Independent drug stores were big business in the 1920s. Pharmaceutical drugs, over-the-counter elixirs, and everyday home goods were typically stocked. Many drug stores had lunch counters and soda fountains to draw customers in. William Johnson Simpson opened Simpson’s Drugs around 1920 at 2701 Florida Avenue in the heart of the then-popular and expanding Tampa Heights. In 1928, Simpsons was a polling place for elections. In the 1940’s, as was the trend for many retailers, the store sponsored a Little League team. It is also where the Tampa Heights Civic Association first formed in 1947, meeting to discuss annexation for their neighborhood. At that same time, they formed the Shoestring Party, which planned secession from the city if annexation was unsuccessful. The organization is still active today. Simpson died in 1954. This Burgert photo shows an addition to the building being constructed in 1926, as Simpson’s Drugs opened in the early 1920s.

The building is now gone. The property is fenced in, and Nice and Clean Auto LLC has a used car business.

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