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TWO DECADES ON THE WEB!

 

 The TampaPix theme music you're hearing  was composed and performed by Tampa native Mike Baluja for the Tampa Natives Show.
You're listening to excerpts from two versions of it edited together consecutively.
Read more about Mike and his music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Read about how TampaPix got its start, at About TampaPix.

 

    About TampaPix                                                             

 

      Search TampaPix  

 

      Tampa Natives on Facebook
  Our Two Scents Handmade Soaps    
      Tampa Midwife Records  


 
  TampaPix on Facebook
   

 

 

 

Most of the photos on this site, except for the obviously historical photos and where indicated, are my exclusive property and were photographed by me, except where otherwise noted.  This site is not-for-profit and is for educational purposes.  I am happy to share my photos and have no objection to your personal use.  I only request a photo credit and reference to TampaPix.com.  However, if you wish to use my photos for advertising and/or profit-making purposes, I do ask that you contact me for permission.  If you wish to use my photos on your website, please include a photo credit with a link to the source page on this website.--Owner & webmaster of this site.

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

      Here's what's NEW at TampaPix.com                               Scroll down or click to see links for all pages

 

Tampa Pix is on Facebook as of 8/3/2013 - News about updates to existing pages and new features will be announced there.  Links to new features here at TampaPix.com will continue to be added to the list of links to features here.

Read about what's new at TampaPix.com and what's in the works by visiting Tampa Pix on Facebook.  Comment about existing features and photos. Tampa Pix on Facebook is a place where you can learn more about the people, places and photos featured here at the TampaPix.com website and express your thoughts.  Tampa Pix on Facebook 
 

UPDATED!  THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR MEMORIAL AT PLANT PARK Mar. 4, 2023

If you've been in Tampa a while and have visited this 1927 memorial, you may already be familiar with the fact that this gun we have now is NOT the gun placed there in 1927. And that the original gun came from Fort Dade on Egmont Key.  But did you know there were TWO guns from there that became war memorials?

Did you know when the original gun was cut up for WW2 scrap metal use? TampaPix has the answer and presents the circumstances of that sacrifice.

Do you know when the current gun arrived and more importantly, where it came from?  The commonly accepted answer is that it came from Fort Morgan, Alabama.

MYTH BUSTED! Find out where it really came from.  See LARGER versions of photos taken by TampaPix in 2009, and a larger version of the original gun from a 1930 Burgert Bros. photo. See photos of the original two guns while in place at the McIntosh battery at Fort Dade on Egmont Key and its fortifications.  Learn about the gun and its carriage.

All here at TampaPix:  The Spanish-American War Memorial at Plant Park.

   
   

 

 

● What started it?

 

● Where did it start?

● How many fatalities were there?

● Why did it spread so fast?

● How many city blocks were destroyed?

Who was the mayor of Tampa at this time?

● How many cigar factories were destroyed and how many employees were without work?

READ ABOUT THE OPPORTUNISTS WHO PREYED ON THE VICTIMS AND HOW THE WHOLE CITY CONTRIBUTED TO HELPING THE VICTIMS.

According to the UF Digital Library, Tony Pizzo Collection, the two photos below are: "The La Trocha Cigar Factory, once at 17th Street and 13th Avenue, destroyed in the 1908 fire" and "A Crowd watches the La Trocha Cigar Factory engulfed in flames during the Ybor City Fire of 1908 from 12th Avenue and 17th Street North"

But is this correct?  Was there ever such a factory called "La Trocha" in Ybor City?  Find out what's really seen burning here, and why until NOW it was thought to be a cigar factory named "La Trocha."  Find out what "La Trocha" REALLY was.

 
Photos courtesy of the UF Digital Library, Tony Pizzo Collection

ALL HERE AT TAMPAPIX - THE GREAT YBOR CITY FIRE OF 1908

THE END OF THIS FEATURE CONTAINS NEVER BEFORE KNOWN (in modern times) INFORMATION ABOUT TAMPA'S FIRST TOWN CLOCK!  The clock was installed in the mid 1880s in the tower of the wooden County Courthouse built in 1852 by John Breaker.  The courthouse was then sold and moved in 1891 so the new BRICK courthouse could be built in its place.  The old courthouse was moved up Florida Ave and used as a boarding house.  BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CLOCK?

GO DIRECT TO
"THE STACHELBERG HISTORY and COULD ITS CLOCK HAVE BEEN THE COURTHOUSE CLOCK"

 

 

 



 




 


 




 



 CLICK THE TITLES TO VISIT THE FEATURES

Maybe you've heard the Plant Park zoo story,
it goes like this...

"Tampa's first City zoo began around 1937 as an animal shelter in Plant Park on the banks of the Hillsborough River near downtown. It was started by city employees and originally consisted of a small collection of indigenous animals such as raccoons, alligators and an aviary with a variety of exotic birds.  As the zoo collection at Plant Park had grown, the animals were moved during the term of Mayor Nick Nuccio to the more centrally located Lowry park in 1957 where it was maintained by Tampa's Parks Department."

CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR.

Learn how and when the Plant Park Zoo really started, and how it really ended. The storybook end couldn't be further from the truth. And there's a whole lot of history missing in between.

Never before in any historic accounts of Tampa has the City Zoo at Plant Park been covered beyond the above story.  There were bears, a  tiger, "ant bears," otters, a rhesus monkey named "Cracker," a giant sea turtle, and even a TEXAS TOAD!  Learn about the taunting, teasing, and abuse of the animals by visitors.  It's no wonder a bear got even, more than once!  The park was a haven for pigeons and squirrels, but also a haven for rats and vice.  Find out the unusual reason why the first bear was brought to Plant Park!

There were other zoos around Tampa.  The one with the most variety of animals was at Boyd's Sunoco station at Hillsborough Ave. & Nebraska Ave.  It started in 1934 and quickly became a popular place for tourists, locals, and school educational field trips. Learn about the main reason the zoo shut down, and the position its owner, Al Boyd, held with a non-profit organization in Tampa.

The county courthouse fountain pool had a collection of alligators, turtles, and fish in the early 1910s.  It was a very popular attraction for locals and tourists alike, especially at feeding time.  But it was NOT the intent of the county for there to be ANY creatures in it.  So how did this happen?  TampaPix has the story.

At Sulphur Springs there was a collection of mostly alligators and snakes, started in the mid 1910s by C. M. Stokes.  But the collection also included a Florida deer, a bear, a llama, guinea pigs, and birds.

 

 CLICK THE TITLES TO VISIT THE FEATURES

 

 

 


 


 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Maybe you've heard this story on how Lowry Park came to be:

"In 1918, City Commissioner Dr. Sumter Lowry urged the city of Tampa to buy land north of Sligh Avenue at North Blvd. and dedicate it for use as a public park. In 1925, after years of hard work, it became a reality, and the park was later named in Lowry's honor."  A different version of this story says that Lowry donated the land for the purpose of building a city park. Much like the two histories of Hortense the clock at Tampa's 1915 City Hall, both can't be correct.  So which story was it? 

NEITHER ONE.  The real history of the 105-acre park will surprise you.

Learn about the thatch-roofed cabanas at Lowry Park in the 1930s seen in this photo.  These weren't picnic shelters at all.  So what were they for?

Learn about Tampa's park director at the time, Buford B. Bradley.  He suddenly appears in the Tampa socialite scene with some mighty impressive credentials and background.  He was appointed director under controversial circumstances.  But was he really what he said he was??  TampaPix has done thorough background research on his claims regarding his education and experience.  The results will also surprise you.

The Lowry Park myths have been busted here at TampaPix.  See how and when it really started--it wasn't intended to be a park at all. 

THIS FEATURE IS IN PROGRESS AS AN EXTENSION OF FAIRYLAND'S HISTORY.

When Lowry Park's Fairyland opened at Lowry Park in 1957, the zoo was called “the Fairyland Zoo” because the first animals were those found in in children's storybook fairytales. Houses and scenes were re-created from Mother Goose and other children’s tales.  Kids skipped across the Rainbow Bridge and darted among replicas of the Seven Dwarves, Humpty-Dumpty, and the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs.

Soon, a larger collection consisting of lions, tigers, bears, chimpanzees, monkeys, and even one elephant, a female Asian named Sheena who had been transported from India on a jet in 1961, making her the zoo’s original flying elephant. The undisputed star in those early years, Sheena performed twice a day in a circus ring with a chimp named Suzie and gave rides to children. Admission was free.

Modified from: Zoo Story, by Thomas French at Internet Archive
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    NEW FEATURE!                                                                                        NEW FEATURE!     

 

EXTERIOR PHOTOS OF RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM TAKEN ON NOV. 13, 2021 

UPDATED on Feb. 27, 2021
TOUR OF RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM sponsored by FedEx on Oct. 26, 2006.

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 


This feature has been improved with larger versions of the original photos, as well as some added photos from an event which wasn't originally included. This also includes larger versions of photos from the Bucs welcome home Super Bowl 37 celebration at Ray Jay on Jan. 27, 2003.  New graphics have also been added, as well as photos of Ray Jay dressed up for Super Bowl 43 in 2009.

SNAKES ON A PLANE! -UPDATED- FEB. 20, 2021 WITH MORE ARTICLES WITH PHOTOS ADDED, INCLUDING PRESENT DAY AERIAL SHOWING FLIGHT PATH FROM T.I.A. INTO RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM!
On Dec. 9, 1969 a C-46 cargo plane made a forced landing in the parking area of Al Lopez field. It came to rest against a utility pole, just 500 feet from a house which was across Himes Ave.  Stories circulated amongst the West Tampa locals that it carried reptiles and that snakes escaped to roam the neighborhood until they were rounded up.
This is somewhat true;
read on!
NEW!  RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM DRESSED UP FOR SUPER BOWL 55
This three-page feature was released in early Feb. 2021.
  • Page 1 features the a view of Ray Jay from the west from atop the Corp. Ct. 2 parking garage, and photos of the stadium and surrounding area.

  • Page 2 features photos of neighborhood parking in the area of the stadium.

  • Page 3 features photos of the flyover from a nearby neighborhood, showing the B1 Boeing "The Bone" Lancer bomber, B2 Northrop Grumman Stealth Bomber, & B52 Boeing Stratofortress Bomber performing together in a flyover for the very first time.

NEW FOR 2021 (Jan. 25)

Those who can remember the DeSoto Hotel picture it as the giant brick, block-long hotel at Zack and Marion Street. Younger Tampans may recognize it from old photos or because of the many colorized postcards of it on sale to collectors.

But this giant building wasn't the original DeSoto.

Follow the history of this majestic old hotel from the construction of the FIRST wood frame building and the construction of its replacement, through it's final date with destiny--the wrecking ball. 

