Instructions:
1....Print this file.
2....At its end, click on "rules" to see a copy of the trail rules, print it, and then click where indicated at the end of the 3-page rules and patch order form to get back to the list of Florida trails.
3....If you want a hand-drawn map showing the locations of all of the sites, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Steve Rajtar, 1614 Bimini Dr., Orlando, FL 32806.
4....Hike the trail and order whatever patches you like (optional).
WARNING - This trail may pass through one or more neighborhoods which, although full of history, may now be unsafe for individuals on foot, or which may make you feel unsafe there. Hikers have been approached by individuals who have asked for handouts or who have inquired (not always in a friendly manner) why the hikers are in their neighborhood. Drugs and other inappropriate items have been found by hikers in some neighborhoods. It is suggested that you drive the hike routes first to see if you will feel comfortable walking them and, if you don't think it's a good place for you walk, you might want to consider (1) traveling with a large group, (2) doing the route on bicycles, or (3) choosing another hike route. The degree of comfort will vary with the individual and with the time and season of the hike, so you need to make the determination using your best judgment. If you hike the trail, you accept all risks involved.
Fairs in Tampa were started by Henry Plant in 1890 to entertain his hotel guests and promote interest in southern Florida. Horse races were held on a track built by him to the northwest of the hotel. The fairs ended in 1899 after Plant died, resumed for 1905 and 1906, and the next was held in 1910.
The Florida Fairgrounds were located here until 1973, when the 50 acres were traded to the university for other lands. The old fairgrounds site is surrounded in part by a stucco wall.
Henry B. Plant, who opened a rail line into Tampa in 1884, bought 60 acres here from Jesse Hayden, who had become the owner by swapping a white horse and wagon for them. The Tampa Board of Trade wanted the hotel on the other side of the river, but architect J.A. Wood felt this land had a better contour and setting.
This early luxury hotel was built in 1888-91 by Plant for the patrons of his railroad line. It cost him $3,000,000. It is built with a Moorish Revival style, and is modeled after the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. There are 12 towers with bulbous domes and cupolas, ornate porches, covered cornices, and it once had a rotunda lobby. That has since been reduced by the construction of classrooms.
All glass in the 511 windows was imported from France. It took 452 freight cars of bricks, some shipped from Cincinnati. At the time of hotel construction, the South Florida Railroad was changing from narrow to standard gauge rails. The old narrow gauge ones were incorporated into the walls and ceilings for fire and hurricane protection.
During the Spanish-American War, it was the headquarters of the U.S. troops leaving for Cuba. At the time, Clara Barton also stayed here. Author Stephen Crane wrote The Price of the Harness while he was a guest here.
In 1904, the city bought 150 acres of land, including the hotel, for $125,000.36. It was then leased to David Lauber to be operated as a hotel.
Since 1933, it has been the main building of the University of Tampa (formerly the Tampa Junior College located in the Hillsborough High School building in 1931-33) and also houses the Henry B. Plant Museum. The Tampa Bay Hotel Casino, a huge ballroom built in 1894, served as Tampa's first movie house. It had a removable floor so it could be converted to a large swimming pool. It burned on July 20, 1941, and on its site is now the Student Center. The student library is in what used to be the grand dining room.
The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 5, 1972.
This Greek Revival private school building was built near the riverbank in 1855 for Gen. Jessie Carter's daughter, Josephine. Although Henry Plant bought this land, the school was allowed to remain. It features a pedimented tetrastyle portico and is covered with clapboarding.
For a time, this building was used as an apothecary for the hotel, and the parks department used it as a tool shed. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1974.
This large building was erected in 1925 as the City of Tampa Municipal Auditorium. It was later named after Mayor Donald Brenham McKay, who served as mayor in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s.
This theatre was built in 1927 and opened in 1928. It housed both live shows and movies into the 1930s. It became part of the Wometco chain in 1949. The movie theater closed and was renamed the David Falk Theatre in 1962. Restored in 1981, it is part of the University of Tampa.
It is said that Hernando DeSoto had treaty discussions with the Indians under an oak tree in this vicinity, and if so, this may be that tree. Others believe that DeSoto made no such treaties with the Indians, and instead merely destroyed their villages. A bronze marker was formally dedicated here on December 14, 1927.
The first zoo and aviary in Tampa was opened here in Plant Park in the 1930s, aside a spring and a flowing brook.
Plant died on June 23, 1899, and the following year this fountain was erected. George Gray Bernard sculpted it as an allegorical group symbolic of "Transportation".
This church was founded in 1859 and its membership roster included whites and both free and slave blacks. They originally worshiped in a wooden building located at the corner of Tampa and Twiggs Sts.
In 1865, a group broke off to form the black Beulah Institutional Baptist Church with Rev. Elder Hadley as its pastor. They erected a frame church which in 1881 was moved to Harrison St. It was later replaced by a new one at the corner of Tyler and Pierce Sts., constructed in 1922 for $85,000.
A sanctuary was built here in 1896 for $15,000, and had an auditorium that seated 500, expandable to 800. In 1925, the present larger building was dedicated.
The world's first scheduled commercial airline flight took place near here on January 1, 1914. Its pilot was aviation pioneer Tony Jannus. He was also honored by the naming of the Tony Jannus Administration Building at the Peter O. Knight Airport.
The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line made two to five trips daily between those two cities, charging a one-way fare of $5 per passenger.
Two Tennessee developers, Eugene Holsinger and Alfred Reuben Swann, bought the mud flats here near Hyde Park and dredged up sand to cover the mud. They built this seawall, thereby creating expensive and desirable waterfront property. They deeded Bayshore Blvd., the country's longest bayfront boulevard, to the City of Tampa. In 1932, it was only two lanes wide. The W.P.A. later four-laned it and added a sidewalk and more seawall.
This replica of an 18th Century ship is named after Jose Gaspar, a Royal Navy lieutenant, who was a pirate along the west coast of Florida. He took over the war sloop "Florida Blanca" in 1783 and destroyed or captured at least 36 other ships over the next 12 years. When he tried to capture a disguised navy warship, he was surprised and jumped into the sea to avoid capture. He drowned.
This ship is used in Tampa's festive annual Gasparilla celebration.
While looking for a site in 1549 on which to establish a mission among the Timucuans and Caloosas, Father Louis Cancer and three others were killed near here by Indians.
D.P. Davis had sold newspapers in Tampa as a boy, then developed an island near Miami. With the proceeds from that venture, he returned to Tampa and bought Little Grassy Island and Depot Key. He drew maps and made models showing residential lots, many of which at the time were far under water. As construction of buildings on the islands progressed, more land was added to them to complete the development.
C.O. Carlson's house was the first on the islands. Apartments and hotels were named Palace of Florence, Mirasol, Venetian, Biscayne and others. First-day sales in October of 1925 reached a million dollars. The most common architectural style used was Mediterranean Revival.
On the islands Davis built a coliseum and began the Davis Island Country Club. When the Florida Boom ended, he was still trying to arrange financing to complete the project.
After Davis was not able to complete the development of the islands, Stone and Webster took over. When they were done, the islands were comprised of about 4,600 lots.
In 1910, the city built the Gordon Keller Memorial Hospital on North Blvd., named after an outstanding civic leader, city treasurer and merchant. In 1926, it was moved here to a portion of Marjorie Park on Davis Islands and was renamed Tampa Municipal Hospital. Thirty years later, it became Tampa General Hospital.
The nine-story patient care wing was named in 1991 after Clara Frye. She was a black nurse in the early 1900s who took black patients into her home in Tampa Heights and turned it into the 17-bed facility known as the Clara Frye Hospital. There was a city-owned Clara Frye Memorial Hospital in West Tampa from 1938 to 1967.
Built in 1925, this was used by Davis and his salesmen. Each morning, Davis gave them and anxious newsmen a pep talk. In later years, it was used by the Sea-Born Day School.
M. Leo Elliott of Tampa designed this three-story apartment building version of Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. The features of the high square tower and the grand center stairway were conceived by Athos Menaboni. It was built in 1924.
This L-shaped home was built in 1926 with an open three-story campanile and transom windows. It was the home of realtor Herbert Draper.
This home was built in 1926.
This 1926 home was the residence of chief Davis salesman, Obert Washington.
