Before Seminole Heights came into existence, in the 1900′s Tampa, Florida had created a Trolley line for their citizens, which enabled them to commute easily from the suburbs to the downtown area. At this point Tampa had prospered and was a city teeming with activity and purpose. Their growing stability and wealth was wrapped around their productive port center along with touristy, citrus, rail, cigar and phosphate industries. Most of Tampa’s citizens lived close to the city out of convenience for work and staples. The wealthier residents live in the affluent neighborhoods at the time like upper Hyde Park and Tampa Heights. It was about this time that Bungalow style homes became popular because of their affordability making it the perfect fit for middle class communities. They were beautiful, easy to maintain, and fit their owner’s needs. Local contractors saw the need as an opportunity to create more of these affordable homes and communities and a lot of growth in the area transpired. These new bungalow style homes were created around the California Bungalow style along with Florida’s traditional Vernacular building styles. The building movement started in North Tampa when Sulphur Springs was developed. Dr. John H. Mills bought a 100 acre tract and started to build bath houses. He purchased them from J.H Krause who was a local wagon manufacturer and real estate investor. He went on to build tourist cottages and recreational areas. This started the tourist boom in the area. People loved visiting the area for picnics and other recreational experiences. In 1911 T. Roy Young, a Realtor and Investor, seeing the future because of the Tampa and Sulphur areas current growth, purchased 40 acres planning to start the development of Seminole Heights. The homes his development company Seminole Development Corporation built were mainly bungalows that started at around $5,000. The Seminole Heights community went through a period where the Mediterranean Revival style home was popular. This only lasted about 15 years. These homes predominated in several Tampa neighborhoods, sometimes on a grand scale, however in Seminole Heights there weren’t many of them built. The churches and schools in the area were built in the architectural style of Gothic revival. These were beautiful structures had a lot of character and attention to detail. Seminole Heights history also includes a period of the addition of prefabricated homes. They could be ordered through catalogs from places like Montgomery word and Sears and Roebuck and were popular just prior to World War II. These prefab homes were available in affordable one story models up to roomy two story homes. No one can really say how many of these homes were put up because most records of their history in the area faded away over time. Between 1919 and 1929, what is consider the Florida Bloom years, more new developments moved into the area toward the north and east of the Sulphur Springs and Seminole Heights. These additions created profit for the local merchants enabling them to provide their goods and services to the new citizens. Many of these businesses disappear over time but several of the original Seminole Heights businesses are still open after nearly 50 years.

Tags: Local History, Seminole Heights

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