Learn about its first manager, W.D. Lewis, and the story of its original builder/owner James H. Thomas haunting the old place.  TampaPix has found evidence he may have even haunted the NEW building!  Read about the men who took over the old DeSoto and built a magnificent new one in its place and managed it for success:  Robert F. Webb and Walter L. Parker. 

Read about fires at the DeSoto, and the tragic death of one of Tampa's brave, young firefighters, Lt. William Cooksey Eckles, en route to one of the fires. 

Learn the TRUTH about the legend of Thomas Edison spending the night on the floor of the DeSoto.

And don't miss this "breakout page," "The Murder of Gilp Hankins and Who Was Mrs. B. S. Hankins?"  After W. D. Lewis left the DeSoto, Mrs. Hankins was one of the interim managers in the last years of the original building.  Never referred to by her first name, as was the custom in those days, or who her husband was, she was the widow of Bethel S. "Gilp" Hankins.  Read about the vicious street fight he and his brother Sylvanus "Marter" Hankins had with the McNeill brothers, one of which was a former city councilman and mayor pro-tem.  Read about the trial and the jury verdict, and find out Mrs. Hankins's full name....

 
ALL HERE AT TAMPAPIX
HISTORY OF THE DESOTO HOTEL
and
THE MURDER OF GILP HANKINS and TRIAL OF THE MCNEILL BROTHERS

 

 


 

NEW FOR 2021 (Jan. 14)

A MYTHBUSTER MEGA-FEATURE!

Over a YEAR in the making; this one is a HISTORY-CHANGER!

Maybe you've heard the story of how Tampa's old City Hall clock came to be called "Hortense the Beautiful."  It goes like this:

...When Tampa was having a new City Hall built in 1915, the City Council did not find the funds for the clockworks. Hortense Oppenheimer, the daughter of prominent Tampa physician Louis S. Oppenheimer, led the campaign of the “Town Cryers” that raised $1,200 to help pay for the clock. Beckwith Jewelry Company donated the remainder necessary to provide the 2,840 pound, four-faced clock, which was built by the Seth Thomas Company of Vermont. Prior to the completion of City Hall, the clock was nicknamed “Hortense the Beautiful” in honor of its benefactor, and it retains this name today.

Great story, most of it's not true.

That's not how it really happened, and that's not when it really happened.

Maybe you've heard this "fired-up" version:

The Oppenheimer children, five daughters and a son, were no less vigorous or gifted than their father... Daughter Hortense became incensed at the city fathers in 1914 because the City Hall had no tower clock to give the proper time. Yielding under the pressure of Hortense and her irate band of ladies the mayor erected a large clock in the City Hall tower with four faces. Inevitably, it was named "Hortense" and it still keeps accurate time today.

Great story, but it's not true either. That's not how it really happened, and that's not when it really happened.


NOW find out HOW, WHEN, and WHY it really happened, and MORE!  The history of our "Old" City Hall, from the wishing for it to the construction of it, to the restoration of it. 

Lots of Tampa "mini-myths" busted--Did Maria (Moore) Post really officiate at the groundbreaking?  Did she really make a speech at the cornerstone ceremony?

Did the clock really weigh 2,840 pounds?  Was it really made by the Seth Thomas Company of Vermont?  (HINT:  Thomaston is in Connecticut, not Vermont.)
SEE THE ACTUAL ORIGINAL SETH THOMAS TOWER CLOCK RECORDS regarding Tampa's order, as well as the invoice for the sale!  SEE THE ACTUAL McSHANE BELL FOUNDRY records for Hortense's bell...how big is she?  How much does she weigh?  STRAIGHT from the manufacturer.

PLUS lots of beautiful hi-res photos and the history of MORE than just City Hall!  Do NOT miss the many "breakout" pages. 

Where was Tampa's FIRST town clock and what happened to it? 

In-depth looks at Tampa's little-known mayors:  Wm. Frecker and Frank Wing, and Tampa's most popular mayor, D. B. McKay.

Meet the Freckers, The Embezzlement Trial of Charlie Frecker, Who was E. M. Greeson and what happened to his theater? 

The Oppenheimers of Tampa.  Who gave Hortense a heart transplant and when? 

 

See an amazing view of Tampa looking south from a high-rise rooftop on Jackson St. in 1913.  Where was the "new" City Hall first going to be built?  What was Hugh Macfarlane's reaction to the selection of Bonfoey & Elliott's design?

When did the Hortense MYTH we hear over and over today really begin, and who was responsible for starting it?  HINT:  It came from within City government.

The life of Hortense Oppenheimer Ford; was Hortense really her name and was Mr. Ford really her last husband?  Learn about what she did NOT want built in Plant Park, you may be surprised!  So much more.  Remember to follow the breakout pages! 

HISTORY REWRITTEN - Old City Hall Clock: The TRUTH behind the legend--the real reason why it was named Hortense.
 

NEW: UPDATE, NOV. 2019 (Belated Announcement)
DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS MAN IS?  Well if you don't, YOU SHOULD!

When Ralph Stephens opened his first Goody Goody BBQ sandwich stand in Tampa in late 1925, it was his second location, the first being one he opened earlier that same year in Hannibal, Mo.  But these weren't his first ventures into the restaurant business.  He started in the business in 1921, with three consecutive unsuccessful restaurants in Oklahoma City.  After those didn't pan out, he went to Dallas to train to open a franchise BBQ Pig Stand in Little Rock, but a change of plans took him to Hannibal and his first Goody Goody.

BUT WHERE DID STEPHENS GET THE IDEA FOR THE NAME?  WHY GOODY GOODY?  TampaPix has the answer, and this man and his sandwich you see here had a lot to do with it. 

See the newly updated Goody Goody feature for 2019 and learn more about Stephens' three prior restaurant attempts, here at "GOODY GOODY ROOTS."

Hint:  This is NOT Ralph Stephens!

     

Join in with other Tampa natives and residents, past and present, to reminisce about days gone by and share old photos.  Do you remember Tampa, the way it used to be?

Join our Facebook group "Save Fairyland" and share your memories of Fairyland at Lowry Park! 

 

We have the best collection of Fairyland, Safety Village and Fantasia Golf photos on the web!

Are you SICK AND TIRED of the abuse the name of our fair city takes because the news media and the tourist industry  insists on calling our home town "Tampa Bay?"

Are you going to put up with this any longer?

Like us on Facebook and join in the fun.

 

Visit

We Are TAMPA, not Tampa BAY

 

 

WHY ALL THE FUSS?  GO THERE AND FIND OUT FOR  YOURSELF.

 

 

YOU CAN STILL GO TO THE OLD PLACE--BUT ONLY HERE AT TAMPAPIX.COM

 

 

NEW AT TAMPAPIX!
July 22, 2018

The late Kyle S. VanLandingham, noted biographer of James T. Magbee, wrote:

Magbee’s alcoholism and his role in Radical Reconstruction made him an easy target. D. B. McKay once described him as probably the most widely and intensely hated man who ever lived in Tampa. 

Before Tampa's beautiful Waterworks Park and Ulele Spring was so named, it was known in Tampa as "the Magbee Spring" because much of that area belonged to James T. Magbee.

 


Don't miss this MEGA-FEATURE over a year in the making!

THE signature event of Magbee's life is probably his passing out drunk on the sandy streets of Tampa, being covered with molasses and corn by his enemies, and having his clothes ripped off by the roaming hogs that feasted on the sweet mixture.

BUT DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?

 

Or maybe you've heard of his preposterous yet ingenious "Habeas Corpus stunt" when His Honor was jailed again for drunk & disorderly conduct.  He issued a Writ of Habeas Corpus demanding the body of James T. Magbee be produced before his Hon. James T. Magbee. He had it served on sheriff Deshong and mayor Lipscomb who could do nothing but release him from jail!

DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?

Or perhaps you've heard of the infamous "Courtroom Shotgun Incident" during the following Spring term of the Court in 1874. In order to exact revenge on the mayor, Magbee had mayor Lipscomb and the marshal O. H. Dishong arrested and charged with contempt of court. On hearing day, so the story goes, as Mayor Lipscomb approached the bench, he produced a shotgun and shouted out "If I'm going to jail it will be for blowing out your infernal brains, you old scoundrel!" He fired at Magbee, but a split second intervention by a bystander who pushed the weapon upward caused  the shot to fire into the ceiling.

DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN?

In the context of the life of James T. Magbee are the events that shaped Tampa, from its beginnings at Fort Brooke in the late 1840s to the decade of the 1890s which spring-boarded Tampa into the 20th Century.  The Civil War as it played out in Tampa, the growth of Tampa from a village to a city, and the events that eventually made the coming of the railroad to Tampa possible, all in this feature.

          

Also included are extra features:  The life of Tampa's Civil War blockade-running hero, James McKay, Sr. and his involvement in the Civil War, as well as his confrontations with Magbee. Learn the history of Tampa straight from James Sr.'s son, James McKay, Jr., and D. B. McKay, grandson, who lived during those times and knew Magbee personally.  Compare and contrast how they and some of Tampa's most notable historians describe the same events differently and draw your own conclusions!

              

ALL HERE AT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JAMES T. MAGBEE.
 

 
2017-July 20

The Fairyland storybook & nursery rhyme figures have begun to be displayed in their beautiful new home at the Ulele Restaurant by Tampa's Riverwalk and the Ulele Spring!


See Page 6 of Saving Fairyland to stay updated as more figures are added!

2017-April 16 - It's here!  The new feature "Saving Fairyland" has been added to TampaPix.com, along with another new feature, "Herman, King of the Zoo."   Saving Fairyland! is a chronological history of our campaign from its inception, covering the discovery of the storybook character figures by Mario Nuñez, the campaign to rescue them, their acquisition, and restoration.  It will be an ongoing feature covering the restoration progress and any related stories, on through the ultimate accomplishment--their display for all to enjoy!



Save Fairyland!
is a local effort of concerned Tampa natives and friends who worked to retrieve, restore and relocate the beloved storybook characters of Fairyland which were formerly located at Lowry Park.

 

Saving Fairyland!

Lowry Park/Fairyland History

Herman, King of the Zoo   Safety Village   Fantasia Golf

 

New for December 2016
NEW FEATURE - F84 fighter jet crash near MacDill AFB, Jan. 24, 1963
UPDATED - Fairyland at Lowry Park - photo of the LIVE Three Little Pigs 1958 attraction and seal pool 1965 have been added.
UPDATED - Al Lopez Park and Field - photo of Al Lopez in his boat 1961 and Reds Land concept sketch at Al Lopez field 1968.
UPDATED - Tampa International Airport history -  photo of 1952 dedication ceremony with Eddie Rickenbacker added.
UPDATED - George Gandy and his Bridge - photo added showing original span and Tampa city limit sign, 1953.
UPDATED - Howard Frankland, the Man and the Bridge - photo added showing ca. 1962 bridge without safety divider wall
                    between opposing lanes of traffic.
UPDATED - Tampa Stadium history - photo added showing stadium construction with St. Joseph's hospital in background, 1967.
UPDATED - Tampa Bay Center Mall - photo added showing the glass elevator, 1976.

 

Nov. 12, 2016 -  Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory at TampaPix.com has been improved and updated with larger versions of existing photos and new photos added, including more old Burgert Bros & Robertson & Fresh photos, as well as photos showing progress on the renovation as the Bryan Glaser Family Jewish Community Center.  
See it at Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory History

NEW: Oct. 29, 2016 - Photos of MacDill Park at Tampa's beautiful Riverwalk have been added, along with photos of Col. MacDill and his tragic plane crash.


Read about the history of MacDill AFB, from before site selection at Catfish Point through World War 2.   See T-38 Talon, F-5A, C-5 Galaxy, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, B-24 Liberator, P-51 Mustang, A-7 Corsair, F-4 Phantom & F-111 Aardvark.

  

See photos of life at MacDill Field from WW2 era, published in Drew Field's weekly news, "Drew Field Echoes"

 MacDill Field photos from Mar. 1942 
 

CLARA BARTON UPDATE

Oct. 9, 2016 UPDATE - Page 2 - Clara Barton and the Spanish American War feature at TampaPix.com has been updated with newly found information about another trip she made through Tampa.  See where she stayed this time!

Also, more images have been added, including some of her journal, and various other images such as a map of Cuba showing her early travels there, an image of the telegram the captain of the USS Maine sent to the secretary of the Navy the night the Maine exploded, and various interesting newspaper clippings from Clara's scrapbooks.

May 3, 2016  Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross

Did you know?  Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, was in Tampa several times in 1898 during the Spanish American War and was on board the USS Maine just two days before it exploded in Havana Harbor. 

Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross
 

NEW!  TAMPAPIX EXCLUSIVE!
at "THE EIGHT HOMES OF HILLSBOROUGH HIGH SCHOOL" - Jun. 4, 2016

Up until June of 1949, the HHS clock tower had no clock. By spring of 1949, HHS students and alumni had collected enough funds to purchase one and dedicate it in honor of Hillsborough's veteran casualties of World War II. The 139 names of Hillsborough High alumni who were killed in action during the war were placed on a plaque inside the tower.  A dedication ceremony was held sixty-seven years ago, yesterday, June 3, 1949.

Now see an 8mm movie and original program from the dedication ceremony!  
NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED,
this rare home movie footage of the dedication ceremony was recently found by HHS Alumni Association Board Member Jeannette Harper Noble in the attic of her parents' Ybor City home.  She has graciously shared it with us so that generations of Big Red alumni and friends can enjoy it. Also see an original program from the ceremony, in mint condition, provided by Charles Harkness,  President of the Hillsborough High School Alumni Association. Scans provided by Rex Gordon, Hilsborean Historian.

ALL HERE:
The 8th Location of Hillsborough High School - Central Avenue - 1949 Clock & Plaque Dedication Ceremony

 

NEW at "Did you Know?"  May 24, 2016

"Big Daddy" Don Garlits, drag racing legend, is a Tampa Native and Class of 1950 Hillsborough High School graduate.  His father was a Westinghouse engineer credited with designing the first electric iron and later was a pioneer in health food before it was "in."  His mother was Tampa's "Orchid Lady," a founder of the Tampa Orchid Society.  Read about Don's legendary accomplishments and his roots, here at this new feature at TampaPix.com.  

"Big Daddy" Don Garlits - Tampa Native
 

NEW!  The history of Goody Goody during the Stayer years (1929-1980) has been updated with family photos and stories provided by Glenda Stayer Wood, granddaughter of William "Papa" Bechtel Stayer.  Read about the circumstances that led up to William B. Stayer buying Goody Goody from Ralph Stephens, Goody Goody feeding the Cincinnati Reds, Goody Goody's MLB manager, Carl Stayer's advertising campaign, memories of Goody Goody by Stayer's children and grandchildren, and more! A larger version of the Goody Goody Dining room in 1941 has been added, along with close up portions of various parts of the photo.

Also, don't miss this wonderful photo of the "Goody Goody Girls" in the mid 1940s provided by E. Marie DeArmas Barnhill.

It may be gone, but you can still visit it here at TampaPix!  
Jan. 25, 2015

 

 

GOODY GOODY IS COMING BACK!  REVIVED BY RICHARD GONZMART AND HIS COLUMBIA RESTAURANT GROUP!

STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS AT
GOODY GOODY ON FACEBOOK.
 

 


CHARLES E. CUSHING WW II MEMORABILIA COLLECTION

New content has been added to The World War II collection of Lt. Charles E. Cushing  
Feb 9, 2015.  Club & I.D. cards, photos, dog tags, leather pilot's helmet, officer's cap, foreign currency, and handbook "Fighting on Guadalcanal."

Pittsburgh native Charles Edward "Bud" Cushing served in the U.S. Army Air Force as a B-17 bomber pilot.  After his training, he was stationed at MacDill Field, Tampa, from Dec. 1943 through March, 1944. 

Afterward, he flew on 35 bombing sorties into enemy occupied territory in Germany and France from Thurleigh Air Field, England, from June 1943 through Jan. 1945, as a 2nd Lt./co-pilot, and 1st Lt./pilot in the 8th AAF, 1st Div., 306th Bomb Group, 367 Squadron "The Clay Pigeons."

 

Special thanks to Barbara Cushing Mistretta, Mr. Cushing's daughter, and Ed Page, Mr. Cushing's nephew, for providing the records and items for this feature.  It contains numerous items such as medals, awards, pins, buttons, objects, magazines, personal photos, and documents.  Many photos were taken during actual bombing missions.
 See the collection here at TampaPix.

 

Tampa mural by Carl Cowden, III at Florida Ave. & Royal St. Downtown President John F. Kennedy speaking at Al Lopez Field in Tampa, Nov. 18, 1963 - Photo by Tony Zappone Tampa Bay Rowdies poster by Leroy Neiman Hawaiian Village sign and Maoi head statue, 1969 Tampa Jai-Alai billboard circa 1970s Congressman Sam Gibbons, the "father of USF." WTVT Big13's Salty Sol Fleischman Seabreeze Restaurant sign University of Tampa minaret Tampa native baseball legend Al Lopez Goody Goody Restaurant 2005 Paul Reynolds as Shock Armstrong from Shock Theatre Dick Bennick as Creature Feature host Dr. Paul Bearer Snow in Tampa Jan. 19, 1977, 6:30am Tampa Life cigar box art Sulphur Springs water tower Golden Gate Speedway arch sign 1970s Iconic Tampa & Ybor City street lamp Franklin St. ablaze in neon, circa 1956 by Hector Colado Manuel Beiro of Valencia Gardens Restaurant and Andy Hardy of WTVT Big13 doing "Salud & Happy Days" commercial Tampa Greyhound Track racing program Kentucky Fried Chicken sign at Dale Mabry & Henderson Blvd. 1961 Tampa Stadium before it was the "Big Sombrero" early 1970s Legendary Tampa weatherman WTVT Roy Leep & Scud the weather dog Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket sign at first KFC in Tampa Mullet Inn Restaurant on the causeway The Rainbow Bridge to Fairyland, Lowry Park Clock at old City Hall, "Hortense the Beautiful" Buc Invader Rick Casares Pony Portraits Krazy George at Rowdies Game Lake Ellen diving platform Army Navy Surplus store

The photo montage above was created from images submitted to the Tampa Natives Facebook page by fans and admins or are topics of discussion.

Mouse over each image or click it to see more.

TampaPix.com is proud to team up with the Tampa Natives on Facebook to bring you a list of photos & discussion topics located on that site.   See over 2,000 photos and over 350 discussion topics posted by fans & members, listed on this searchable index! The index provides easy and direct link access to each photo and discussion topic, as well as the photo caption and comments posted by our fans.
 

Tampa Natives Photo and Discussion Index at TampaPix


Browse and search an index of photos posted by members of the "West Tampa, A Pictorial Walk Down Memory Lane"
Facebook group! Each description is a link to the photo on the FB page.  See it here at TampaPix


It's been 11 years since Macfarlane Park was added to TampaPix.  Visit again to see the improved feature with much larger versions of the Jan. 2004 photos, and some that weren't previously used.

Historic photos of the original pavilion and the ceremony in 1924 for the dedication of the current one have also been added, as well as a corrected history of the park and the current pavilion.

Larger versions of the Guida house photos have also been added, as well as five beautiful photos of George "Mr. West Tampa" Guida and his family provided by Marilyn Favata Messina.  Portraits of George as a young boy with his parents and sisters to photos of him with his wife, children, and grandchildren. 

And finally, experience Tampa's own Mike Baluja's new music video, a tribute to Macfarlane Park, featuring a song he composed and performs.  Mike is the composer and performer of the Tampa Natives Show opening and closing theme--the TampaPix theme music you hear on this page, "I Remember Tampa."  All here at TampaPix

I PICKED A FINE TIME TO LEAVE YOU LUCILLE...
Who was Lucille Zehring, where was she from, and where did she go?