Frederick Bixby, the ad manager for George Merrick's Coral Gables, lived here. This was built in 1926.
This small hotel was built in 1927.
This three-story hotel was built in a Mediterranean style in 1926. It features a three-entrance archway leading to a covered courtyard. It was once the home of the Casablanca Cafe, honoring actor Humphrey Bogart who stayed here after filming "Key Largo". It later became the Hudson Manor Retirement Residence.
This gatehouse was constructed in 1925. Davis donated to the city this 55-acre park, named after his deceased first wife.
This recreational facility was built in 1928 and named after Roy E. Jenkins.
The island across the channel was originally named after A.E. Seddon, a Seaboard Railway official. The land was created when the main ship channel was dredged and the marshlands were filled. The work began in 1900. Later, this was renamed Harbour Island.
The Peter O. Knight Airport at the south end of Davis Islands was dedicated in 1936, and was Tampa's first W.P.A. project. It was named after Col. Peter Oliphant Knight, who had moved here in 1889. The airport was demolished in 1964.
This commercial structure was built in 1925.
The two-story building erected in 1926 housed a young adults club established in the late 1920s.
This 1926 L-shaped Mediterranean style house was the residence of Dave Davis, and his young widow after he disappeared.
This eight-story resort was built in 1925, along with its backside marina basin and great arcade. In 1962, it was sold by Lykes Bros., Inc. to A.B. Grandoff, Sr., who rehibilitated the property, converted it to luxury apartments, and renamed it as the Davis Islands Towers. It was once known as "Tampa's Most Distinctive Address".
This clubhouse was built in 1926 and was later converted to a residence. It features interesting frieze work.
This house, built in 1926, was the residence of Davis' advertising manager.
Built in 1926, this was the residence of John Fitzwater, who served as president of the Charles Bell Real Estate firm.
This house was built in 1926 for Rufus Thorne.
This is an L-shaped Mediterranean style home with a tower and balconies, built in 1927. It was the residence of Roy Martin, whose tile company supplied much of the building material for the Davis Islands Spanish style homes.
This stuccoed home was built in 1928 with a tower for James D. Barrett, the founder of Poinsettia Dairy.
This home was built in 1927.
This house was also built in 1927.
This house with the large square tower was built in 1926 for Capt. Jack DeLysla, publisher of Southern Highways magazine.
James Hughes owned this home, built in 1926.
This Mediterranean Revival style house was built in 1927 for James A. Keeter.
This house, with a style differing from the earlier models, is the modernistic Joseph Greco residence.
Rev. Henry Barbow lived in this home, built in 1927.
This home was built by Dave Davis in 1927 for John Bonacker.
This 1926 has a Mediterranean style with a Spanish parapet and extensive balconies. It was the home of Frank Lyons, owner of the Lyons Iron Works.
This home was built in 1926 with a central open tower, as the home of Ali Guinand.
This asymmetrical maze of balconies and parapet roofs forms a small village around a courtyard fountain. It was constructed in 1925, and later renamed as Villa de Leon.
This 1910 Prairie style house was the residence of an early city councilman, Isbon B. Giddens, and his wife, Ruby. Mr. Giddens also was the president of the H.G. Clothing Company and had been a member of the first Tampa city council in 1887. It was later the home of the Hyde Park Cosmetic Surgery Center.
There was once a small stream here, and on its banks was the first settlement on Tampa Bay. Spanish Cuban fishermen and straw hat makers lived here in palmetto thatched huts, arriving in the late 1770s.
This home built in 1914 blends Gothic and Spanish styles and features a steeply pitched gable, a stone chimney, and an octagonal tower on the waterfront side. It was the home of Pat Whitaker.
This is a two-story Spanish style masonry home built in 1912. It was the residence of Watson E. Dorchester, a Tampa doctor and realtor.
Built in 1924, this was the home of Isaac Maas and his brother, founders of Florida's largest chain of department stores. Isaac came to the U.S. from Bolgeshiem, Germany, in 1877 and in 1885 established a clothing and merchandise store in Ocala. Three years later, he came to Tampa to enter business with his brother.
This is a Georgian style masonry house built in 1924. It was the home of Frank Bentley, president of Bentley-Grey Dry Goods.
This mansion was constructed in 1914. It was the residence of Dr. J. Brown Wallace, who had a real estate office in the Citizens Bank Building.
This three-story brick house was built on three-fourths of an acre in 1924. Francis J. Kennard designed it for George and Ruth Trice Booker. Mr. Booker was the president of building materials firm of Booker and Company, Inc.
This clapboard house was built in 1910 for Alonzo G. Turner, a partner with the Knight, Thompson and Turner law firm.
This home was built in 1925 for Giddings E. Mabry, who came to Tampa in 1901 and served as city attorney in 1910-13, county attorney in 1917-23, and a board member of the Old People's Home and the YMCA. He was a member of the law firm of Mabry, Reaves and Carlton, with an office in the Stovall Building.
In 1923, this house was built for William F. Ferman, who moved here from Minneapolis in 1883. He opened an automobile agency in 1902, the first in Tampa, which became the Ferman Motor Company. He was also one of the organizers of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.
This house was built in 1923 for William I. Webb. He was the president of the J.M. Martinez and Company cigar manufacturing firm, located in West Tampa.
Francis J. Kennedy designed these apartments, originally known as the Bailey-Erler Apartments, which were built of masonry in 1925. During the 1920s, they were highly regarded for their basic design.
On this site, Kate Veronica Jackson had her homestead, and then deeded this land to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, which in turn sold it to the city. Jackson helped establish the city's first public playgrounds under trained directors. The present recreation center here was dedicated in her honor.
This block is a mini-subdivision consisting of 19 Bungalows built for winter residents in 1916. Most are "airplane" style homes, facing each other across sidewalks with parking on rear alleys.
This area was renovated in 1973 as a turn of the century Florida shopping district. This was one of the earliest private preservation projects with an economic profit motive.
M. Leo Elliott and contractor A. Van Eyck designed this clapboard house, which was built in 1916. It was the residence of John Gary Anderson, Jr., the secretary-treasurer of the Tampa Coal Company.
This clapboard house with Corinthian columns was built in 1922 for D. Brenham McKay. At age 14, he began as a printer for the Tampa Tribune, and published the Tampa Times from 1898 until 1923. He served as mayor in 1910-20 and 1928-31. He was the county historian from 1949 to 1960 and founded the Hillsborough County Historical Commission.
This house was built in about 1878 with railroad track rails sunk into the footings, reinforcing the concrete that ran up to the second floor, so that the house would withstand hurricane winds. This was the home of pioneer fruit grower James M. Watrous.
The house was later used as the rectory of St. John's Episcopal Church. It has been substantially modified by the addition of stucco and a large porch.
This large clapboard house was built in 1911 with five fireplaces. Designed by M. Leo Elliott and contractor B. Frank Walker, it was the home of Harry J. Watrous. Watrous was the secretary and manager of the Henry and Knight Company. He acquired the site from his father, who lived next door.
This two-story rough stucco house was built in 1921 and was the residence of Angel L. Custa, Jr., the treasurer of Cuesta Rey Cigars.
This was the residence of B. Roy Hinson, built in 1927 of yellow brick in an Italian villa style.
This Greek Revival style home with beveled glass was built in 1910. Grenville T. Henderson, a realtor, state senator, and manager of the Tampa Real Estate and Loan Association, lived here.
Built in 1885, this is the oldest house in Hyde Park. It has an Italianate style and was once surrounded by orange groves. The homemade foundation blocks are reinforced by trolley rails.
This was the home of William A. Morrison, and this portion of Hyde Park was known as Morrison's Grove. It was later the home of state attorney general Thomas Watson.
This Queen Anne style house was built in 1912 and was the home of Owen H. Lowther, Tampa's largest dealer in naval stores.
Frank Wynn and Benjamin F. Walker designed this clapboard house for attorney Harry C. Hamner. It was built in 1921-22.
M. Leo Elliott designed this U-shaped home for Henry Leiman, who had it built in 1916. It is an example of the Prairie School style. It features an enclosed raised patio and a hipped roof with eaves, and is built of stucco over a wooden frame.
Leiman came to Tampa in 1894 to open a branch of the William Wicke Company. In 1906, he established the Tampa Box Company with five acres in Ybor City and six on the Hillsborough River, planted with imported Cuban cedar trees which were used in the manufacture of cigar boxes. This house was a center of social activity during the 1920s.
This home was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 9, 1974.
This clapboard two and one-half story house was built in 1911 for Laura E. Overton, widow of Floyd T. Overton.
This house was the residence of well-known architect M. Leo Elliott, who designed many of the buildings along the west coast of Florida, including Tampa City Hall and Sarasota High School. This Dutch Colonial style house was built in 1921.
This three-story brick Greek Revival style home was built in 1911 for lawyer William F. Himes, a partner in the law firm of Whitaker, Himes and Whitaker. It has a Palladian dormer window, stone and brick detailing, and symmetrical massing.
This clapboard-exterior house was designed by Thomas W. Biggar and built in 1923. It was the home of Howard Macfarlane, son of the founder of West Tampa and partner in the Macfarlane and Penningill law firm. Macfarlane also served as president of the Tampa Community Chest.
This two-story English Tudor home was designed by Christopher Robinson and built in 1929 by W.E. Harris. It was the residence of Leo Weiss, president of Anchor Construction Company.
This is the oldest junior high school building in Tampa, erected in 1915. It opened with ten teachers and 329 students. The building was designed by D.F. Hagy and built by Logan Bros.
This was constructed in 1899 and was a hot lunch center at Gorrie School. It later housed a private kindergarten and in 1938 was moved here from S. Boulevard to serve as the Hyde Park Branch Library. In 1968, it was converted to an art center known as the Tampa Realistic Art Center.
This Bungalow was built in 1923 and is typical of much of the low-roofed, wide-porched Lower Hyde Park construction.
This school was founded in 1899 and built of red brick. Eight of the classrooms date to 1899, eight others were added in 1903. The cafeteria and eight more were added in 1912, and the final section was built in 1926.
It was originally known as the Hyde Park School and the Hyde Park Trade School. It was renamed in 1915 to honor Dr. John M. Gorrie, the Apalachicola doctor who invented the ice-making machine. The school was renovated in the late 1970s. The bus shelter is an old streetcar shed.
This Mediterranean style building was erected in 1926 for the woman's club and little theatre group. It was a social center for Hyde Park's youth. It is also known as the Friday Morning Musicale.
This frame house built in 1920 was the home of Tampa attorney Doyle Carlton before he was elected as governor of Florida in 1929. Prior to that, he served as state senator from 1917 to 1919 and Tampa city attorney from 1926 to 1928.
William A. Dickenson, the deputy clerk of the circuit court, had a home built here in 1905. Another who resided in it was Edward R. Dickenson, a partner with William B. Dickenson in the firm of Dickenson and Dickenson, and the vice president of the Tampa Business College.
This two-story brick building was erected in 1911, while W.M. Matthews was the fire chief. It was responsible for the area north to and including the Tampa Bay Hotel. In 1997-98, the fire station was converted to a private residence.
In 1900, Rev. Henry Hice and 12 Methodists founded this church. Early services were held in a furniture store at the intersection of Hyde Park Ave. and Cleveland St. This land was bought and a small wood frame church was built for $1,400 and used from 1901 until 1907. It was moved to the rear of the lot when a new church was built in 1907 for $24,000. The new chapel on this corner was added in 1963.
This church, affiliated with the Disciples of Christ, organized in 1900. The present sanctuary was constructed in 1926.
This Colonial Revival style house was built in 1898 for James B. Anderson, a banker. Architect Francis J. Kennard designed it. It is constructed of brick and Stone Mountain granite, and is wrapped by a veranda with Ionic columns and a turned balustrade. It has six fireplaces (one in a bathroom) and a ballroom on the top floor. Later, it was owned by the Frank family.
This house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 22, 1982.
This three-story clapboard home was built in 1895 for Sumter deLeon Lowry, a city councilman. Lowry came here from York, South Carolina, to open an insurance firm. He organized the commission form of government, and later served as a city commissioner. He ran for the office of governor during the 1940s and helped start St. Andrews Episcopal Church and the Lowry Park Zoo.
