This second DeSoto Hotel opened in 1908, replacing the original wood-frame DeSoto building on the same property. Inlaid tile floors, woodwork of cedar and cypress, and eighteen polished granite columns bedecked the lobby as owner Walter L. Parker hoped to draw affluent clientele.  As Tampa developed and seasonal tourists flocked here on Henry B. Plants railroad and steamships, the demand for hotels grew. Plant’s own Tampa Bay Hotel, exquisitely decorated as well, flourished. The DeSoto grew in phases, eventually taking the entire block at Marion and Zack Streets.

Fables and folklore developed here, including the idea that it was haunted by James H. Thomas, owner of the original DeSoto, with evidence from a Robertson and Fresh photo (friendly competitors to the Burgerts) attests. As the hotel prepared to close for the final time, the Tampa Tribune ran a story claiming that Thomas Edison had once slept on the floor here when he could find no other lodging in town. Two Republican National Conventions were also based in the building. In 1955, a Texas company razed the hotel for a parking lot. The new $3.7-million Tampa Federal Building opened in 1964. It was renamed the Robert L. Timberlake Jr. Federal Building in 1979 after the Protective Service guard was shot to death in an elevator in the building.  

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved