In the early 1900s, as the cigar industry flourished in Ybor City and Tampa continued to modernize, Burgert Brothers, Inc. chronicled the people, places and events that brought the area to life. Take a visual journey back through the past 100 years and see what early Tampa looked like then, and how those same scenes look today. Writer and photographer Chip Weiner visits the historic and iconic places captured by the Burgert Brothers with over 150 images that show what has changed... and as importantly, what hasn’t.

Originally opened as Las Novedades Cafe at 1416 Broadway (now 7th Avenue) the operation moved to this building in 1946 and continued as one of the most popular Spanish food restaurants in Ybor City. It struggled later in the century and in 1970, friendly competitor Cesar Gonzmart, owner of the storied Columbia Restaurant, purchased the business with equal partner Jim Walter, a Tampa developer. It then sold in 1972 to a New York conglomerate who opened it as a Steak and Brew. Since then, the building has accommodated many businesses including El Goya (1975), the areas first gay dance club featuring a large dance floor and high-production drag shows.

It was twice set ablaze and the fires were suspected arson from organized crime members who owned competing clubs. El Goya Mall (renamed after the first fire) closed in 1986 and first Tracks Nightclub then The Pleasure Dome filled the space until closing. The Nest Restaurant built a home there in 2009, then Buddha Lounge in 2010 and finally Czar Nightclub. It closed and merged with the Ritz Ybor in 2013. In 2018, the $52 million Hotel Haya project began, building a 180-room boutique hotel taking the entire block. They are currently finishing construction and preserving the look of the historic corner including its iconic neon sign.

The original Lafayette Street Bridge, the first to span the Hillsborough River, was completed in 1888. It created direct access to the Tampa Bay Hotel from downtown. Notice the “Casino” sign on the left, advertising the betting establishment at the hotel. The bridge was a wooden drawbridge built 7 feet above the low water line, making it difficult for boats to pass. Since commerce took up much of the riverfront in the early 1900s it meant the bridge had to remain open most of the time. In 1912 plans were being made for a new 320 foot long structure to be comprised of four cement piers, with three “great arches”, all 16 feet above the water, with a Scherzer bascule design.

The bascule design meant the drawbridge mechanism would lift equally from both sides, both 35 feet high, and would rise straight up at a 90° angle to the ground. That design rendered the bridge impassable for any drivers not paying attention. It opened to pedestrian, streetcar, and automobile traffic in 1913 and was still in operation until 1994 when a 1-year, $7.8 million restoration provided by the Department of Transportation was completed. The renovation maintained the Scherzer design.

Gulf Oil Corporation of Pennsylvania service station was at the intersection of Bayshore Boulevard and Swann Avenue. In the 1950’s it was named Latimer’s Gulf Service and was a popular outlet being central to Hyde Park and Davis Islands. If one looks closely, a wooden fence and sand line Bayshore Boulevard where the Beaux-arts style balustrade-built in the late 1930s- now stands.

In 1984, the owners petitioned to rezone the property for institutional/professional use, and in 1992 Ken Ward purchased the property i for his law practice. He demolished the original office building in 2008 and constructed the current office, now Ward-Mitchell Civil Trial Attorneys.

At a cost of $1.8 million, considerably more than the initial $1.25 million bond issue, Tampa Municipal Hospital was lauded as “one of the finest public structures in the country” by the Tampa Sunday Tribune. Built on land provided by D.P. Davis, developer of Davis Islands, the location has long been criticized due to its vulnerability to hurricanes and its limited access having to cross a 2-lane bridge to get to it. The hospital opened in 1927 expecting to have a 186-patient capacity when completed. By early 1928, the hospital was so crowded that officials moved nursing students out of their resident rooms to provide more beds for patients. In September of 1956 the official name changed to Tampa General Hospital (TGH) and an expansion in 1959 led to a total of 514 beds.

A $14.2 million renovation in 1979 and a $160 million bond in 1982 tripled the size of the hospital. TGH signed its affiliation agreement with the University of South Florida in 1970, solidifying its efforts as a teaching hospital. By 2011 it celebrated its 1000th heart transplant. It now has over 1000 beds and continues to expand in 2020. The hospital recently applied for a $500 million bond for capital improvements including the purchase of more land on Davis Islands.

In its heyday in the 1920s, the Sulphur Springs area (also known as Florida’s Coney Island) was a go-to fun spot for tourists and many folks in Tampa. Streetcars brought hundreds of people to the area to enjoy the shopping arcade/hotel, 40-foot water slide, alligator farm, and the Sulphur Springs Dog Track. This pool was part of the larger Sulphur Springs Park. The natural mineral spring flowed into the Hillsborough River and was a source of recreation and drinking water for the city of Tampa.

By the 1950’s, pollution from the surrounding sinkholes that feed Sulphur Springs was discovered and monitored. The spring closed to swimmers in 1986 due to concerns about contamination. An in-ground chlorinated pool was constructed on the site, seen in the background, and opened in 2000. The spring is still used as a water source for the city but fenced off from visitors.

As a company, B&B Cash Grocery was founded in 1923 and had approximately 30 stores at its peak. In the late 1940s, B&B began expanding its holdings in Tampa and this store was built. The shopping center was originally named B&B Plaza until it later changed to Henderson Boulevard Shopping Center.

The center is still owned by B&B Corporate Holdings, a division of the original company. During the 1960s the son of the founders changed the name of their stores to U-Save to elicit a more budget friendly name. U- Save closed this location in the summer of 2005 and Fresh Market opened in October of 2006 after a major rehab.

This Burgert photo was taken in 1935 as the Seminole Service Station was being completed. It followed a trend of high-pitched roof Tudor revival style architecture popularized by Seaboard Oil Company. An ad appeared on October 20, 1937 in the Tampa Times selling the station as a business opportunity for $300. By November 3, the price had dropped to $250. In 1946, it was known as Miller’s Service Station and was for sale again in 1949 for an unknown price. It was purchased and renamed R.D. Hower and Sons in 1950 and in 1951 was once again for sale. In the 1970s the building housed Colonial Motors, a used car lot, and by 1978 reverted back to car repair as Quality Auto Air.

The Independent Bar and Café, one of the original craft beer houses in Tampa, opened shop in 2009.

Now Available online

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GREAT NEWS. Burgert Brothers: Another Look is now available in the Tampa Bay History Center bookstore. Simply go by and pick one up or call the bookstore and they will ship it.

(813) 228-0097

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