At 902 19th Street South, one historic St. Petersburg site tells a remarkable story of faith, education, and community care.
Trinity Presbyterian Church began meeting at Jordan Elementary School in 1928. The following year, Reverend Oscar Monroe “O.M.” McAdams and his wife, Willie Lee McAdams, helped establish the congregation in a remodeled residence at 19th Street and 9th Avenue South. That same year, they founded the Happy Workers Day Nursery and Kindergarten. It opened with just five children, whose parents paid 25 cents a week for their care.
The congregation continued to grow. In 1948, Trinity Presbyterian dedicated a new facility designed with the assistance of architect Henry Kohler and built by African-American contractor Peter P. Perkins. The church later moved to 22nd Avenue South, but Happy Workers remained.
Today, the site is recognized on the St. Petersburg Register of Historic Places and the Florida Black Heritage Trail. More importantly, Happy Workers continues the mission begun nearly a century ago: providing education, care, and opportunity for generations of local children.
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