Port Tampa (neighborhood)

Last updated
Port Tampa
USA Florida location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Port Tampa
Location within the state of Florida
Coordinates: 27°52′N82°32′W / 27.867°N 82.533°W / 27.867; -82.533
Country United States
State Florida
County Hillsborough
City Tampa
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)

Port Tampa is a neighborhood in the southwestern most portion within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, on the western end of the Interbay Peninsula where the main port used to be. Within this neighborhood is Picnic Island Park as well as West Shore Elementary school.

Contents

It is sometimes confused with Port Tampa Bay (formerly the Port of Tampa), Tampa's larger port area near downtown on the northern end of Hillsborough Bay. As most of it being a historical district, it used to be a impoverished neighborhood with ghettos, projects, trailer parks & section-8 homes, the city has been gentrifying in the recent years. Also known as PT, PTC, or Port Tampa City.

History

Henry Plant's Port Tampa Inn. Note rail line in front of hotel Port Tampa Inn.jpg
Henry Plant's Port Tampa Inn. Note rail line in front of hotel

The town of Port Tampa City was established in 1885 at the end of Henry B. Plant's railroad line. The shallow draft of Tampa Bay made Tampa's main port inaccessible for the larger ships of the day, so Plant built a new port several miles away. To help bring visitors and residents to this new development, Plant built the St. Elmo Inn and Port Tampa Inn at the end of his rail line. The Port Tampa Inn was larger and had the distinction of being constructed directly on the bay on stilts. [1]

Port Tampa was the primary port of embarkation for the Spanish–American War in Cuba. In June 1898 Port Tampa and the city of Tampa hosted more than 33,000 visitors including military officers, enlisted men, nurses, civilian clerks, teamsters, packers, stevedores, war correspondents, tourists, and a host of foreign military observers. Wartime notables who passed through Port Tampa included Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, the Buffalo Soldiers, Clara Barton of the American Red Cross, Richard Harding Davis, Stephen Crane, and Frederic Remington.

Port Tampa became less important when several dredging projects made the Port of Tampa accessible to all shipping. The port is still in use, however, and is the main entry point for fuel for both Tampa International Airport and MacDill Air Force Base. [2]

Port Tampa City Library Port Tampa Public Library.jpg
Port Tampa City Library

Though the city of Port Tampa was annexed by the City of Tampa in 1961, community members still recognize the neighborhood's heritage. A centennial celebration was held in 1993, complete with home tours, and a large block party in the Spanish–American War Memorial Park at the corner of Interbay Blvd. and Westshore Blvd.

A large neoclassical style building with marble base and glazed terracotta tile above, formerly used as a bank, was saved from demolition through a community effort spearheaded by the Port Tampa City Woman's Club and the Civic Association of Port Tampa. The Port Tampa City Women's Club had run the library from 1951–1961. The renovated building, the former Commerce Bank Building, was converted into the Port Tampa City Library in 1998. Its second floor houses Tampa's Maritime Reading Room, with its artifacts, books and coastal maps. The library is now run by the county. [3]

Boundaries

The official boundaries of the city of Port Tampa were lands west of Manhattan Avenue to Tampa Bay and everything south of the old east-west railroad track north of McCoy St. Locals sometimes refer to it as anything "south of Gandy" although this is not exactly true, as there are several other distinct neighborhoods across the Tampa peninsula besides Port Tampa.

Claims to fame

Port Tampa is one of only two communities directly founded by Henry Plant's investment company; the other, Belleair in Pinellas County near Clearwater, was founded in 1896 surrounding Plant's Belleview Hotel.

Future President Theodore Roosevelt stayed at a Port Tampa home during his final days in Tampa before embarking with his Rough Riders to Cuba during the 1898 Spanish-American war.

Tommy Gomez was a heavyweight boxer from Port Tampa City. He fought several well-known heavyweights like Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott in venues such as Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hulk Hogan grew up in Port Tampa and attended Robinson High School when he was still known as Terry Bollea.

Javier Arenas graduated from Robinson High School. He was a cornerback with the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinellas County, Florida</span> County in Florida, United States

Pinellas County is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107, which makes it the seventh-most populous county in the state. It is also the most densely populated county in Florida, with 3,491 residents per square mile. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clearwater is the county seat. St. Petersburg is the largest city in the county, as well as the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa, Florida</span> City in Florida, United States

Tampa is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County. With an estimated population of 398,173 in 2022, Tampa is the 49th most populous city in the country and the 3rd most populous city in Florida after Jacksonville and Miami.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rough Riders</span> Nickname for the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry

The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and disorganized in comparison to its status during the American Civil War roughly thirty years prior. Following the sinking of USS Maine, President William McKinley needed to muster a strong ground force swiftly, which he did by calling for 125,000 volunteers to assist in the war. The U.S. had gone to war in opposition to Spanish colonial policies in Cuba, which was then torn by a rebellion. The regiment was also nicknamed "Wood's Weary Walkers" for its first commander, Colonel Leonard Wood. This reflected their dissatisfaction that despite being cavalry, they ended up fighting in Cuba as infantry, since their horses were not sent there with them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Bay</span> Estuary and natural harbor in Florida, off the Gulf of Mexico

Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater inflow into the bay is the Hillsborough River, which flows into Hillsborough Bay in downtown Tampa. Many other smaller rivers and streams also flow into Tampa Bay, resulting in a large watershed area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ybor City</span> Neighborhood in Hillsborough County, Florida, US

Ybor City is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez-Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mainly from Cuba, Spain, and Italy. For the next 50 years, workers in Ybor City's cigar factories rolled hundreds of millions of cigars annually.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interbay, Seattle</span> Seattle Neighborhood

Interbay is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington consisting of the valley between Queen Anne Hill on the east and Magnolia on the west, plus filled-in areas of Smith Cove and Salmon Bay. The neighborhood is bounded on the north by Salmon Bay, part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, across which is Ballard; on the south by what remains of Smith Cove, an inlet of Elliott Bay; on the east by 15th Avenue W. and Elliott Avenue W.; and on the west by the BNSF Railway. The Ballard Bridge crosses the ship canal from Interbay to Ballard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry B. Plant</span>

Henry Bradley Plant, was a businessman, entrepreneur, and investor involved with many transportation interests and projects, mostly railroads, in the southeastern United States. He was founder of the Plant System of railroads and steamboats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnolia, Seattle</span> Neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States

Magnolia is the second largest neighborhood of Seattle, Washington by area. It occupies a hilly peninsula northwest of downtown. Magnolia has been a part of the city since 1891. A good portion of the peninsula is taken up by Discovery Park, formerly the U.S. Army's Fort Lawton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Hall, Virginia</span> Neighborhood in Virginia, United States

Lee Hall is an unincorporated town located in the extreme western portion of the independent city of Newport News in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Tampa</span> District in Florida, United States

West Tampa is one of the oldest neighborhoods within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, United States. It was an independently incorporated city from 1895 until 1925, when it was annexed by Tampa.

The modern history of Tampa, Florida, can be traced to the founding of Fort Brooke at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in today's downtown in 1824, soon after the United States had taken possession of Florida from Spain. The outpost brought a small population of civilians to the area, and the town of Tampa was first incorporated in 1855.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry B. Plant Museum</span> United States historic place in Tampa, Florida

The Henry B. Plant Museum is located in the south wing of Plant Hall on the University of Tampa's campus, located at 401 West Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa, Florida. Plant Hall was originally built by Henry B. Plant as the Tampa Bay Hotel; a 511-room resort-style hotel that opened on February 5, 1891, near the terminus of the Plant System rail line, also forged and owned by Plant. The Plant Museum's exhibits focus on historical Gilded Age tourism in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, the elite lifestyle of the hotel's guests, and the Tampa Bay Hotel's use during the Spanish–American War. As such, the Plant Museum is set up in the Historic House Museum style. Exhibits display artifacts in a manner that reflects the original placement and usage within the related historic building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centro Asturiano de Tampa</span> United States historic place

The Centro Asturiano is a historic site in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. It is located at 1913 Nebraska Avenue. On July 24, 1974, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Tampa architect M. Leo Elliott.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Tampa</span> Neighborhood in Hillsborough, Florida, United States

Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa, Florida, United States, and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Ybor City</span> Neighborhood history

Ybor City is a historic neighborhood that includes the Ybor City Historic District in Tampa, Florida. It is located just northeast of downtown Tampa and north of Port Tampa Bay. The neighborhood has distinct architectural, culinary, cultural, and historical legacy that reflects its multi-ethnic composition. It was unique in the American South as a prosperous manufacturing community built and populated almost entirely by immigrants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cityscape of Tampa, Florida</span>

The cityscape of Tampa includes historic and architecturally noteworthy structures in its downtown and residential areas. The Seminole Heights and Hyde Park neighborhoods are two of the largest historic preservation districts in Tampa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Tampa</span> Region in Florida, United States

South Tampa is a region in the city of Tampa that includes the neighborhoods of Beach Park, Ballast Point, Bayshore Beautiful, Bayshore Gardens, Bayside West, Belmar Shore, Davis Islands, Port Tampa, Fair Oaks-Manhattan Manor, Golfview, Hyde Park, New Suburb Beautiful, Virginia Park, Palma Ceia, Rattlesnake Gandy-Sun Bay South, South Westshore, parts of Sunset Park and Courier City-Oscawana. MacDill Air Force Base is also included. The region represents District 4 of the Tampa City Council. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 33606, 33608, 33609, 33611, 33616, 33621, and 33629

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Brewing Company building</span> Historic brewery building

The Florida Brewing Company building is a historic brewery building that once housed Ybor City Brewing Company, which became Florida Brewing Company. It has been restored and converted into a law office. It is the tallest building in Tampa's Ybor City Historic District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Tampa City Library</span> Building in Tampa, Florida

The Port Tampa City Library is a library located in a historic bank building in the Port Tampa section of Tampa, Florida, at 4902 W. Commerce Street. It is a neighborhood branch in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.

References