Editing Pinellas County, Florida (section)

===Great Depression and World War II===
As was the case in much of Florida, the [[Great Depression]] came early to Pinellas with the collapse of the real estate boom in 1926. Local economies came into severe difficulties, and by 1930, St. Petersburg defaulted on its bonds. Only after World War II would significant growth return to the area. During the war, the area's tourist industry collapsed, but thousands of recruits came to the area when the U.S. military decided to use the area for training. Area hotels became barracks. The [[Vinoy Park Hotel]] was used as an Army training school. The area's women and girls participated in the war effort as well. Hundreds of girls from the area's most prominent families formed a group called the Bomb-a-Dears, holding dances, socializing with recruits, and selling war bonds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/during-world-war-ii-st-pete-had-its-bomb-a-dears/1197832|title=During World War II, St. Pete had its Bomb-a-Dears|work=Tampa Bay Times|access-date=November 6, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924151958/http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/during-world-war-ii-st-pete-had-its-bomb-a-dears/1197832|archive-date=September 24, 2015}}</ref> After the war many of these same soldiers remembered their wartime experience in Pinellas well, and returned as tourists or residents.