She was the last person to see Davis Islands developer D. P. Davis alive, before he disappeared through a porthole of the R.M.S Majestic in the Atlantic Ocean on the way to the French Riviera on Oct. 12, 1926.  Described as a "former Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty", she told her version of the story to the authorities on how Davis came to fall into the ocean.  This on-again off-again mistress of D.P. Davis later revealed Davis' letters to her before that fateful night, adding more mystery to the mystery.  Read more about her, and how she became a Duchess, at the updated feature here at TampaPix, Stories and Theories on the Disappearance of D. P. Davis; Who Was Lucille Zehring?   Oct. 2, 2013
 
THE EIGHT HOMES OF HILLSBOROUGH HIGH SCHOOL
From its start in 1882 on Franklin Street north of the county courthouse, to the present magnificent location on Central Avenue which opened in 1928, HHS has occupied eight locations.  The history of Hillsborough High School at TampaPix has been updated with more detailed information about the school's locations, including a history of its first 6 locations from 1882 to 1911, found in cornerstone of the school's 7th home, maps, and the people that helped make it what it is today.  Here at TampaPix.  Sept. 2013

 

 

THE 1st THOMAS JEFFERSON JR. & HIGH & GEORGE WASHINGTON JR. HIGH
When Hillsborough High moved out of their 7th home, a structure built in 1911 on Highland Avenue,  Jefferson moved in.  After Jefferson closed, George Washington Jr. High moved in.  This new page at TampaPix features photos and info about those years, including Jefferson's first principal, D. W. Waters.  Here at TampaPix. Sept. 2013

     

THE D. W. WATERS CAREER CENTER
When George Washington Jr. High on Highland Avenue closed, the building was later named the D. W. Waters Career Center in the mid 1990s, through the efforts of the Jefferson High School Alumni Association.  The Association also spearheaded a campaign that led to a $14 million renovation to restore the dilapidated old building to its original pristine beauty and put the building on the National Historic Register.  This new feature at TampaPix spotlights the Association's efforts, and this historic Tampa gem, with photos and info about this beautiful building.  Here at TampaPix. Sept. 2013

     

THE JEFFERSON HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI MUSEUM
Again, through the efforts of the Jefferson High School Alumni Association along with generous alumni donors, a museum was established in the D. W. Waters Career Center to preserve Jefferson's history.  This new page at TampaPix features photos and information about the museum, and honors Tampa native Rick Casares, a class of 1950 Jefferson High graduate.  Casares was an outstanding, multi-talented athlete who went on to success with the Florida Gators and the Chicago Bears of the NFL, setting numerous records with the Bears as a fullback.  Here at TampaPix. Sept. 2013

     

A NEW photo has been added 8/3/2013 
International Bank employees enjoying yellow rice & chicken dinner, c.1942

Formerly
the great competitor to the Columbia Restaurant in the 40s, 50s and 60s, Las Novedades Restaurant's ownership history had connections to the Columbia, along with family ties to another great Tampa restaurant--Spanish Park.  At Las Novedades, Chef Jose Martinez and his Pompano Papillote set a standard of excellence.  Visit
Las Novedades

TWO new features at TampaPix!   July 26, 2013

When Ralph Stephens first went into the restaurant business in Oklahoma City in 1921, he set in motion a chain of events that would lead to the creation of restaurants in Missouri, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, and California, for the Stephens and Reid families and those who followed them. These famous restaurants, Goody-Goody and Dolores, were independent operations that shared some common roots, traditions, and menu items. To those who patronized them, these names still evoke memories of delicious food--a delicious hamburger with secret sauce, and homemade pies--and happy times.

 

"The Goody-Goody Family Tree" is a multimedia feature that gives a history of the Stephens and Reid families and their restaurant ventures in three states.  Read about the origin of the famous Goody-Goody Secret Sauce, the recipe of which remained a closely-guarded proprietary secret for all the years it was used in Tampa, and was true to the original 1925 recipe to the final day of the Tampa Goody-Goody.

Also, now you can go "behind the scenes" at the downtown Tampa Goody-Goody!  See a layout of the restaurant as it appeared in its final years, along with a history of how the building evolved over the years, at "Behind the Scenes at Goody-Goody, Tampa."

Goody-Goody Family Tree         Behind the Scenes at Goody-Goody, Tampa


The Burgerts were a family of photographers who moved to Florida from Ohio in the 1880s and established a remarkable record in various phases of the photography business, primarily in Tampa. They were six sons and one daughter-in-law of the original photographic progenitor of the family, Samuel Burgert. Three generations of Burgert photographers worked productively from around the 1860s until the 1960s and at various times took, sold or marketed supplies for hundreds of thousands of photographic images.  In the process, they coincidentally documented Tampa's development from a little more than a scrubby port village to a major urban center of international importance. 

 


 

NEW!  A larger, higher resolution version of all the brothers together in Plant Park, July, 1911, has replaced the smaller image.  Sept. 1, 2012.  Photo courtesy of JoAn Bednarek Rodriquez.

This feature has been updated extensively with an in-depth look at the Burgert family members themselves, including exclusive photos of the Burgerts provided by Burgert descendants Diane Heflin Dowling and Harold "Hal" Chesney Burgert, III, great grandchildren of Samuel P. Burgert.  Also, many more of the Burgert's photos have been added, thanks to the efforts of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library, the University of South Florida Digital Collections, the University of Florida Digital Collections, The State of Florida Memory Project, LIFE Magazine, and other sources.      April 4, 2013
 

The Burgert Brothers at TampaPix

Gunn Highway was built with convict labor and completed in 1925 from Tampa through Odessa and Elfers to New Port Richey.  The road was maintained by the people who lived along it and was considered to be one of the finest roads in the state at the time. 

Read about John Thomas Gunn, the Englishman for whom this highway was named, here at Tampapix "What's in a Name."  10-28-2012


Photos have been added to Downtown at Tampapix, including a porcelain plate depicting the iconic "Tampa" mural at Florida Ave. and Royal St., along with a photo of the same building in 1957 and one of the artist, Carl Cowden, III.
10-19-2012

Visit Downtown 1

What does U.S. Army Brigadier General William H. Bisbee have to do with legendary pirate José Gaspar?  They both had a three-masted schooner named after them, in fact, the same ship. 

The schooner William Bisbee was built in 1902 in Maine, and after over 30 years of service as a cargo ship in the Atlantic, she was sold in 1936 to a Tampa freight broker in the interest of the Gasparilla Festival. 

Read about the José Gaspar's previous life as the William Bisbee, and see images of the Bisbee, and a beautiful photo of her as she sailed up the Hillsborough River in 1938.

NEW:  Four photos of the Bisbee in drydock in Tampa, in preparation to become the Jose Gaspar,  have been added.  A large photo of the C.H. Hackley, a schooner used as the Gaspar in the early 1920s, has also been added.  10/10/2012

A correction has been made to the photo caption describing the bronze sculpture of a manatee and its calf at the Lowry Park Zoo.  The feature had incorrectly identified the artist.  Read about the correct artist here.   10/9/2012
Read about the history of Lowry Park Zoo and see many old photos here.
The Favata family heritage dates back to the family’s olive farms in Sicily in the 1800s. They immigrated to America at the turn of the 20th century and like many other Italian families, headed to the fast-growing port city of Tampa where a prosperous future awaited them.  Giuseppe (Joe) "Pepito" Favata dreamed of having his own market and raising a family in America.  Read about Joe, his family, and his dream come true, at Joe & Son Food Market, here at Tampapix.   9/26/2012

Photo added to Tampa Stadium history - A rare view of the stadium before the end zones were closed in - Tampa Stadium from across Himes, early 70s     9/18/2012
T
ampa Stadium was the bay area's first large football facility. With an initial seating capacity of 46,477, it was built for the University of Tampa Spartans football team with an eye towards a potential NFL expansion team in the future.  It was host to numerous pro football exhibition games in the late 60s and early 70s.  B Read about Plant Field, Phillips Field, Tampa Stadium and the teams that played there,  all here at Tampa Stadium.

Every day, thousands of motorists travel Adamo Drive, a busy 7-mile stretch of State Road 60 between downtown Tampa and South Falkenburg Road in Brandon. Few remember for whom the street was named; even fewer pronounce the name ah-DAHM-o, as Dr. Adamo would have. A World War II prisoner of war hailed by Life Magazine as "Bataan's medical hero," he earned a huge welcome when he finally came home in 1945. Tampa celebrated Frank Adamo Day with a parade and the renaming of 1st Ave. in Ybor City in his honor. Adamo's courage and sacrifice as a prison-camp physician, and the many lives he saved with his innovative treatment for gangrene, earned him a Legion of Merit medal.  See the newly edited article, including an exclusive portrait of Dr. Adamo, here at Tampapix.
The "Roaring Twenties" brought Florida a land boom, prosperity, and an invasion of new kind of pioneer.  Facilitated by affordable automobiles and improved roads, the invasion consisted of tourists from the North and Midwest, in the form of "Tin Can Tourists."

Read about the Tin Can Tourists of the World club, founded in 1919 in Tampa's De Soto Park, and about Tampa's Municipal Trailer Park, built in 1938 on the west bank of the Hillsborough River just south of Columbus Drive, to lure the Tin canners back to Tampa for their winter conventions.                                                                                                           

 All here at Tampa's Tin Can Tourists.

Tampa Mayor Perry G. Wall, II, was born to a distinguished Florida pioneer family in 1867 near Brooksville, FL.  In 1884 he established a hardware business in Tampa with his brother-in-law, Henry Laurens Knight. Knight & Wall would become one of Tampa's most prominent and enduring businesses, lasting for nearly 80 years.  Family members became prominent Tampa businessmen, mayors, judges, state representatives, a distinguished doctor and an infamous underworld figure.  Read about K&W here at TampaPix

The Lafayette Street Bridge
Did you know?  Three bridges were built across the
Hillsborough River at what is now Kennedy Blvd.

Read how these three bridges tell the story of the growing pains of the
city of Tampa and the events of the times, including Tampa during reconstruction
after the Civil War, ferries across the river, the influence of H.B. Plant's railroad and Tampa Bay Hotel, Tibbets Corner, the McKay family of Tampa, the oldest house in existence in Tampa; the Stringer/Stalnaker house, the history of Ballast Point, the role of Tampa Electric Co. in the bridge development, Tampa during the Spanish-American War of 1898, Tampa civic leader Robert Mugge, the temporary bridge built at Jackson Street., and the Kennedy Blvd. bridge today.
 All here at TampaPix!

Read about Tampa from the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, Tampa's recovery and involvement in World War II through the 1940s, Tampa's Hollywood actress Mary Hatcher, Warner Bros. filming of their movie "Air Force" at Drew Field, and a page you just can't refuse...the darker side of Tampa--from the Prohibition years to organized crime of the 1940s.  Turn on your speakers and get ready to swing!   All at Tampa in the 1940s
Did You Know?  Tampa's international airport had its beginnings at Drew Field.  In the 1920s, a dreary damp marshy land with stretches of sand covered over with a sparse growth of palmetto scrub was purchased from John H. Drew by the city as an air field.  The Federal government turned it into a military base in 1941.
 

In 1946 it became the site of Tampa's municipal airport and in 1950, Tampa International Airport.  Then in 1952, a brand new terminal was built on the south side of the east-west runway.
 

Read about the history of Drew Field and Tampa's first airport, along with wartime images of Drew Field's weekly newspaper, "Drew Field Echoes". See the very first issue, the 1-year anniversary issue, and rarely seen photos from the Christmas 1942 issue featuring photo montages of war-era Tampa, life at Drew and MacDill Fields, including commanding officers, and the top brass of the 3rd Air Force Headquarters.  Also photos of Tampa's gleaming new international airport terminal in 1952.       

All this at Drew Field Echoes

                                              

The First Scheduled Airline Passenger Service, Jan 1, 1914

Photos have been added, as well as a link to an audio recording, of President John F. Kennedy's speech and visit to Tampa in 1963, when he appeared at Al Lopez Field to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this historic flight.  Here at TampaPix

 Read all about Tony Jannus (he was no rookie when he made his flight), his brother Roger, P.E. Fansler, the driving force behind the airline, Abram Pheil, the first passenger and the cost of his ticket, Tom Benoist, owner of the company who built the airboat, and many others involved.

