Tampa’s 137th birthday was on Monday, July 15th.
The city celebrated the anniversary as part of Archive Awareness Week.
The event included speakers like Tampa’s Black History Museum curator Fred Hearns and Councilmember Charlie Miranda, who has served on the city council for the last 30 years.
Both speakers gave presentations about Tampa’s history and notable aspects of the city that have changed over the years.
“It’s very informative. Educational,” Hearns said. “I worked for the city for 32 and a half years. So, looking back on history, it makes me appreciate where we are today.”
Monday’s event didn’t just look at the good parts of the city’s history. It looked at what Hearns calls “gambles,” or past lessons the city has learned from.
“There were some good things (and) some not-so-good things that happened that we’ll reflect back on, but if you chalk it up to experience and you learn from those experiences, then that just makes us that much better,” Hearns said.
Tampa became a city in 1887. Before that, it had been the site of Fort Brooke Army Base. The city continued to grow over the next hundred years, but Miranda said there are still many differences compared to now.
“First of all, there was nothing southeast of where we’re at today at the City hall. There was nothing there,” he said. “It was just, a ship with bananas would come in with the ships, and very small items were brought in. We call it ‘El Braga,’ which means, “We don’t go there” in Spanish. It was just bars, beach joints, and bananas.”
Since then, Tampa has grown into one of the top destinations to live in the United States, according to Forbes. But even though the city is highly-ranked, many people struggle with affordable housing.
“We have to get things under control so we can have affordable housing and things of that nature. You cannot have a city where people can’t buy a house,” Miranda said.
Miranda grew up under the housing authority, so the issue of affordable housing personally affected him. One University of South Florida study published in February said that housing and transportation expenses make up nearly 57 cents of every dollar spent.
While Tampa’s birthday celebration mostly focused on its past, Miranda said he’ll keep looking toward the city’s future.
“You have affordable housing on (the) one hand, and you have people who can’t make the rent payment because rent went from 1,000-1,400 to 1,800. They can’t do that. The salary doesn’t compensate for that,” Miranda said.
Tampa’s birthday celebrations will continue throughout the rest of the week, with events at many of the city’s historical sights. More information about these events can be found here.
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