From the pages of the St. Petersburg Times and Evening Independent.
100 years ago | 1909
Dec. 14: Hillsborough County had tentatively approved a new road and bridge across "Long, or Four-Mile, Bayou" that would link Seminole with St. Petersburg. "The Seminole district is one of the richest in the county" and the folks there currently traded with Clearwater. (Today, Bay Pines Boulevard crosses Long Bayou.)
Dec. 16: U.S. Rep. Stephen Sparkman, D-Tampa, introduced a bill to construct a $200,000 federal building for St. Pete's post office and customs house. He doubled his initial request at the urging of Postmaster R. S. Hanna. (In 1915, Congress approved $107,500. Construction on the open air post office began in 1916.)
75 years ago | 1934
Dec. 16: Ground was broken at Arlington Avenue N and 11th Street for a $15,000 synagogue for the Conservative congregation of B'nai Israel. (In 1920, there were 10 Jewish families, the minimum for certain services, in the city. It had its own rabbi, at B'nai Israel, by 1926. Founded in 1923, the congregation moved to 300 58th St. N in 2000.)
Dec. 17: The vocational school at Mirror Lake would be renamed in honor of Edwin H. Tomlinson, "for his many philanthropies to the schools and the city." (Tomlinson built or backed the first true city hospital; the 1901 Domestic Science and Manual Training School, the state's first vocational school and today the restored City Hall Annex; Postmaster Hanna's first open air post office on the ground floor of Tomlinson's Ansonia Hotel; St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral; and children's parades on Washington's Birthday, which would become the Festival of States. The vocational school, built as the city junior high in 1924, became an adult education center in 1958.)
50 years ago | 1959
Dec. 15: In a citywide referendum, voters turned down fluoridation and extending the hours of bars. In a nonbinding straw poll, they voted 3 to 1 against the Bayway project connecting the city, the beaches and Mullet Key. There had been controversy over the use of county road taxes, Terra Verde Corp.'s contract to develop Mullet Key (with Fort De Soto) as a recreational site and bring in water, and its plans for the Tierra Verde development on the adjoining keys. (The state approved the roadway and construction began in 1960.)
25 years ago | 1984
Dec. 16: It got a bit wild during Bucs coach John McKay's final game. In a bid by tailback James Wilder to break the league's season record for total yards rushing and receiving, MacKay ordered on-side kicks and let the Jets score to get the offense back on the field. The Bucs won, 41-21, but Wilder came up 15 yards shy.
On sale now
To order Tampa Bay Through the Times, a history of the bay area with more than 500 photos and images of historical front pages from the St. Petersburg Times, go to www. tampabay.com/store.
On sale now
To order Tampa Bay Through the Times, a history of the bay area with more than 500 photos and images of historical front pages from the St. Petersburg Times, go to www.tampabay.com/store.
News
Click here to post a comment