JFK photo by Tony Zappone

In Tampa, the term "Roaring 20s" took on literal meaning when on Oct. 25, 1921, a major hurricane swept through the Tampa Bay area causing major destruction from storm surge.  Known as the "Tarpon Springs Hurricane", it caused major property damage and the loss of 8 lives.  2011 marks the 90th anniversary of this disaster, and though the area has changed dramatically in terms of population and development, it still remains just as vulnerable.  Read about this historic storm and see photos of the damage here at TampaPix.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? -- HIMES AVENUE and GRAY GABLES

That alternate route you sometimes take when Dale Mabry Highway is backed up bumper to bumper, Himes Avenue, was once a small stretch of a street in an area of Tampa known as "Gray Gables."  Himes Avenue is now one of the main thoroughfares of Tampa and its naming is closely related to the development of the Gray Gables community.

Read about the naming of Himes Avenue and the Gray Gables community

     DID YOU KNOW?
  • "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, drag racing legend, is a Hillsborough County Native and Class of 1950 Hillsborough High School graduate.  Read about his legendary accomplishments and his roots, here at this new feature at TampaPix.com.  "Big Daddy" Don Garlits - Tampa Native   May 24, 2016

 

 

 

  • Slim Whitman was a Tampa native.  Ottis Dewey Whitman, Jr. (January 20, 1923 – June 19, 2013), known professionally as Slim Whitman, was an American country music and western music singer/songwriter and instrumentalist known for his yodeling abilities and his smooth high octave falsetto. He claimed to have sold in excess of 120 million records.
    Read about Slim Whitman at TampaPix

 

 

 

  • Velia Martinez, the actress who played Adela on "¿Qué Pasa, U.S.A.?", was a Tampa Native.  Before she landed the role as "abuela" (grandmother) of the Peña family on the bilingual PBS TV sitcom, she was a former singer and nightclub dancer.  Read about her here.  May 16, 2013

 

 

 


 


  • Miss Tampa of 1930 became Miss Florida and went on to become "Miss America".  But her Miss America title in the midst of the Great Depression was not achieved without controversy.  Read about her rise to fame, and her shocking decision in the midst of her success, and tragic death.    Mickey Ekdahl
     

 


 

 

 

  • The 1976 Florida State Fair was held in the parking area of Tampa Stadium.  The new fair location at US-301 and I-4 was not quite ready yet, and the old fair grounds near downtown at Cass St. and North Blvd. had been outgrown.  See 1976 Florida State Fair at Tampa Stadium photos

 

 

 

 

  • Tampa is mentioned and plays a prominent role in the Jules Verne science fiction classic, "From the Earth to the Moon."  Read about it at Jules Verne Park at Ballast point

 

 

 

 

 

  • Thelma McQueen was a Tampa Native.  Better known as Butterfly McQueen, she was an actress best known for her role as Miss Scarlett's squeaky-voiced maid, "Prissy" in "Gone With the Wind." Her delivery of her most memorable line, "...We got to have a doctor, I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies," took Hollywood by storm.

    Read about Butterfly McQueen's life and career

 

Did you know?
 

The highest point of elevation in the Tampa city limits is 74.29 feet and is located at the northeast corner of Fowler Avenue and 50th Street, caddy-corner to MOSI.

Did you know?
Buffalo Bill Cody and Babe Ruth were both visitors to Tampa's Plant Field in the 1910s.  Read about it and see old photos at TampaPix, the history of
Plant Field.
Did you know?
From February 23, 1862  to October 24, 1866, Tampa had no mayor and no municipal form of government.  Read what Tampa Mayor Hamlin Snell did in May of 1861, at
List of Tampa Mayors from the first to present, dates of term and links to view their portrait and biographical sketch.

 

Eight new photos featuring Mirabella's chef Rudy Romero have been added to Mirabella's at TampaPix!  The photos were provided by Mr. Romero's daughter, Sandra Romero Deck.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the fame of Tampa Bay as a great fishing ground and the coming of many Italians, attracted fishermen who soon made Tampa a major Italian fishing community. Their names are well known to Tampans today:  Mirabella, Felicione, Matassini, Boromei, La Bruzza and Agliano.  Many of them went into the seafood restaurant business with much success. 

NEW - A mall directory showing a list of all the businesses in the mall around 1998 has been added!  Opened in August of 1976, the Tampa Bay Center mall was Tampa's unique shopping experience.  With its interior bathed in sunlight, a glass elevator and teeming with live trees, it was Tampa's first 2-level mall.  Read about Tampa Bay Center mall, see photos and video, all here at  Tampa Bay Center Mall
                   WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Brorein Street and the bridge downtown were named for one of Tampa's outstanding businessmen and citizens who, among holding many leading civic and business positions, served as president of Tampa's Peninsular Telephone Company.  Peninsular was founded by his uncle in 1901, who was also one of Tampa's most popular, successful and outstanding businessmen and citizens.  Read about the Broreins, their contribution to the early development of Tampa's telephone system, and the Peninsular Telephone Company, here at the new TampaPix feature, What's In A Name - Brorein.
In 1985, President Gerald Ford hit a golf ball across Garrison Channel in Tampa.  But why?He also was on board the inaugural ride of the Harbour Island People Mover, an automated guideway transit service that carried visitors between downtown Tampa and Harbour Island across the Garrison Channel from 1985 to 1999.  Read about the People Mover, the birth of Harbour Island, and the early history of the Hillsborough Bay grassy islands that became Seddon Island and later, Harbour Island.   
      All here at TampaPix

A NEW page has been added to Downtown at TampaPix           
Downtown as seen from Plant Park, University of Tampa

Two photos have been added to Maas Brothers History at TampaPix.  A family portrait of Henrietta Maas Waterman, sister of Abe & Isaac Maas, which shows her husband and children, including son Jerome Waterman.  Also a photo of Jerome in 1965.

Solomon and Jacob Maas came to the US from Germany in 1870 and opened a general store in Cochran, Georgia.  They were soon joined by brothers Abraham, Isaac and Julius in the business.  In the 1880s, the brothers went their own ways.  Abe came to Tampa and opened his dry goods Palace on Franklin St. in 1886.  He was soon joined by Isaac, and together they became "Maas Brothers".  
See
Maas Brothers History

The Final Battle For Fort Brooke

The final battle for Fort Brooke lasted over 20 years, but it was not fought with cannon, gun or sword.  It was fought with mightier weapons--the pen, the word, capital and the law.  When Tampa found out that the military was about to abandon Fort Brooke, in late 1882 many Tampans desired that this land should not be developed for commerce or industry, but instead set aside as a public park for its great natural beauty.  Read about the plan that Tampa citizens came up with to gain title to the land, and the legal battles that ensued.  Learn about the players, the plan, the fort and the land, and see many photos related to the fort, including two cannon from the fort placed in Plant Park,

Here at TampaPix.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? 
Read about the individuals whose lives influenced the naming of Tampa's thoroughfares, and learn the reason why some places are named as they are.

W. Howard Frankland, the man and the bridge  NEW - Sep. 17, 2014
He didn't design it, didn't build it, didn't pay for it, but it's named for him.  See why!

Kennedy Blvd. / Lafayette Street Bridge - NEW for 2012!

Brorein Street and bridge, downtown Tampa

 

 

 

 

 

The name of Fortune Street downtown conjures up images of boom-time prosperity, with business owners making a fortune in profits, but this isn't why this street and the bridge, once named the Laurel Street bridge, were named.  See the newly updated feature about Fortune Street and the bridge, with new photos, scenes from the 2004 film "The Punisher" shot on this bridge, and more, here at TampaPix.

 

 

"The Gandy Bridge, First to Span Tampa Bay" has been updated with newspaper clippings and narrative concerning Gandy's Island, information about the tolls including actual toll receipts from 1942, and the story behind the streetcar tracks that ran down the center of the bridge from it's opening in 1924 to 1947.  Don't miss the incredible 2-page newspaper promotion by the Old Tampa Bay Navigation & Construction Company, describing the entire construction site, along with promoter Eugene Elliott's archaeological extravaganza, Weedon Island, as the ultimate tourist attraction.

 

 

Adamo, Dale Mabry and MacDill  NEW content and photos have been added to Dr. Frank Scozzari Adamo feature!

Moses White Blvd.     Cass Street & Bridge
 


Poetry in Motion - Streets in Sunset Park are named for 15 poets, see them all in one place!

Marion and Morgan, parallel downtown streets and unparalleled generals

Why did Tampa name a street after the state of Nebraska?  

Why is "Septima" (Spanish for "Seventh") misspelled "Setima" on Ybor City street signs?

Why is the intersection of Dale Mabry Highway and Columbus Drive named "Brothers to the Rescue Corner"?

 

Bruce B. Downs, Bearss, Fowler, Fletcher, Howard, Hanna, Zack, Ashley, Twiggs, Lambright, Buffalo, Swann, Gandy, Davis Blvd., Fortune Street, Platt Street, Hyde Park, Marion, Morgan, Jackson, Whiting, Jetton, Carrollwood, Sheldon Road

Read about Tampa in 1886 from "Webb's 1886 Tampa City Directory" and see the street listings.

 

 

The Cinchett Neon Sign company operated in Tampa for 50 years.  New at TampaPix--Read about Frank & John F. Cinchett's legacy in Tampa and see 2 newly discovered photos of John F. Cinchett's last neon sign.

 

NEW:  See an amazing video showing color footage shot by Frank Cinchett, showing dozens of their signs in action at night!

 

TAMPA'S BRAVEST
tampasbravest.com is dedicated to the men and women who place their lives on the line everyday for the City of Tampa and its citizens. This unofficial website is intended to provide information about the history of the City of Tampa Fire Department including pictures and information of apparatus and stations, past and present.

Visit Tampasbravest.com now!

Tampa's Bravest on Facebook

NEW at TampaPix - TFD resonding to a West Tampa fire

See West Tampa Fire Station No.9 here at TampaPix

Tampa in the 1950s, in LIVING COLOR with the sounds of the 50s!

See some beautiful color photos of Tampa scenes in the mid to late 1950s, scanned from color slides.  Scenes include Franklin Street ablaze in neon, two night views of Ayres Diner in Seminole Heights, the US Navy submarine SS Spikefish on display at the Port of Tampa, the SS Ybor sailing down Ybor Channel, the Gandy Bridge, and Fairyland at Lowry Park.  All photos courtesy of Tampa native Yvonne Colado.

See it here 

HELEN HILL SCHOOL HAS BEEN REMOVED.
 

Fernando Figueredo was a hero of Cuba's Ten Years' War, a Florida State Representative and leader of the Cuban Revolutionary Party BEFORE becoming the first mayor of West Tampa in 1895.

  • Figueredo was married THREE times, each time to the same woman, and is honored on 3 postage stamps.

