This is one of the few night shots in the Burgert collection. Film in the 1920s did not have the latitude for effective night photography, so this shot is a treat. The long streaks of headlights and blurred human figures indicate a long shutter speed and is an example of the firm’s talent. The familiar Centro Espanol is at the center right. Upon close inspection, one can see an illuminated Piggly Wiggly grocery sign in the center left, approximately where King Corona cigars is now. There was a drugstore where Tabanero Cigars currently resides, and Henry Clay Shoe is where the Brass Tap Pub has set up shop in a new building across the street.

The 16th St. and 7th Avenue intersection is prominent in the Burgert photo but no longer exists. That intersection was closed off in the 1960s with the construction of El Paseo de Ybor, a pedestrian mall built next to El Centro Espanol. It’s curious to ponder what Ybor’s founding fathers would think were they to stand on Seventh Avenue on a weekend night now and hear the thumping of the car stereos driving by, the disorderly conduct of visitors as it approaches midnight, and to see the once thriving retail establishments converted into bars and tattoo parlors.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved