An old house in St. Petersburg’s Driftwood neighborhood has officially joined the city’s register of historic places. City Council unanimously approved a historic landmark designation Thursday for the house of Florida’s former poet laureate Peter Meinke and his wife, acclaimed artist Jeanne Meinke, at 147 Wildwood Lane SE.
The house was built in 1937, before the Driftwood subdivision was formally recorded. It was the neighborhood’s first residence. Peter and Jeanne Meinke purchased it in September 1970 and made it their home for the next five decades.
Peter Meinke was not physically present for Thursday’s hearing. Instead, the 93-year-old poet appeared in a prerecorded video and let a poem make his case…