  • The order to start the revolution in Cuba against Spain in 1895 was hidden in a cigar made in West Tampa, carried on the H.B. Plant steamer "Mascotte" to Key West, and from there smuggled in to Cuba and the leaders of the revolution by the hands and mouth of no less than 3 different men.

  • The O'Halloran Bros. cigar factory sat in a square right in the middle of present-day Howard Avenue between Main St. and Union St. in 1895.

All these facts are closely tied together...Read the amazing story of "The Cigar That Sparked a Revolution"

In the 1940s, Ybor City's Cuscaden Park was THE place to go on a Sunday afternoon or Thursday evening to catch a baseball game between teams of the Inter-Social league.  The result of one of Roosevelt's WPA projects in Tampa, Cuscaden was home field for many baseball players from Tampa who went on to the major leagues.  For many West Tampa and Ybor City youths, the public pool at Cuscaden was where they first learned to swim.  Boxing on Florida's west coast had its revival at the Cuscaden boxing arena in the 40s.  The park was the focus of athletic social interaction during the war years, and served as a respite from the solemn news that WW2 brought to the forefront in those days.

Read about the ballpark, pool, Arthur W. Cuscaden, the events and event-makers of Ybor's Cuscaden Park


JOSEPH ROBLES - The Robles are an old and important family in the history of Tampa beginning with Joseph Robles, an immigrant from Madrid, Spain who came to the United States in the nineteenth century. Robles was born in 1817 and migrated as a stowaway at the age of 15 from his native Spain. He is said to have jumped ship in 1832 in Georgia and headed to Florida after marrying in Georgia.  Read about the Robles and see original land surveys of Tampa that show where the Robles properties were located.  If you work in downtown Tampa, chances are you drive through it every day. 

The Robles Family at TampaPix    NEW: Photos of Judge Francis Robles

Blanche Armwood was a Tampa native and the first African-American woman from Florida to graduate from an accredited law school--Howard University.  Armwood High School in Seffner, which opened in 1984, was named after her.

An early 20th-century Renaissance woman, Ms. Armwood steadfastly held the values of hard work, religious morality, and judicial equality before the American consciousness. She used diplomacy to present these ideals to the American public. Called a "Female Booker T. Washington," Armwood served as liaison between the black and white races. She was administrator, educator, innovator, writer, and poet.

Read about Blanche Armwood at TampaPix

95-YEAR-OLD STILL WORKS AT TAMPA'S CITY HALL!  See interior photos added Oct. 6, 2010

Hortense recently turned 95-years-young and yet SHE sets the pace for City Hall's employees and downtown visitors.  She performs her job with pride, on the 10th floor where she's worked ever since she started there in the early 1900s.  She's always punctual and doesn't plan on slowing down or retiring any time soon!

READ about and see photos of "Hortense the beautiful" as she's known to many.  Also learn about the city hall building, its history and design.

SNAKES ON A PLANE! - Dec. 9, 1969  A NEW Photo has been added on 9-27-2010 from "The Reading Eagle", a Pennsylvania newspaper.
On the above date, a C-46 cargo plane made a forced landing in the parking area of Al Lopez field. It came to rest against a utility pole, just 500 feet from a house which was across Himes Ave.  Stories circulated amongst the locals that it carried reptiles and that snakes escaped to roam the neighborhood until they were rounded up. Part of this is true; read on!
B-17 "Fortress" Bomber Makes Crash Landing in West Tampa - May 19, 1944

Shortly before 7 a.m. on May 19, 1944, a four-engine B-17 bomber crashed on Abdella Street in West Tampa just east of Drew Field, the giant wartime base where today's Tampa International Airport is located.  Read about the heroic efforts of neighborhood residents to rescue the 9-man crew from the flaming wreckage.

 

George Sheppard "Dad" Gandy was one of those fellows who laughed at the word “impossible.” He has a long list of achievements to his credit and many of those achievements represent the completion of ideas which once were branded as absurd. The original Gandy Bridge was the work of a dreamer--unquestionably. Only a dreamer of the most pronounced type could have conceived such a project and only a dreamer could have believed that it would some day be completed.  But there was nothing dream-like about the struggle which Gandy had to make his dream materialize.

Read about the amazing perseverance of George "Dad" Gandy and his 22 year quest to be the first to bridge Old Tampa Bay.  Learn about "colorful" promoter Eugene Elliott who raised $2 million for the project, in just 110 days...in 1922!  The Gandy Bridge - First to Span Tampa Bay

 

 

Nothing says "Tampa" like a mouth-watering Cuban sandwich


Ask ten people what goes into making an exceptional Cuban Sandwich and you'll likely get ten different responses that vary in ingredients, preparation and appearance. The debate can get as hot as the bread just out of the oven--not just over the ingredients, but even on the order they're stacked, the cut and pressing.  It may depend on your interpretation of "Cuban"--traditional as it was in Cuba, or how Tampa/Ybor City's rich ethnic mix caused it to evolve early on.  Either way, there's not much variation in the recipe and preparation. 

But it is the bread that makes or breaks a Cuban sandwich; as with any building, the foundation is important.  See Cuban Bread - first baked in Ybor City's "La Joven Francesca" bakery, 1896.

 

 

  From Wikipedia:


As with Cuban bread, the origin of the Cuban sandwich (sometimes called a "Cuban mix", a "mixto," a "Cuban pressed sandwich," or a "Cubano") is murky and somewhat intriguing.  In the late 1800s and early 1900s, travel between Cuba and Florida was easy, especially from Key West and Tampa, and Cubans frequently sailed back and forth for employment, pleasure, and family visits. Because of this constant and largely undocumented movement of people and culture and ideas, it is impossible to say exactly when or where the Cuban sandwich originated.

It is believed by some that the sandwich was a common lunch food for workers in both the cigar factories and sugar mills of Cuba (especially in big cities such as Havana or Santiago de Cuba) and the cigar factories of Key West by the 1860s. Historian Loy Glenn Westfall states that the sandwich was "born in Cuba and educated in Key West."

The cigar industry in Florida shifted to Tampa in the 1880s and the sandwich quickly appeared in workers' cafés in Ybor City and later, West Tampa, leading other historians to theorize that the sandwich as now constituted first appeared there. One local historian says it evolved into something more distinct – the Tampa Cuban sandwiches we now know and love.

By the 1960s, Cuban sandwiches were also common on Miami cafeteria and restaurant menus, as the city had gained a large influx of Cuban residents after Fidel Castro's 1959 rise to power in their native land. The Communist Revolution caused a wave of Cuban expatriates to settle in other locations as well, and they brought their culture and cuisine with them. Cuban sandwiches and variations thereof are now served in various Cuban exile communities in places such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Puerto Rico, among others.

A. J. Schleman biting into loaf of Cuban bread at      
Independent Life and Accident Insurance Co., 1950      

While there is some debate as to the contents of a "true" Cuban sandwich, most are generally agreed upon. The traditional Tampa Cuban sandwich starts with Cuban bread as made in Ybor City's famous bakeries, such as La Segunda Central, Casino or Faedo's. The Cuban bread in early Ybor City was mostly baked by the Sicilian immigrant bakers, such as La Joven Francesca.  The loaf is sliced into lengths of 8–12 inches, sometimes lightly buttered or brushed with olive oil on the crust, and then always cut in half horizontally.

 

A coat of yellow mustard is spread on the bread. Each of the main meat ingredients were contributed by Ybor City's major ethnic groups:  The thin-sliced roast pork is then layered on, usually marinated in mojo and slow roasted.  It represents the Cuban influence in the sandwich.  The sugar-glazed ham, from the Spaniards, and the Genoa salami, from the Italians/Sicilians, is then layered on.  Swiss cheese, and thinly-sliced dill pickles are then added in layers.

 

 

The main regional disagreement about the sandwich’s recipe is whether or not to include salami. In Tampa, Genoa salami is traditionally layered in with the other meats, probably due to influence of Italian immigrants who lived side-by-side with Cubans and Spaniards in Ybor City.  In South Florida, salami is left out.  Mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato are usually available options on Florida menus but are frowned upon by traditionalists.

When assembled, the sandwich can be toasted in a sandwich press called a plancha, which is similar to a panini press but without grooved surfaces. The plancha both heats and compresses the sandwich, which remains in the press until the bread surface is slightly crispy and the cheese is melted. It is usually cut into diagonal halves before serving.

 

 

"La Joven Francesca" Bakery where the first Cuban bread was baked, 1896.  It is now the Ybor State Museum.


 

A lot of effort went into making the traditional Tampa Cuban sandwich, and over the years that effort has diminished, resulting in a sandwich that is less of an art and more of a matter of convenience and economy.  By the 1940s, the old-fashioned way of making them started to fade away. By the time of Ybor City's urban renewal of the mid-1960s, soggy, cheap, fatty boiled ham and processed pork dominated the mass-produced sandwich. Many places today no longer take the time and effort to continue the craft started by Ybor City's 19th century immigrants. They heap on huge portions of shredded lettuce, mayo and tomato turning it into a salad on bread.   As a result, the sandwich lacks the nuances of flavor and texture exhibited by the painstakingly-crafted sandwich. A properly-made Cuban sandwich accentuates the contrast of the dry, crusty Cuban bread with the flavorful mingling of melted fats from the meats.  The combination of salty ham and salami, the aromatic flavors of the mojo in the roast pork, and the sharpness and pungency of the mustard and pickle are all joined in matrimony by the bread and Swiss cheese.
 

 
Cuban bread being made at Faedo's Bakery

 

Long-time restaurant worker Manuel Torres making Cuban sandwiches the old fashioned way, 1957
From "Tampa History Magazine."

Torres marinated a select pork roast overnight in a mojo of lemon juice, salt, fresh garlic, oregano and vinegar. Then he parboiled the pork with onions, celery and garlic and roasted it. A whole smoked ham was then parboiled in the same mixture. Torres trimmed extra fat from the ham and coated it in sugar. Then he melted the sugar onto the ham with a hot iron. The resulting caramelized sugar gave the ham a distinctive taste. Attracted by the irresistible aroma, salivating passersby gathered around the storefront as the sugar turned into a thin amber glaze. Torres then carved the meat into thin slices: pork, ham and peppered Genoa salami. Imported Swiss cheese, sour dill pickles, mustard and Cuban bread completed the sandwich. He layered the ingredients onto the bread in the traditional order: Ham, pork, salami, cheese, pickle, and mustard spread only on the top slice of the sandwich. "It is always done that way," Torres said."