This 1891 house began as a fishing lodge for civic leader Marshall Field and was converted into a residence by Albert Johnson. He and his wife, Fannie M. Johnson, owned the lumber firm of Johnson-Cole Company. This was later the home of Bernice F. Bullard, president of the Hillsborough Grocery Company.
This Colonial Revival style house was built in about 1880 for O.J. Spafford, and it was inherited by Louis J. Spafford, an owner of the Gunby, Spafford & Company insurance firm. The Tampa Woman's Club used this as its clubhouse from 1922 until 1971.
This Second Empire style brick home was built in 1908 by local merchant and city councilman Currie J. Hutchinson. The house features tall Corinthian columns on the large porch and a high mansard roof. It was later converted to an office building by Tampa Preservation, Inc. On November 1, 1977, this house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The bricks left over from the construction of this house were used to build the house at 602 S. Boulevard.
This Classical Revival style house was designed by Grable, Weber and Groves of St. Louis, and was built in 1890 for banker Thomas Carson Taliaferro and his wife, Stella M. Taliaferro. Its significant features are balustraded balconies and the pedimented portico supported by paired Ionic columns. The Taliaferro family founded the First National Bank, and Thomas served as its head from 1903 to 1927.
The Hyde Park Subdivision was opened in 1886 by S.H. Platt, from Hyde Park, Illinois. This house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 1, 1974.
Built in 1905, this Classical style house was the residence of Selwyn R. Morey, the president of the Morey & Company Cigar Company with a factory in Ybor City. He also founded the first resort on Pass-A-Grille Beach, known as Morey Beach.
This Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style cottage was built in 1887 by Col. Peter Oliphant Knight, who had moved here from Fort Myers the year before. A lawyer, he served as the president of the Tampa Electric Co. from 1924 to 1946. He also organized in 1892 the city's first electric street railway company, the Tampa Suburban Railway. He is also credited with starting the Exchange National Bank and the Tampa Gas Company.
This home was the site of social activities for soldiers and supporters in the days preceding the Spanish-American War. This building in 1977 became the headquarters of the Tampa Historical Society, founded in 1971.
This congregation organized in 1904, and early meetings were held in the Tampa Beach Building and the Mechanics Building, both in downtown Tampa. A church was constructed in 1913 at the corner of Henderson and Florida Aves.
W.S. Schull designed the church and construction by contrator J.M. Mann began in 1921. After Schull died, Franklin Adams took over as architect. The cornerstone was laid in 1923 and the congregation began using the basement for worship some months before the building was complete in January of 1926.
The church has a Greek and Byzantine style with large Corinthian columns and is constructed of concrete and pressed brick.
A Guide to National Register Sites in Florida, (Florida Department of State 1984)
A History of the Tampa Bay Hotel, (University of Tampa Foundation 1966)
Florida Historical Markers & Sites, by Floyd E. Boone (Gulf Publishing Company 1988)
Guide to Florida's Historic Architecture, (University of Florida Press 1989)
Historic Overview of the Area of Hyde Park: House Guide, by M.C. Leonard (Hillsborough Community College 1978)
Tampa, by Karl H. Grismer (The St. Petersburg Printing Company 1950)
Tampa: A Pictorial History, by Hampton Dunn (The Donning Company 1985)
Tampa: A Town on Its Way, (Junior League of Tampa, Inc. 1971)
Tampa That Was ... History and Chronology Through 1946, by Evanell Klintworth Powell (Star Publishing Company, Inc. 1973)
Tampa: The Treasure City, by Gary R. Mormino and Anthony P. Pizzo (Continental Heritage Press, Inc. 1983)
Tampa Town 1824-1886: The Cracker Village With A Latin Accent, by Anthony P. Pizzo (Hurricane House Publishers, Inc. 1968)
Tampa: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow, by Michael Bane and Mary Ellen Moore (Mishler and King Publishing 1981)
Wish You Were Here: A Grand Tour of Early Florida Via Old Post Cards, by Hampton Dunn (Byron Kennedy and Company 1981)
Yesterday's Tampa, by Hampton Dunn (E.A. Seeman Publishing, Inc. 1972)
Click here for a copy of the trail rules.