Downtown Tampa was booming in 1921 when this photo was taken. Northerners flocked to the city to escape the cold and experience all the hype from national promotions of being in a tropical paradise. Hotels and hotel apartments rose in high-density areas to house the winter influx. Luxury accommodations at the Floridan, Tampa Bay Hotel, DeSoto, and the Mirasol, mixed with smaller places like the Gilbert and the Palmerin, popped up in the 1920s to satisfy the tourist trend. The 10-story Renaissance Revival Bay View Hotel set the trend when it was built in 1913 by Robert Mugge, a pioneering Tampan who also opened the first legal distillery, electric plant, and ice plant.

In the following years, the hotel remained prominent, with its first-floor restaurant becoming popular for Chinese food. Several eateries, including Bill Lum’s Old China Restaurant in the 1950s, served up Cantonese dishes like General Tsao’s Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork. It was a landmark building with a “Chop Suey” marque sign on the south side and huge lighted Bay View Hotel sign on top. By 1980, the hotel had seen its last guests, Old China had closed, and the building was imploded to make way for the $25-million Paragon Plaza, now the Fifth-Third bank. Today, part of the 5-story Fifth Third parking center inhabits the lot where their storage garage once serviced cars.  The Wells building on the corner of Jackson and Franklin, seen in the Burgert photo housing Scottie’s Barber Shop and Tony and Georges store, is now a Chase Bank branch.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved