Stucco exterior, two-story commercial building, 200 Block of Tampa St.

Stucco exterior, two-story commercial building, northeast corner Tampa and Washington Streets. 1945. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

This photo is another piece of remarkable evidence of how much downtown Tampa has changed. This building housed the Tampa Marine Supply Co., The Eagle Vending Supply Co., offering coin-operated photograph machines, with the Twenty Record Phonograph Co. along the side. Next door was Boyd’s Garage, where they did engine and body work. In the background, the Bay View Hotel is visible. Tampa Marine Supply moved to 202 N 13th St in the late 1940s, and the Red Cross moved in. In 1967, Automatic Merchandising, a national vending machine supplier, purchased Twenty Records.

The biggest change here is that Washington Street was cut off when in 1978 General Telephone Co. of Florida announced an $87-million “quad block” project including a parking garage (Fort Brooke), a hotel (Hyatt Regency- now the Tampa Hilton), and space for a second office tower (now Tampa City Center). The 18-story, 520-room Hilton sold in 2019 for a reported $ 112.25 million to a Chicago equity firm.