 

 

Richard Gonzmart, president of the world-famous Columbia Restaurant, gets a fresh burst of energy as he describes the way his grandfather, a second-generation owner of the restaurant, used to make it. This sandwich isn't just a sandwich. It's his history, his legacy, a signature of his family's labor for four generations. Richard has recently decided to recreate the Cuban Sandwich of his grandfather's day.  "It started with fresh-baked Cuban bread from La Segunda Central Bakery. Then a layer of ham, sweet on the edges, from a sugary rub that caramelized as it baked. Then thin-sliced pork, which bathed overnight in mojo marinade before it was roasted to savory tenderness. Then salami, oh, the salami, studded with peppercorns and sitting high so its fat could infuse the other meats. Then a slice of aged Swiss cheese that supported rounds of sour pickle. And under the lid, a single layer of yellow mustard. Press this into an inch or two of crusty, buttered warmth, and cut on the diagonal. Bite."  This quote and photo from a St. Pete Times article by Becky Bowers.  See the whole article  here.

Another food that says "Tampa" like no other -- The Deviled Crab Croquette!  Read this NY Times recent article: "In Tampa, The Street Food That Crawled From The Sea"

And from Cigar City Magazine:  "Bitter Strikes Brought Deviled Crabs"

 

(This feature is currently being edited.)

Six videos have been added to the Columbia Restaurant at TampaPix!  See behind the scenes with Richard Gonzmart.

Read how it took an act of Congress to keep Chef Pijuan's great Spanish food at the Columbia and see photos of Chef Francisco Pijuan and his successor, Vincenzo "Sarapico" Perez.

The father of a Tampa Mayor and Florida Governor worked as a waiter at the Columbia for almost 40 years...See a 1966 photo of him and the Columbia waiters staff

 

 


Don't "tampa" with my town...she's mine!

   

        


Remembering a lost Tampa landmark

Learn more about the Goody Goody  
 
Visit "Time for West Tampa" at TampaPix

The Flower of Tampa is a 1950s color film that uses the story of a young man visiting his uncle, a cigar manufacturer, in Tampa to showcase the city’s cigar industry. Along the way the young man meets an attractive young woman who takes him on a tour of Ybor City and the cigar plant where all aspects of cigar making are discussed, and hand and machine cigar rolling techniques are highlighted. The film also includes scenes of Tampa’s airport, downtown, and harbor during the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival.  This is a LINK to view the video at the Florida Memory Project website, it is 27 minutes.

Three Franklin St businesses in 1924 bit the dust to make way for the South's most beautiful theatre.  See photos of these businesses, the clearing of the property and construction of the Tampa Theatre from 1924 to 1926 at Tampa Theatre.

New video of Bay Area Renaissance Festival

 

Watch orphan beggars Seymour P. Freely and his sister Penelope host an action-packed pie eating contest.

 

Bay Area Renaissance Festival Page 7

 


Snow Park - Who was Maj. Henry E. Snow?  Why this park is in the Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley's..Believe it or Not? Learn about the numerous names of Kennedy Blvd: Lafayette, Grand Central Ave & Memorial Hwy.  Where did they start and end?

 

Spanish-American War memorial at Plant Park, Univ. of Tampa--Read about the REAL history of this cannon--was it really from Ft. Dade, Egmont Key?

 

Did you know?
The name “Tampa” comes from the Calusa Indians who lived in West Central Florida between 1500 and into the 1800’s. The Calusa (or Caloosa) called this place Tanpa, with an “N”, which translates to “sticks of fire.” Some have said that this refers to the abundance of kindling and driftwood along the Hillsborough river (sticks to make fire), but the more plausible reference is to the frequent, intense lightning storms in the area.

In 1521 Juan Ponce de Leon was the first European to discover present day Tampa Bay. De Leon was allegedly slain in this area by the Calusa Indians “as a response to information they received of Spanish mistreatment of Indians (Calusa and Caribe) in Cuba”. De Leon’s body was first taken to Europe and now resides in the cathedral of St. John the Baptist in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Panfilio de Narvaez landed in the Tampa Bay area on Good Friday, April 1528, with the intention of starting a colony.  He declared it “the best port in the world.” After being told by the natives of better riches to the north, Narvaez immediately got into an argument with a local Indian chief who in turn sliced off Narvaez’s nose and chased him out of the area.  They abandoned their camp after only a week. A dozen years later, a surviving member of the expedition named Juan Ortiz was rescued by Hernando de Soto's expedition.

Hernando de Soto arrived in the area on May 25, 1539, calling Tampa Bay “La Bahia Del Espiritu Santo” (the Bay of the Holy Spirit) and met with native Indians under the Charter Oak (or De Soto Oak) near present day Plant Park at the University of Tampa.  A peace treaty was conducted with the local Tocobaga Indians, and a short-lived Spanish outpost was established. However, this was abandoned when it became clear that there was no gold in the area, that the local Indians were not interested in converting to Catholicism, and that they were too skilled as warriors to easily conquer. The Tampa area would be effectively ignored by its colonial owners for the next 200+ years.

The name "Tanpa" first appears in the "Memoir" of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda. Fontaneda was a Spainish shipwreck survivor who lived among the Native Americans of Florida for 17 years (1575) as a Calusa captive. He calls it "Tanpa" and describes it as an important Calusa town. While "Tanpa" is the apparent basis for the modern name "Tampa", archaeologist Jerald Milanich places the Calusa village of Tanpa at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor, the original "Bay of Tanpa". A later Spanish expedition failed to notice Charlotte Harbor while sailing north along the west coast of Florida and assumed that today's Tampa Bay was the bay that they had sought. Thus, the name was accidentally transferred north.

Portions of above are from a history of Tampa and La Floridiana.


 


Visit our Facebook page "WE ARE TAMPA, NOT TAMPA BAY!"
 

The city is Tampa.

The bay is Tampa Bay.

The area is the Tampa Bay Area.

There is no city named "Tampa Bay"

     

Visit TampaNatives.com
You don't have to be a native to share the memories!

 

Tampa at Wikipedia

 

The Story of Tampa mural by Lynn Ash

Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County was named for Wills Hill (1718 – 1793), the 1st Marquess of Downshire, known as the Viscount Hillsborough from 1742 to 1751 and as the Earl of Hillsborough from 1751 to 1789.  He was a British politician of the Georgian era. Best known in the United States as the Earl of Hillsborough, he served as Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1768 to 1772, a critical period leading toward the American Revolution.

Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, the town of Hillsborough, New Hampshire within the county, the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina and Hillsborough County, the River and bay in Florida, as well as Hillsborough Bay in Prince Edward Island and the village of Hillsborough, New Brunswick, in Canada, are named in Hill's honor. The name "Hillsborough River" first appeared on a British map in 1769. At the time, the Earl of Hillsborough was the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, and thus controlled the pensions of the surveyors working in the American colonies, which included East Florida.

Florida's Hillsborough county was created on January 25, 1834 from Alachua and Monroe counties.  Its boundaries of 1834 included the present-day counties of Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota.


Mouseover the sign to turn it on

Frank Cinchett brought his neon sign business to Tampa from Philadelphia in 1948.  His son, John F. Cinchett, joined the business and raised it to a new level of creativity.

John V. Cinchett worked at his grandfather’s sign shop until the late 1980s. A third-generation Floridian and Tampa native, John is the organist at various historic Tampa-area churches.  He is enamored with the 1950s, the years when his father was supplying neon signs to a growing, bustling Tampa.

Captured in photographs taken by the Cinchett family for their neon sign shop in Tampa, these never-before-seen images will take you back to the day when Tampa was a bustling haven of popular stores and restaurants.

Vintage Tampa Signs and Scenes (Paperback) ~ John V. Cinchett (A... Cover ArtJohn V. Cinchett's passion for the 1950s and his love of commercial neon art finally came together.  Compiling and organizing rare old photos of Tampa, he authored Vintage Tampa Signs & Scenes.  The book is about family history as much as civic history.  

Photos here are copyrighted property of John V. Cinchett and used with his permission.  


Johnny Cinchett has done it again.  The author of "Vintage Tampa Signs & Scenes" has come out with another vintage Tampa book; "Vintage Tampa Storefronts and Scenes." 

Author John V. Cinchett is a third-generation Tampa native and local history writer who dedicates his efforts to the preservation and promotion of historic Tampa photographs. He interviewed dozens of longtime Tampa store owners, who shared family heritage through captivating stories and nostalgic photographs of their legendary businesses that were proudly passed along from generation to generation.  These historic storefront photographs, compiled from private collections and local library archives, present a walking tour of downtown Tampa and other popular neighborhoods during a simpler time that is so well-loved and remembered.


No fan of Tampa history or Tampa native should be without this book.
    See more at Arcadia Publishing

See what the Tampa Bay Times had to say in their feature about Johnny Cinchett and his new book,
"Author compiles photos, stories of longtime Tampa businesses."

 

 

Alphabetic listing of all TampaPix photo feature pages:

1921 Tampa (Tarpon Springs) Hurricane

Al Lopez Park

Amarillys Sandwiches and More

American Victory Mariner's Memorial and Museum Channelside 15

Army Navy Surplus Market

Barbers' Shop, Old and New

Bay Area Renaissance Festival 2007

Bay Area Renaissance Festival 2009

Blanche Armwood

Bo's Ice Cream

Brorein Street & Bridge, with history of Peninsular Telephone Co.

Burgert Brothers, Photographers of Early Tampa

Busch Gardens

Butterfly McQueen ("Gone With The Wind") Was a Tampa Native

Cargo Plane Makes Forced Landing at Al Lopez Field, 1969

Centro Asturiano Hospital, Ybor Heights

Cinchett Neon Signs

Channelside Attractions Channelside 9

Channelside Attractions Channelside 10

Channelside Attractions & Entertainment Channelside 11

Channelside Attractions & Entertainment Channelside 12

City Hall

Clara Barton - Founder of the American Red Cross

Columbia Restaurant, Ybor City (This feature is currently being edited.)

Corporate Center III   at International Plaza

Corporate Center IV at International Plaza

Cruise Ship Terminal 2 Scenes Channelside 13

Cruise Ship Terminal for the Nordic Empress Channelside 14

Cuscaden Park, Ybor City

Custom Creations Cafe & Bakery

Davis Islands & David Paul Davis

DeSoto Hotel - A history of the the first and second one

Don Garlits - Tampa Native and Drag Racing Legend

Downtown Tampa page 1    page 2    page 3    page 4    page 5   page 6

Downtown as seen from Harbour Island

Downtown From The Westshore District / Did You Know?

