Downtown Tampa - page 1

This colorful mural faces downtown commuters as they leave downtown heading northbound at 1102 N. Florida Avenue at the corner of Royal Street.

 

Read about this mural and the artist, Carl Cowden, III

 

In the letters that spell "Tampa" you can see the Sulphur Springs water tower, the Gasparilla ship and accompanying flotilla, the old Tampa Bay Hotel now the University of Tampa, a streetcar in Ybor City, and a nature scene on the Hillsborough River.

 

The skyline in the background shows downtown Tampa across the Hillsborough River as it appeared in the old days.  The bridge could be the old Lafayette Street bridge which is now Kennedy Blvd.

See the entire building

Looking south on Florida Ave. from in front of the new Federal Courthouse building.

 

The taller building is the Franklin Exchange Building

Another view of the Franklin Exchange Building

 

Sacred Heart Catholic Church building on N. Florida Ave. has been the ecclesiastic jewel of downtown Tampa, Florida for nearly a century.  Ground was broken for its construction on February 16, 1898, and the cornerstone was laid on February 4, 1900. The official dedication was held January 15, 1905.

The church looks much the same today as it did then. The gleaming white marble main altar and delicately arched altar railing, the magnificent stained glass windows and stations of the cross, the solid oak pews and entry doors, and the distinctive petal-shaped porcelain tile flooring are all original materials.

Read about the stained glass windows.

 

See old Hampton Dunn postcard 

 

Sacred Heart Church side view.

 

See another postcard

 

Burgert Bros. 1922 Sacred Heart church photo

 

Burgert Bros. 1927 Sacred Heart church photo

 

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