The Sulfur Springs namesake comes from a small natural spring next to the Hillsborough River 6 miles north of downtown. In the early 20th century, John Mills purchased the property and developed a small resort catering to Tampa residents who traveled by steamship up the river. In 1906, businessman Josiah Richardson purchased the property from Mills and began developing it into what was nicknamed Florida’s Coney Island. During the land boom of the 1920s, tourists flocked to Tampa as areas like Sulfur Springs developed. Richardson built the arcade with a hotel on the second floor to accommodate those travelers. With the influx of people, the area needed water, so Richardson also built the Sulfur Springs water tower, which still stands today.

Following a flood and the Great Depression in the 1930s, Richardson defaulted, and the property was sold to JF Hendrick, a South Carolina tobacco grower. Dog racing was a popular pastime during that era, and the Sulfur Springs Dog Track was built on an adjacent property in 1933. Upon Hendrick’s death, the arcade property passed to his family, who held it until 1975, when, amid public outcry, they sold it to the Tampa Greyhound Track. The owners demolished the structures for parking for the track. Dog racing stopped in 2007 as the popularity of dog racing waned and the area became more blighted.

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