Street scene on 7th Avenue with Schwartz's Deli

Street scene with Schwartz’s Deli, 1300 block of 7th Ave

Street scene on 7th Avenue in Ybor City. 1919. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy of the University of South Florida digital collection

Street scene on 7th Avenue in Ybor City- 1300 block, 2023. © Chip Weiner

Records indicate H.W. Schwartz opened his grocery and delicatessen around 1914 at 1231 E. 7th Ave in Ybor City. The first Schwartz’s grocery opened on Lafayette Street (now Kennedy Boulevard) in 1907 and, in 1914, moved to 7th Avenue in thriving Ybor City. In 1916, tragedy struck as the patriarch of the family, Herman Schwartz, was killed in a trolley accident. His wife Sadie took over the store operations, remarried, and moved out of Ybor City in 1924, opening a store in Hyde Park

The Sans Souci theater, pictured next door in this 1919 photo, sat on what was known as the San Souci block, the area between 13th and 14th streets on 7th Ave. It opened in 1909 in the former Gem Theater after new management remodeled it. The theater featured “high class” Vaudeville acts and was a draw for residents living outside of Ybor City with a streetcar stop half a block away. Balcony seats were 15 cents, and orchestra seats were 25 cents.

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again, Vol. 1