Lucky Inn proprietor George Hester was no stranger to the law. In November 1942, he was sentenced to one year in jail for shooting his mother-in-law. That same year a second charge was for an assault on the manager of a loan company. At the time, he was operating a grocery store and wound up in bankruptcy. He opened the Lucky Inn in Sulfur Springs at 8213 Nebraska Ave. in the mid-1940s.

In the 1940s, Sulphur Springs was a thriving tourist attraction with its natural springs, beautiful water tower, and arcade hotel. It was billed as Florida’s Coney Island. The Lucky Inn, appropriately named since it was located across Nebraska Avenue from the Sulphur Springs Dog Track (Later the Tampa Greyhound Track), was a popular place for dining and dancing. In 1945, Hester was arrested again for assault and battery at the inn. In October that year, he put the site up for sale for $6000. In 1949, Arthur Petit opened Art’s Swap Shop, home of oddities and treasures here, before moving further north on Nebraska. The building is now home to the Speaker Exchange. The area was annexed into the City of Tampa in 1953.

© Chip Weiner. oldtampaphotos.com