The Saratoga Bar and Tampa’s skid row,, 1302 N Franklin St

The Saratoga Bar and Tampa’s skid row, Upper Franklin St

1302 N Franklin St

1300 block of Upper Franklin St circa 1976. Courtesy of the Gandy Collection, University of South Florida Digital Collection

As downtown Tampa expanded north on Franklin Street, this block was built in the early 1900s. It was known as “Upper Franklin”. As people flocked to Florida, there was a high demand for hotel rooms, and many small rooming houses were built here. The corner in this picture at 1302 N Franklin St. has housed many businesses, including the Overthere Barber Shop, the City Shoe Shop, and eventually the Saratoga Bar in 1938. The businesses consistently had rooming houses on the second floor.

The Saratoga was once owned by mobster Ignazio Antinori and run by his son Jose. They reportedly ran a gambling operation there. Ignazio was shot in the face gangland-style in 1940 at another bar due to some political wranglings in the gambling underworld. In the 1940s, the Saratoga owners advertised its Blue Room as the “Hot Spot for Dancing,” they marketed heavily to military personnel at Drew Field by placing ads in the Drew Field Echoes newspaper. By 1941, officials received numerous complaints that the bar was frequented by “bums and women of ill fame.” According to a representative of the Military Police at Drew Field, 30% of the Army’s trouble with soldiers in Tampa happened at the Saratoga. It was put “off limits’ to all personnel. It all led to the temporary revocation of the bar’s beer permits, which didn’t last long. Nor did it prevent the neighborhood from growing seedier. It wasn’t just the Saratoga. Places like the Club Hi-Hat a block away offered exotic dancers and Burlesk (sic). The decline makes sense. Cheap booze and numerous cheap hotel rooms are a perfect formula for what happened.

In 1950, the Saratoga was home to some of Tampa’s first public drag shows, then called female impersonator shows.

Most notably, this neighborhood gave rise to a young evangelist named Billy Graham. In the late 1930s, Graham began street preaching on this block while attending the Florida Bible Institute (now Trinity College) in Temple Terrace. From here, he launched his worldwide evangelistic crusade and became one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century. He died in 2018. Twenty-year owner of the Saratoga, Markee Marcus, would supply the preachers with a sandwich and a (non-alcoholic) drink every weekend they were there. Marcus and Graham attended a dedication ceremony in 1979, where city officials revealed a plaque as a testament to Graham's work. Part of the plaque reads that he launched his crusade, “exhorting derelicts, drunks and ‘Skid Row’ bums.” It still stands at the northeast corner of North Franklin and Fortune Streets.

Tearing down the area was a cornerstone of Mayor Bill Poe’s 1975 re-election campaign. Photographs of him walking the area with Pioneer Tire Manager (and financial backer) Frank Franklin and proclaiming Upper Franklin as a “rat hole” are part of the Gandy Collection at The USF Digital Collection. In 1976, most of the block was demolished. In March of that year, highlighted by a performance by the Plant High School marching band and a ceremonial pulling down of the last of the bar walls by dignitaries, the Saratoga and the rest of the block were gone. A government building housing the Tampa Probation and Parole offices now stands where drag queens, soldiers, and drunks once partied.

A panoramic shot of the west side of the 1300 block of N Franklin St as preparations are made for demolition (edited). 1976. Gandy Collection. Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

The Saratoga Bar on North Franklin St was home to some of Tampa’s first “female impersonators” shows

Tampa’s first public drag shows (then known as female impersonators) were performed at the Saratoga Bar. Here, a performer dressed as Carmen Miranda sings on stage. Saratoga Club. 1950. © Bobby Smith. Donald L. Bentz Collection, Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

White performer at the Saratoga Bar wearing a bathing suit Saratoga Club. 1950. © Bobby Smith. Donald L. Bentz Collection, Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

Notice the dollar bill tucked into the performer’s fishnet stockings.

White performer at the Saratoga Bar wearing a fur stole. 1950. © Bobby Smith. Donald L. Bentz Collection, Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

The demolition of the area was a cornerstone in Mayor Bill Poe’s re-election campaign. He is shown here with major supporter and Frank Frankland

Bill Poe and Frank Frankland at Fortune and Franklin Streets prior to the demolition of the 1300 block of North Franklin. 1975 Gandy Collection Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

Bill Poe and Frank Frankland walk in front of the Gary Hotel in the 1300 block of North Franklin prior to demolition. 1975 Gandy Collection Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

Mayor Bill Poe and supporter General Manager of Pioneer Tire Company Frank Franland pose in the intersection of North Franklin and Fortune Streets. This image was used in Poe’s newspaper re-election campaign for cleaning up the streets. 1975. Gandy Collection. Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

After Poe was re-elected, the block was demolished. A ceremony was held in March of 1976, attended by dignitaries and accented by music from the Plant High Scholl marching band, to mark the end of the era.

A man sits in front of the notice of demolition sign at the Saratoga Bar in 1976. Gandy Collection Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

A plaque commemorating Billy Graham’s efforts and the beginning of his Christian evangelical crusade was placed by The Tampa Historical Society in cooperation with the Tampa Ministers Association in 1979. © Chip Weiner

The Saratoga Bar is demolished in 1976. Gandy Collection Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

Remnants of the former second floor boarding rooms are visible as the Saratoga Bar is demolished. 1976. Gandy Collection. Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection