Downtown Tampa grew quickly, transforming from a village to a city in 1906 when the 5-story Curry Building was being built at Cass and Franklin Streets. It was the tallest structure in the area at the time. Original tenants included W.J. Chambers Shoe Co., O’Neal & Stone Realtors, and the Economical Drugstore.  The Tampa Tribune reported a still-familiar story in that the “idea of ‘economy’ in drugs and prescriptions strikes the average citizen with incredulity”, with the young owners assuring they would live up to the name. While other businesses moved in and out, the drugstore persevered. In 1921, the name of the structure changed to the Stovall-Nelson building and the major tenant was the Schulte-United Cigar firm, after whom the building was again eventually renamed. In 1935, Howard McKinnon purchased the drugstore and named it McKinnon’s Economical Drug Store.

In 1940, the building was demolished, and the national dime store brand J.J. Newberry began the construction of a 2-story (with basement) Art Nouveau design. It would turn out to be part of an entire block of stores that made up the heart of retail downtown, including S.H. Kress and F.W. Woolworth Co. Retail businesses faltered in the 1960s and 1970s as residents moved to the suburbs. Since then, while other blocks in the area have experienced a rebirth, the east side of the 800 of Franklin remains a development hot potato, vacant and tattered.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved