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Another look at Old Florida circa 1900. "Port Tampa Inn and docks." Detroit Publishing Company glass negative. View full size.
I think this is what RV is talking about.
Based on modern topography, it's hard to beleive this existed. Most of this is now Picnic Island Park, west of MacDill AFB. The larger building was Port Tampa Hotel, owned by Henry B. Plant. The smaller building was St. Elmo's Hotel. 1938 aerial photography shows the pier footings where the island beach park exists today. Hurricanes hit Tampa in 1921 and 1925, maybe one of those wiped out the piers.
This is such a complete photo; it shows, on so many levels, what has changed in the last 109 years! Has it really been that long? Gracious!
I found this small illustration but the angle is odd. It almost looks like this illustration is flipped when you compare the photo to this drawing.
[It's a view from the other direction. - Dave]
That appears to be a water tower on the platform next to the first structure? If so how did they fill it? The top looks like it's covered. Did they open the lid to allow the rain water in? Any building taller than 5 stories in NYC requires a structure like that to distribute water throughout the building. The water is pumped (electrically) up to the tank. Anybody know how they did it then?
[Seems to be a cistern for rainwater collected from the roof. Note gutter arrangement and pipe. - Dave]
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