West Tampa - Part 2 of 3

Some more images from West Tampa.  West Tampa was founded in 1895 as its own city.  Many of West Tampa’s early inhabitants were cigar factory workers from Cuba.  They were followed by Italians and Spaniards moving out from Ybor City.  Like Ybor City, West Tampa was a hub for cigar factories in the early years.  At one point, Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders trained on a field in West Tampa.

The above photo is in Rey Park on North Howard Avenue.  Below is a mural in the park.  This is a composite of 4 images stitched together.

This is some detail from the mural.  Some of the buildings still stand along Howard Avenue.

There aren’t many payphones around these days, and this one seems to have been the victim of phone rage.  I guess I’d be angry too if I had to sort through all of that text just to make a phone call.

One of the things I like about local businesses – the McRib has got nothing on these guys:

The photo below is poor quality, but those kids were having so much fun I had to include it.

More of West Tampa next week.

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