Beulah Baptist Church, 604 East Tyler Street
Construction nearing completion at Beulah Baptist Church, 604 East Tyler Street, front facade of multi-story brick church with dome. 1935. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
604 East Tyler Street, 2021 © Chip Weiner
The Beulah Baptist Church is shown in this photo as construction was wrapping up in 1934. The church was started in 1868 by a group of recently emancipated African Americans after withdrawing from the First Baptist Church of Tampa. The original site was donated by Fortune Taylor, a former slave who homesteaded a large tract of land here. In 1917, they purchased this site at 604 E. Tyler Street across the street from Oaklawn Cemetery for $90,000, but it would be years before construction was completed.
In 1963, the congregation launched a feasibility study for a new church. In 1968, ground was broken on the new Delaware and Cypress Streets church. In December of 1969, Consecration Services were held to celebrate the new church. Now called the Beulah Baptist Institutional Church, it continues to serve the community. The land on Tyler Street is now a parking lot.
© Chip Weiner. All rights reserved
From Burgert Brothers: Look Again, Vol. 1