Port Tampa is a neighborhood in the southwestern most portion within the city limits of Tampa, Florida, on the western end of the Interbay Peninsula where the main port used to be. Within this neighborhood is Picnic Island Park as well as West Shore Elementary school. It is sometimes confused with

Port Tampa Bay Port Tampa Bay, known as the Port of Tampa until January 2014, is the largest port in the state of Florida and is overseen by the Tampa Port Authority, a Hillsborough County agency. The port is located in Tampa, Florida near downtown Tampa's Chan ...

(formerly the ''Port of Tampa''), Tampa's larger port area near

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

on the northern end of

Hillsborough Bay Hillsborough Bay is a bay on the south shore of Prince Edward Island, Canada and is a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait. Description Hillsborough Bay is the largest bay in terms of surface area in Prince Edward Island, followed by Malpeque ...

. As most of it being a historical district, it used to be a impoverished neighborhood with ghettos, projects, trailer parks & section-8 homes, the city has been gentrifying in the recent years. Also known as PT, PTC, or Port Tampa City.

History

The town of Port Tampa City was established in 1885 at the end of Henry B. Plant's railroad line. The shallow draft of Tampa Bay made Tampa's main port inaccessible for the larger ships of the day, so Plant built a new port several miles away. To help bring visitors and residents to this new development, Plant built the St. Elmo Inn and Port Tampa Inn at the end of his rail line. The Port Tampa Inn was larger and had the distinction of being constructed directly on the bay on stilts.Port_Tampa_City_Yesteryear
/ref> Port Tampa was the primary port of embarkation for the Spanish–American War in Cuba. In June 1898 Port Tampa and the city of Tampa hosted more than 33,000 visitors including military officers, enlisted men, nurses, civilian clerks, teamsters, packers, stevedores, war correspondents, tourists, and a host of foreign military observers. Wartime notables who passed through Port Tampa included

Teddy Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and the Rough Riders, the Buffalo Soldiers,

Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...

of the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

, Richard Harding Davis, Stephen Crane, and Frederic Remington. Port Tampa became less important when several dredging projects made the Port of Tampa accessible to all shipping. The port is still in use, however, and is the main entry point for fuel for both Tampa International Airport and MacDill Air Force Base. Port Tampa Public Library

Though the city of Port Tampa was annexed by the City of Tampa in 1961, community members still recognize the neighborhood's heritage. A centennial celebration was held in 1993, complete with home tours, and a large block party in the Spanish–American War Memorial Park at the corner of Interbay Blvd. and Westshore Blvd. A large neoclassical style building with marble base and glazed terracotta tile above, formerly used as a bank, was saved from demolition through a community effort spearheaded by the Port Tampa City Woman's Club and the Civic Association of Port Tampa. The Port Tampa City Women's Club had run the library from 1951–1961. The renovated building, the former Commerce Bank Building, was converted into the

Port Tampa City Library The Port Tampa City Library is a library located in a historic bank building in the Port Tampa section of Tampa, Florida, at 4902 W. Commerce Street. It is a neighborhood branch in the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.Port Tampa Ci ...

in 1998. Its second floor houses Tampa's Maritime Reading Room, with its artifacts, books and coastal maps. The library is now run by the county.Port Tampa City Library
">Port Tampa City Library">Port Tampa City Library
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Boundaries

The official boundaries of the city of Port Tampa were lands west of Manhattan Avenue to Tampa Bay and everything south of the old east-west railroad track north of McCoy St. Locals sometimes refer to it as anything "south of Gandy" although this is not exactly true, as there are several other distinct neighborhoods across the Tampa peninsula besides Port Tampa.

Claims to fame

Port Tampa is one of only two communities directly founded by Henry Plant's investment company; the other, Belleair in Pinellas County near Clearwater, was founded in 1896 surrounding Plant's Belleview Hotel. Future President Theodore Roosevelt">Belleair, Florida">Belleair in Pinellas County near Clearwater, was founded in 1896 surrounding Plant's Belleview Hotel. Future President Theodore Roosevelt stayed at a Port Tampa home during his final days in Tampa before embarking with his Rough Riders to Cuba during the 1898 Spanish-American war. Tommy Gomez was a heavyweight boxer from Port Tampa City. He fought several well-known heavyweights like Ezzard Charles and Jersey Joe Walcott in venues such as Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

grew up in Port Tampa and attended Robinson High School when he was still known as Terry Bollea. Javier Arenas graduated from Robinson High School. He was a cornerback with the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

of the National Football League.

References

*Port Tampa City Women's Club. ''Port Tampa City: A History of Change.'' 2003. {{Authority control Neighborhoods in Tampa, Florida History of Tampa, Florida Populated places on Tampa Bay Former municipalities in Florida