West Tampa - Howard Avenue page 1

Click to see the mural

Our tour starts here at Salcines Park, at the intersection of Main St. and Howard Avenue. Named in honor of Hillsborough County Judge E. J. Salcines. One of Judge Salcines' many avocations is his study of Cuba's revolutionary figure José Marti and the Spanish-American War, subjects about which he has become a recognized authority.

Howard Avenue was named in honor of Howard Macfarlane, the son of Hugh C. Macfarlane. Hugh Macfarlane was the person mainly responsible for the successful development of West Tampa.

Tampa coloring book: http://www.tampagov.net/files/Tampa_Coloring_Book.pdf

An excellent history of Tampa, including West Tampa, is Steve Rajtar's 2007 book, "A Guide to Historic Tampa". It is organized by time period and grouped by geographical location which allows you to follow a route through the historic areas to view the sights. Preview this book at Google

Now the "4th of July Cafe," this building on the southeast corner of Main Street and Howard Avenue was once the West Tampa State Bank building.

See it in 1946

See inside, 1946

This unique building at 1803 N. Howard Ave. and Union Street is the home of the West Tampa Community Development Corp. It still shows its original design at the top and the curved walls. This building was previously George Guida's carpet & tile business. Before that it was a Piggly-Wiggly. The tile design still outlines the original oval-like shape of the storefront windows.