The Palm Avenue Baptist Church was formed in 1900, and this structure was built in 1912. In 1924, the city sold its adjoining firehouse to the church for Sunday school. With posh homes being constructed by nouveau riche families in Tampa Heights early in the 20th century, membership in the church grew to nearly 1200 by the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s, urban renewal influenced people to flee the area, leaving a void for blight and crime to move in.

Since the 1990s, interest in restoring the church to its former glory has piqued and waned. In 1986, lightning struck the uninsured structure, causing a fire that nearly destroyed the sanctuary, leading services to be held in the cafeteria. In 2014, emergency repairs were made to the steeple following the city’s threat to shutter the church. It remains in a state of disrepair with what remains of its once beautiful stained glass, damaged by the 1986 fire and covered in plywood.

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