Petersburg Times has a deep history dating back to 1884. For those older records, you basically have three main routes:
- Google News Archive: Surprisingly, Google has a massive digitized collection of the old paper. You can literally scroll through scans of the physical pages from the 1900s.
- GenealogyBank: This is a paid service, but it’s often the cleanest way to search specifically for names without digging through whole newspapers.
- The Poynter Institute: Since they own the paper, their archives are the "gold standard," though they are more for serious research than a quick Sunday morning search.
The "St. Pete" vs. "Tampa Bay" confusion
Why did the name even change? Basically, the paper wanted to own the whole region. Paul Tash, the longtime chairman, pushed for the name change to reflect that 75% of the readers lived outside St. Petersburg.
There was a five-year legal "blackout" period where they weren't even allowed to use the name Tampa Bay Times for the main paper because of a trademark dispute. Once that clock ran out in late 2011, they pulled the trigger. So, if you are looking for a st pete times obituary from 2015, you won’t find it under that name. You’ll find it in the Tampa Bay Times.
What it costs to place a notice in 2026
Let's talk money. It isn't cheap. Placing a notice is a major expense during an already expensive time.
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Current rates generally start with a minimum line count. For the Tampa Bay Times, a basic obituary usually starts around $42 for a digital-only presence. If you want it in the actual physical paper—the one people still clip out and put on their fridges—prices jump significantly.
You’re looking at roughly $12 per line for a standard print notice. A photo? That’ll usually add another $50 per day. If you want a Legacy.com guest book to stay open for more than 30 days, there’s often an additional fee for "sponsorship" to keep it permanent.
How to find someone right now
If you need to find a notice that was published this week, don't just type "st pete times obituary" into a search bar and hope for the best. Be specific.
- Use the Last Name first: Legacy’s search engine is picky.
- Filter by "Last 30 Days": This clears out the "noise" of people with similar names from years ago.
- Check the "Life Tributes" section: Sometimes, families choose a shorter "death notice" instead of a full "obituary" to save money. These are often listed separately.
Common myths about the archives
A lot of people think everything is online. It’s not.
There are "dark periods" in the digital record—mostly in the late 80s and early 90s—where the transition from physical print to digital databases was a bit of a mess. If you can't find a st pete times obituary from that era online, you might actually have to visit the St. Petersburg Museum of History or a local library to look at microfilm. Yes, the old-school spinning reels. They still exist.
Also, some people assume that if a person lived in Tampa, their obit would be in the Tampa Tribune. Since the Times bought the Tribune in 2016 and shut it down, the Tampa Bay Times is now the primary record-keeper for both sides of the bay.
Actionable steps for your search
If you are currently trying to track down a record or place a new one, here is exactly what you should do:
- For Genealogy: Start with the Google News Archive for free scans before paying for a subscription service. It's clunky but free.
- For Recent Deaths: Go directly to the Tampa Bay Times/Legacy portal. Use the "advanced search" to input the exact date of death if you know it; it saves a ton of scrolling.
- For Placing a New Notice: Call the "Obit Desk" at (727) 893-8518. Honestly, talking to a human is better than using the online portal because they can help you format the text to save lines—and money.
- Check Local Funeral Homes: Often, funeral homes like Anderson McQueen or Sylvan Abbey post the full text on their own websites for free. You might not even need the newspaper's paid version to find the information you need.
Focus on the Tampa Bay Times branding for anything post-2012, and keep your search terms flexible. The history of the region is buried in these pages, and while the name on the masthead changed, the records remain the most vital link to the area's past.