Drew Field Echoes - A History of the Army airbase and Tampa's first international airport

F84 Fighter jet crash near MacDill AFB, Jan. 24, 1963

Fantasia Golf at Lowry Park

FedEx Tour - McDonnell Douglas MD11F / NASCAR / Airport Facility

Fernando Figueredo, West Tampa's First Mayor

Fire Station No. 9 in West Tampa

Florida Aquarium Channelside 16

Florida Sandhill Cranes & Birds of Lutz

Flyovers of Raymond James Stadium by MacDill AFB & Coast Guard Aircraft

Fort Brooke Park "Cotanchobee" with some Tampa history Channelside 7

Fort Brooke - The Final Battle  NEW

Fort Homer Hesterly Armory

Fortune Street Bridge (now the Laurel Street Bridge) NEW

Gandy Bridge & George S. Gandy

Gasparilla Pirate Ship History - The Schooner William Bisbee

Goody Goody Restaurant 

Goody Goody Roots NEW - Nov. 2019

Guida House in West Tampa

Harbour Island, Office Building, Wyndham Hotel, Jackson's Bistro - Channelside 1

Harbour Island Bridge Area and Scenes to the West - Channelside 2

Harbour Island Bridge Area and Scenes to the East and South - Channelside 3

Harbour Island East Bridge scenes; Carnival Cruise ship Sensation and streetcar Channelside 8

Harbour Island People Mover History

Herman - King of Lowry Park Zoo

Hillsborough High School

Himes Avenue name and Gray Gables

Hortense the City Hall Clock -MYTH BUSTED!  How it was really named.

Howard Frankland, the man and the bridge  NEW!  Sep. 17, 2014

Howard Park Beach, Tarpon Springs

Hurricane Charley Day in Tampa- Friday 13th, Aug. 2004

Hyde Park Tea Cottage

James McKay, the Scottish Chief

James McKay's capture on the Salvor and subsequent imprisonment

James T. Magbee, the Civil War in Tampa, and the coming of the railroad

Kennedy Blvd. Bridge Scenes

Kennedy Blvd / Lafayette St. Bridge History

Knight & Wall, one of Tampa's most enduring businesses

Kress Building  

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

La Ideal Cafeteria

Lafayette Street / Kennedy Blvd. Bridge History

Las Novedades Spanish Restaurant

La Teresita Grocery and nearby Guayabera & Computer Repair Shop

Lowry Park & Zoo and Fairyland history

Lowry Park Zoo

Lutz History - Twelve pages on the history of Lutz, with old photos

Lutz Page 1 - Welcome to Lutz!

Lutz Page 2 - The old Lutz Schoolhouse

Lutz Page 3 - Hot Rods BBQ & Grill

MacDill Air Force Base History and 1976 Air Show

Macfarlane Park in West Tampa  

Maas Brothers Building downtown & history (Downtown page 5)

Margaret "Mickey" Ekdahl, Tampa's "Miss America"

Mel's Hot Dogs

Memorial Junior High Middle School

Mirabella's Restaurant and Seafood Co.

Muvico Theater near Tampa Palms

NFL Experience 2009 at Super Bowl 43

NIGHT RANGER Rock Band at Lowry Park Zoo "Zoofari"

Outdoor artwork page

Plant Field History

Raymond James Stadium - A Tour sponsored by FedEx for its clients

Raymond James Stadium dressed up for Super Bowl 43

Raymond James Stadium dressed up for Super Bowl 55 

Rings Tournament - Tampa's yearly celebration before there was Gasparilla

Robles Family of Tampa, Joseph Robles

Rowdies arrival at T.I.A after their 1975 Soccer Bowl victory

Safety Village / Children's Museum / Kid City

Saving Fairyland

Seddon Island and Hillsborough Bay History

Seminole Heights Elementary School

Seminole Heights Motel

Seminole Heights United Methodist Church

Sign Art Group

Snow in Tampa on Jan 19, 1977

Snow Park

St. James House of Prayer

St. Pete Times Forum, "The Ice Palace" Home of Stanley Cup Champs T.B. Lighting Channelside 5

St. Pete Times Forum fans waiting to honor the champs with Stanley Cup ceremony Channelside 5a

St. Pete Times Forum and fans Channelside 6

Stanley Cup at Carlton Fields

Stetson University Law School Tampa Campus

Streetcar Fest 2004 Tampa - 15 Pages Listed Below

     1 - Southern Transportation Plaza

     2 - All Aboard "Shirley's Car" #428  With Detailed Views of Craftwork & Equipment

     3 - Riding Along Channelside

     4 - Centro Ybor Scenes

     5 - Centro Ybor Scenes

     6 - Centro Ybor To Centennial Park Plaza

     7 - Centennial Park Plaza Festivities

     8 - Centennial Park Plaza Festivities

     9 - The Restored Birney #163

    10- Birney #163 Craftsmanship

    11- Take a Ride on Birney #163

    12- Birney #163 Specifications

    13- A Tour Inside the Carbarn

    14- Tour of the Carbarn and Heading Back to the Station

    15- The End of the Line

Sulphur Springs water tower

Sulphur Springs water tower lighting ceremony

Southern Transportation Plaza Area, Marriott Waterside, St. Pete Times Forum Channelside 4

Tampa Bay Lightning Home Ice Arena - The St. Pete Times Forum (3 pages)

Tampa Bay Blvd. Elementary School

Tampa Bay Center Shopping Mall

Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

Tampa Convention Center - Channelside 3a

Tampa History Poster

Tampa in the 1940s 

     Page 1 - The Great Depression 1930s

     Page 2 - Tampa Moves Forward Again - Late 1930s & early 1940s

     Page 3 - During World War II and Afterwards

     Page 4 - An Era of Peace and Prosperity

     Page 5 - Mary Hatcher, Tampa's "Variety Girl"

     Page 6 - Warner Brothers Movie Filmed at Drew Field, "Air Force"

     Page 7 - Prohibition Years, 1920s and 1930s, Bolita, Organized Crime, Vice and Charlie Wall

Tampa in the 1950s -Color slides -Franklin St. ablaze in neon, US Navy submarine, Lowry Park, Gandy Bridge

Tampa International Airport History / Drew Air Field

Tampa Natives Photo Index

Tampa Port Authority Trade Center Channelside 17

Tampa Stadium History and Photos

Tampa Theater Building

Thamer's Tampa photos

Tin Can Tourists of Tampa

Union Train Station,

University of Tampa

Vintage Tampa Signs & Scenes by John V. Cinchett

Washington Street Viaduct, the bridge to nowhere NEW! 6-11-2017

West Tampa and the Cigar That Sparked a Revolution

West Tampa Fire Station No. 9

West Tampa's Fort Homer Hesterly Armory

West Tampa - George Guida House

West Tampa - La Ideal Cafeteria

West Tampa - La Teresita Grocery Store and the Churro truck

West Tampa - Macfarlane Park

West Tampa - Tour along Albany Avenue

West Tampa - Tour of Howard Ave. from Main St. to Columbus Drive 

West Tampa - Columbus Drive Bridge, Hillsborough River, Raymond James Stadium & more,

West Tampa Little League Ballpark

What's In A Name? - Read about the people whose lives inspired the naming of Tampa thoroughfares

World War II collection of Lt. Charles E. Cushing

Ybor City - 1 & 2 - Scenes in the vicinity of the west end of E. 7th Avenue

Ybor City - 3 -Italian Club

Ybor City - 4 - Scenes along E. 7th Avenue

Ybor City - Casitas of Ybor, beautifully restored old houses

Ybor City - Centennial Park Plaza, statue of Nick Nuccio & immigrant tribute

Ybor City - Centro Ybor Scenes

Ybor City - Columbia Restaurant

Ybor City - Ybor State Museum

ZOOFARI - Pictures of rock band "NIGHT RANGER" live - Use Internet Explorer to view this page.  Chrome will not work.

 

 
-- TO REDISCOVER, REMEMBER AND RELIVE TAMPA'S PAST!
I REMEMBER TAMPA--SHE REMEMBERS ME
"I will share my story with you, to preserve its history."

The TampaPix theme music is Mike Baluja performing his hit song "I Remember Tampa."   Excerpts from two versions have been edited to play consecutively here on TampaPix.  "I Remember Tampa" is the theme song for the
Tampa Natives Show and is played during the opening and closing credits.

To the percussion and tune of a small traditional Latin club piano and a revised, ear-popping version with a Big Band wall of sound for the Tampa Natives Show,  Mike recalls Tampa, "the way she used to be, the places we would run to, the faces we would see."  He expresses precious Tampa memories, "...A city risin', on the move, a simple yet progressive groove...walkin' through the park at night, beneath the moss-filled trees.  Children runnin', ridin' bike, footloose, fancy-free."  Mike is proud to call Tampa "the city that I call my home, the home from which I never roam. 

This video features the full revised version of "I Remember Tampa" that Mike created for Season 5 of the Tampa Natives Show. 

First stop the edited versions from playing by clicking pause on the player below.

 

To see a list of the photos identified, watch the video from here.
 

 

 

 


Images from a stunning time-lapse video titled "City Lights" shot by Nicole Abbett and edited by Nicole Abbett and Sean Birdsell
Includes rare footage of the Cass St. railroad bridge lowering and raising.

On August 10, 2012, Chicago lighting artist Tracey Dear lit up five Tampa bridges in a project titled Agua Luces. Backed by Mayor Bob Buckorn, Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas, and the Lights On Tampa Committee, this will be a permanent fixture to the City of Tampa. When the installation is complete, nine bridges will be lit in total. The Platt Street Bridge, the Brorein Street Bridge, the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority overpass, the Kennedy Boulevard Bridge, and the CSX Railroad Bridge were all illuminated in a ceremony on August 10, 2012. Whether you are on land, in the water, or in the sky, the view is impeccable. Each bridge boasts it own unique design and with the reflection of the water, the result is a gorgeous display of lights. To capture the beauty of the bridges Nicole Abbett created a time lapse over the course of several days/nights.

See the video here at Vimeo  (Stop the "I Remember Tampa" music first by clicking your "stop loading" browser button.   Visit http://www.lightsontampa.org to learn more

 

TAMPA CHANGING!
Tampa has come a long way in 100 years, and Tampa Native Bryan Weinstein has a creative and interesting method of sharing this fact.  Bryan has created a website using "Re-photography." 

On his site, Bryan has exhibited various sights of Tampa.  Each location has two photographs, a historical photograph, taken up to one hundred years ago, and the re-photograph, taken within the last couple of years.

Bryan uses a slideshow blend effect so that the old photo morphs into the recent photo.  He has so exactly captured the scenes from the same vantage point, it's like instant time travel.  Bryan brings to mind how much Tampa has changed and how much has stayed the same.  Visit Bryan's site at TampaChanging.   Bryan seeks assistance by way of support and re-photography of your own to display on his site!
 

 

The perfect cards for any Tampa native to drop a line to their family and friends, or a great gift for anyone with Tampa roots.

TAMPAPIX IS NOT A BUSINESS.

Before you email, read this: The owner of this site is not interested in your ability to increase the site's visibility or ranking in search engines, foreign or domestic. He is not concerned with any web-related errors your "W3C Validator" found or any tweaks you think should be made concerning the design. If you wish to contact this site concerning the content of any features here, such as correction to historical information presented, feel free to email.