The First Savings and Trust Company of Tampa at 512 N Franklin St. was first incorporated and chartered in 1914 and capitalized by $500,000. By 1925, they had over $1.4 million in deposits, with $2.1 million in assets. On the left, the Grand Theater featured the movies The Family Upstairs and The Lone Wolf, starring Bert Lytell and Billie Dove, when this photo was taken in 1927. Movies cost ten to fifteen cents then. The offices of F.O. Architect and B. M. Sullivan, Civil Engineer, were on the second floor. To the right was the Ferlita Building, and the ground floor tenant was Bailey the Clothier, Inc., who provided garments for the public and agencies like the Tampa Police Department.

The small bank survived the 1929 run on banks in Tampa at the start of the Great Depression. In 1949, the bank's name changed to the Marine Bank of Tampa. In the early 1930s, Bailey’s name changed to W.D. Bailey, Inc., and in 1935, he joined Maas Brothers, and this store became known as Weil-Maas. The Ferlita building burned down, and Madison Drug Store was built on the old foundation. Bavaro’s Pizza now occupies part of it. The theater is now called the Franklin Building.  It has been shuttered since 2018 after housing Frankie’s on Franklin and has been for sale since. The former bank building now houses the SoFresh restaurant.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved