Florida State Fair

Crowds at main gate. 1953. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

The former main gate for the Florida State Fair on the University of Tampa Campus, 2021. © Chip Weiner

In the early 1900s, state fairs were a mechanism for promoting and advertising products, services, and resources available throughout a state. Exhibitions, including statewide raw materials, livestock, and craftsmanship presented by individual counties, represent what the state had to offer. They did so with great fanfare. The city bought the Tampa Bay Hotel when it was failing. They sponsored the Florida State Fair at Plant Field, adjacent to the Tampa Bay Hotel-now the University of Tampa. The fair was held annually at the same time as the Gasparilla celebration, both of which began in the early 1900s. The Gasparilla Parade used to pass by this admission gate on North B Street in the 1950s, when this photo was taken, and fair admission was .50¢ for adults and .25¢ for children.

The University of Tampa acquired the Florida State Fair property in the early 1970s. There are few vestiges of the old fairgrounds eft on campus. Most of the buildings have been demolished as the university has expanded its campus, and the old structures had little practical use. It is difficult to discern why they would keep this little scrap of the old admission gate as it serves little purpose. However, the archway is home to a plaque establishing the Florida Fair and Gasparilla Association on December 29, 1914, and was laid on January 30, 1934, by association president W.G. Brorein. Perhaps it’s an homage to the former glory of the Florida State Fair.