Tampa Fire Department Station 5, 1807 Florida Avenue

Tampa Fire Department Station 5, 1807 Florida Avenue, adjacent to Palm Avenue Baptist Church

Tampa Fire Department Station 5, 1807 Florida Avenue, adjacent to Palm Avenue Baptist Church. 1927. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Palm Avenue Baptist Church Education Building, 1807 Florida Avenue. 2021. © Chip Weiner

Constructed adjacent to the Palm Ave. Baptist Church, Tampa Fire Department Station No. 5 opened in 1895 as a wooden station, according to Retired Capt. Bill Wade, president of the Tampa Firefighters Museum. The structure was built when horse-drawn carts fought fires. It was replaced in 1906 with the brick structure seen here, according to Wade. It operated as a firehouse, a polling place, and a place for residents to meet for Tampa Heights issues.

A new Fire Station No. 5 was built in 1925 one block to the north at 1910 N Florida Ave. Records are sparse on how the church came to annex this property, but the cornerstone in the new building where the firehouse reads, “Educational Building Erected 1957”. Currently, signs on the church point to the building, guiding people to the Worship Center.

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again, Vol.2