Taken in 1924, this photo is inscribed “Children’s Home-Tampa Florida. J. A. Miller Builder”, probably indicating that the builder commissioned it as a commercial photograph. The Children’s Home had existed in Tampa since the late 1800s. From 1910 to 1920, the home occupied a wood frame building on this site. It was destroyed by fire in June 1920. This Mission Revival style building was constructed between 1922 and 1923. According to F. Carl Miller, a Tampa Tribune correspondent, life at the Children’s Home was regimented. Clothes were shared, younger children cleaned, older children took care of babies in the nursery, and everyone followed a very strict routine.

The Children’s Home ceased operations here in 1968 when it moved to a more modern facility on Memorial Highway. The building now operates as the Good Samaritan Inn, a temporary shelter for Tampa’s indigent homeless population.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved