A new book, “Burgert Brothers: Another Look,” finds photographer Chip Weiner diving into more than 12,000 archival photos by iconic Tampa commercial photography firm Burgert Brothers. Weiner—a pre-pandemic contributor to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay—spent countless hours researching newspaper clippings in an attempt to meticulously recreate the Burgert photos by standing in the exact same spot, at the same time of day, with the same type of camera and lens. The result is a nearly 200-page must-have for any self-respecting Tampeño.

These are excerpts from the book, with the research and captions by Weiner, alongside his photos plus those from the Burgert archives curated and collected by the Hillsborough County Public Library Coalition and University of South Florida.

Read more about the book in the latest issue of CL, and buy the book online or at the Tampa Bay History Center gift shop.—Ray Roa

 

Photos by Chip Weiner https://www.chipshotz.com/

THEN Tahiti Motor Court 601 South Dale Mabry Highway, 1958. Tahiti Motor Court opened as a 17-room motel in 1954, welcoming guests to the growing South Tampa area. By 1961, the Tahiti Court transitioned from its original L-shaped structure to a 42-room facility with a pool, a 2-story wing fronting Dale Ave, and a coffee lounge at the center. With that expansion, the owners changed the name to Tahitian Inn. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Tahitian Inn 601 South Dale Mabry Highway, 2020. In 1972 another 19 rooms and a new office were added and in 1984 another 18. While the beloved coffee shop had become a landmark and home to some colorful regulars, it closed in 2000, a victim of its own success. The owners did not calculate the public outcry about the closing and after a multi-million-dollar renovation in 2003, that included a corporate center, day spa and fitness center, the coffee shop reopened. After announcing it would close due to high rent, another Tampa staple- Pach’s Place- moved from its home of 25 years on Bay to Bay Blvd. and took over the coffee shop in 2018, hoping to keep two Tampa icons alive. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Tampa Jai-Alai Fronton building 5125 South Dale Mabry Highway, 1955. Jai Alai is a game brought to the United States from Cuba but had to fight for years to get established in Tampa due to parimutuel wagering laws. Played with a ball about the size and hardness of a golf ball and hurled against the wall, opponents had to catch the speeding sphere in long baskets (called cestas) tied to players hands. Customers wagered on the outcome of the game. The original site for Tampa Jai Alai was planned for just south of Henderson Boulevard on Dale Mabry, but was scrapped due to objections from residents and potential neighbor Christ the King Catholic Church. Opening in 1953 on Dale Mabry just south of Gandy, it was the second Jai Alai fronton in the country. Matches were played seasonally for years until innuendo arose that the games were fixed. The decline of the frontons popularity was compounded by the arrival of other competitive sports teams in Tampa, and gambling available at the new Seminole Casino. The last game at the 4000-seat Tampa Jai-Alai fronton was played on July 4, 1979. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Home Depot 5125 South Dale Mabry Highway, 2020 The owners tried their hand hosting concerts including Bruce Springsteen in 1975, and Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1979, but it was not enough to sustain the business. The building permanently closed on June 29, 1998. The parent company sold the 40-acre property where Home Depot now stands for $8.3 million. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Jake Walker’s Towne House Restaurant 1220 South Dale Mabry Highway, 1954. This image appears to be mislabeled in the Burgert Collection, a fairly unusual occurrence as the company was known to keep meticulous records. Jake Walker had two restaurants. The Towne House Restaurant was indeed at 1220 S. Dale Mabry Hwy., but opened in 1953. This photograph, taken in 1954, is Jake Walker’s Chicken ‘N Chips- opened in 1949- at 3423 South Dale Mabry. It was a popular restaurant until the mid-1960s. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW BJ’s Alabama BBQ 3423 South Dale Mabry Highway, 2020. The building was then a used appliance store for many years until BJ’s Alabama BBQ moved in 2019. One can still see the concrete slab in the foreground in front of the red brick wood shed where the Curb Service sign once stood. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Mc Donald’s 3515 Dale Mabry Highway South, on the northwest corner of Dale Mabry Highway South and Kensington Street, 1962. Opened in 1958 as the first bay area McDonald’s, this store was a staple for the H.B. Plant High School crowd and South Tampa residents for decades. The building was razed twice for new designs, but notice how they have attempted to keep the Florida feel with palm trees running along Kensington Avenue since the first build. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Mc Donald’s 3515 Dale Mabry Highway South, on the northwest corner of Dale Mabry Highway South and Kensington Street, 2020. The original store was walk-up only. The dining room and drive-through were added during one of the renovations. Hamburgers, $0.15 in 1958, retail for $1.49 today Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Zi-Chex Drive Inn Restaurant 3801 Gandy Boulevard, 1952. After World War II drive-in restaurants were the rage and Zi-Chex joined the fray in 1952. Unlike other such restaurants, Zi-Chex also had a lounge and served cocktails. Lunches were $0.60, specializing in southern delicacies like fried chicken, seafood, and steaks. Being in close proximity to MacDill Air Force Base was a plus, and they were convenient to the Tampa Jai Alai Fronton to the south and Derby Lane dog track to the west, sometimes snagging hungry gamblers. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Qdoba, Mattress Firm, T-Mobile, Sports Clips 3801 Gandy Boulevard, on northwest corner of Dale Mabry and Gandy Boulevard, 2020. In 1997 the building was demolished and a 7500 sq ft Hollywood Video store was built on the corner along with other retail spaces. The movie store closed in 2008 and Qdoba, a Mexican fast food restaurant, took over the newly renovated and subdivided space in 2009. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Schwartz’s Grocery and apartment 1718 Watrous Avenue, 1927. Neighborhood grocery stores were once very popular prior to having a car for every home, allowing residents close proximity to goods. 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. While the Hispanic heritage of Ybor City is widely publicized, there was a strong Jewish community opening retail outlets in the area. Claiming to be the only one of its kind in South Florida, the Jewish delicatessen and grocery served as a true mom-and-pop store for Ybor City. Pastroma, salami, dill pickles, and salt herring were all available in the store and by mail order. In 1915, the store’s name changed to HW Schwartz Grocery and Delicatessen. In 1916 tragedy struck as the patriarch of the family, Herman Schwartz, was killed in a trolley accident. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Vacant office building 1718 Watrous Avenue, 2020. His wife Sadie remarried in 1925, left Ybor City, and opened the Watrous Avenue location in 1926. At that time, Hyde Park was blossoming with new houses. Bayshore, with its trolley line a couple of blocks from the store, had just opened. The store closed in 1933 when Sadie retired. Their oldest son would go on to open his own successful grocery store, Simon Schwartz Supermarket, in South Tampa. This site is currently listed as a 2370 sq ft office building that last sold for $300,000 in May 2017. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Tampa Electric Company power plant on Hillsborough River Looking southwest, 1936 This Tampa Electric coal-fired plant operated on the banks of the Hillsborough River, using its water for cooling. Before becoming the city’s primary electricity supplier, Tampa Electric was in the business of operating streetcars in the 1920s. As they grew to be the primary electrical utility for Tampa, public outcry about exorbitant prices for power and charges of political corruption were leveled in the 1930s and 1940s. The Tampa Tribune moved to the property on the west side of Hillsborough River after the construction of its new building in 1974. In March of 2000, the new $40 million WFLA Channel 8 building opened adjacent to the Tribune building as the two entities- both owned by Media General- joined forces to create the first-of-its-kind news service. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW WFLA News Channel 8 building Manor Riverwalk Apartments in the background, 2020. In 2016 the Tampa Bay Times purchased the Tampa Tribune following years of declining subscriptions and the advent of the digital revolution. It was the end of a 121-year-old daily newspaper that started as the Tampa Morning Tribune in 1893. The Tribune building once stood where the eight story Manor Riverwalk apartment complex (white building with orange design in the background) now stands. Pictured here is the 145,000 sq ft building that houses WFLA News Channel 8. Special thanks to the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel for granting access for this photograph. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Gulf service station Bayshore Boulevard and Swann Avenue, 1936 Gulf Oil Corporation of Pennsylvania service station was at the intersection of Bayshore Boulevard and Swann Avenue. In the 1950’s it was named Latimer’s Gulf Service. It was a popular outlet being central to Hyde Park and Davis Islands. If one looks closely, a wooden fence and sand line Bayshore Boulevard where the Beaux-arts style balustrade-built in the late 1930s- now stands. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Ward-Mitchell Civil Trial Attorneys Bayshore Boulevard and Swann Avenue, 2020. In 1984, the owners petitioned to rezone the property for institutional/professional use, and in 1992 Ken Ward purchased the property i for his law practice. He demolished the original office building in 2008 and constructed the current office, now Ward-Mitchell Civil Trial Attorneys. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Downtown Tampa skyline and Platt Street Bridge View from Davis Islands, 1960. Industrial buildings, warehouses, and port facilities once dominated the downtown Tampa waterfront. In the mid-1970s Mayor Bill Poe recognized the appeal of having public access to the waterways for residents and tourists and sought redevelopment. It took 35 years and over $35 million, but the Tampa Riverwalk that now fronts 2.6 miles along down the Hillsborough River from Water Works Park (opened in 2014) to the Channelside District, is now open. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Downtown Tampa skyline and Platt Street Bridge View from Davis Islands, 2020 Current plans call for the extension of the Riverwalk to the west side of the river to continue it northward, connecting neighborhoods on both sides to downtown. The most remarkable change in these two photos that span 60 years, is the difference in the skyline. In the Burgert photo, the First National Bank (center left) with the flag on top was 13 stories high and looks to be the tallest building in downtown. It pales in comparison to the modern skyscrapers. Built in 1990, 100 Tampa North, in the same position in the new photo, is 42 stories high. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Morton Williams store and the Exchange National Bank The Pettaway Building on the corner of Florida Avenue and Twiggs, home to the downtown location of Morton Williams, was constructed in 1912. The Tampa Furniture Company and The Tampa Photo and Art Supply Company were the first tenants. This Burgert photo is untitled and undated but was most likely taken in the early 1960s given the model of the cars and Tampa Coin Exchange in the image. It is another example of a photo in the collection missing the typical Burgert quality and signature. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Franklin Exchange Building parking garage, 2020 In 1966 the 22-floor Franklin Exchange Building opened as the tallest building in Tampa. The seven-story parking garage now sits where the Pettaway building once dominated. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Cars on the Lafayette Street Bridge This is an undated photo but most likely produced in the 1940s given the models of cars on the span. Not much has changed following the 1913 3-arch construction. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Cars on the Lafayette Street Bridge, 2020 As the demand for public access to the riverfront increased, more consumer oriented businesses such as hotels and high-rises took over. Commerce requiring larger boats along the river slowed changing the need for full-time bridge tenders who occupied those barrel-tiled roof structures in the middle. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN F.W. Woolworth Co. Franklin Street, intersection with Polk Street, view north with automobile and pedestrian traffic, 1956. F.W. Woolworth Co. opened in 1915 as downtown Tampa came alive with retail shopping, theaters, and transportation hubs. Located in the 800 block, it made up a trifecta of shopping experience that included the S.H. Kress & Co. store and J.J. Newberry Co. on the opposite end. In 1960, four years after this photo was taken, dozens of students from Middleton and Blake High School along with leaders from the NAACP participated in sit-ins at the lunch counter here. After 57 young African-Americans were seated, the white manager turned off the lights and walked out, closing the store. History was made nonetheless. Six months after the demonstration, city officials desegregated Tampa’s lunch counters. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Vacant building Franklin Street intersection with Polk Street, looking north, 2020. After 87 years of service, the store closed in 1992 due to the changing retail climate as consumers moved to suburban homes and mall shopping. In the years that followed, Franklin Street, a once booming retail thoroughfare, was narrowed and turned into a pedestrian mall. The Woolworth’s building, along with the entire block, has been primarily vacant since the 1980s. The contrast in the two photos is immeasurable, and is evidence of how a once vibrant downtown has fallen into decay as a result of shifting social trends. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Victory Theatre Northwest corner of Tampa and Zack Streets, 1925 Touted as “absolutely fireproof” by the engineers who built it, the Victory Theatre opened in downtown Tampa in 1920 as a 1600-seat live playhouse. Going to the theater was a special event in that era as it offered a wide range of entertainment from live vaudeville acts to movies. Before “talkies” (movies with sound), large pipe organs filled the room with music to accompany silent films. Theater ownership changed hands several times during the first 20 years. In 1947, after renovation, the name changed to the New Palace Theater. In 1962, following another renovation including the installation of 3-35mm projectors, the theater was able to offer Cinerama, a precursor to today’s IMAX experience. It featured a curved screen and was 75 feet wide and 32 feet high. Big name movies of the day including 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Sound of Music thrilled audiences with the surround experience. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW SkyPoint Condominiums parking lot and Tampa Pizza Company Northwest corner of Tampa and Zack Streets, 2020 In the early 1970s, the theater closed and in 1979 was demolished to create a parking lot. 2005 brought the construction of SkyPoint Tampa, a 33-floor, 361-foot high condominium. A seven level parking garage for SkyPoint residents now sits where the Victory once stood. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Columbia Restaurant 2117 7th Avenue, 1950 The Columbia Restaurant has one of the most storied businesses and families in Ybor City. In 1908 Manuel Garcia and his brother Ramon opened La Fonda sandwich shop on the 2100 block of Broadway (now Seventh Ave). Casimiro Hernandez went into partnership with Bautista Balbontin in a 60-seat saloon named Columbia next door to La Fonda. Patrons would drink at the saloon and then go next door to eat. When Prohibition hit, business turned sour for the saloon and the two businesses merged, calling itself the Columbia Café and Restaurant and run by Messrs. Garcia and Hernandez. Little did they know it would become the oldest continuously run restaurant in Florida. In the late 1920s the Florida land bust continued, the Great Depression took hold, and the restaurant was in turmoil. Casimiro turned the restaurant over to his son Casimiro Hernandez Jr. in 1930. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Silver’s 5-10¢ and $1.00 Stores 7th Avenue, 1929 Sliver’s 5-10¢ and $1 Stores occupied the building in 1929. It had an 18-seat soda fountain, and offered everything from women’s fashion to knick-knacks. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Amphitheater Ybor 1609 E 7th Ave, 2020 In 1998, The Amphitheater opened as a popular nightclub and concert venue. It abruptly closed in 2007 as party crowds in the district began to dwindle. The owners then reopened it first as the Ybor Amphitheater and later as Club 360. In 2009, Club Tantra tried their hand at the space, but did not make it. 2011 brought another reopening as The Amphitheater, but this time as more of an event space. The great Disco Ball fire of 2016, where reportedly attempts to move and weld a disco ball over the dance floor set the building ablaze, gutting it. After some structural repair including a new roof, it is currently empty and marketed for lease. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Tampa Arctic Ice Company, Inc., 1928 This building was constructed in 1926 and this photo taken in 1928. The property went into foreclosure in 1929 at the start of the Great Depression for default on the mortgage to the Exchange National Bank. In 1930, the plant was purchased by the Atlantic Ice and Coal Company and shuttered to consolidate ice production in the area. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW A A-USA Food & Logistic Solutions 1405 E 2nd Ave, 2020 It is now owned by A A-Usa Food & Logistic Solutions, a wholesale food distributor. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Glass And Glazing By Perry Paint And Glass Co, 1948 The title of this photograph is somewhat unusual. Most of Burgert’s work names the entity in the photo. This one however, is a commercial photograph to demonstrate the craftsmanship of Perry Paint’s glass and glazing business on the Fernandez and Garcia building in 1948. Fernandez and Garcia was one of several clothing retailers in Ybor City. Like many of its department store competitors, it featured a luncheonette and soda fountain on the first floor, and had Aida’s beauty salon on the second floor. At the time, it was celebrated by locals for its prize-winning window displays, especially during holiday periods. The brand sold to national retailer Belk Lindsay in 1955, who then closed up shop in 1966 as the retail allure of Ybor waned. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Copper Shaker and Bradley’s on 7th, 2020 The building is now divided into three separate retail spaces. Soon to open Copper Shaker Cocktail House currently occupies the corner space where Liquid Tampa and Flynn’s Retro Bar & Gaming once stood. Bradley’s On 7th, touting itself as “a festive gay bar” has been open here since 2011 in the eastern half of the building, and New York, New York Pizza fills the other end. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Tampa Florida Brewery 1218 5th Avenue, with advertisement for La Tropical Beer, 1936 Prior to building construction in 1896, this land was the site of Government Spring that supplied water to locals and Fort Brooke. Vincente Martinez Ybor and partner Edward Manara founded the brewery and claimed that the spring water gave its beer a unique taste. The brewery gained in popularity and became a leading exporter of beer to Cuba. La Tropical, shown in the Burgert photo, was the brewery’s flagship brand. Business struggled during Prohibition, when it turned to manufacturing soft drinks. After repeal, the name changed to Tampa Florida Brewery (as seen in the photo) and survived until 1961. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Swope Rodante Law Firm at Florida Brewing, 2020 Corral Wodiska & Co., a cigar manufacturer, took over much of the structure and bricked over many of the windows to keep the tobacco fresh. During the Cold War, the building also served as a bomb shelter. It remains the tallest building in Ybor and is now owned and occupied by the Swope Rodante Law Firm who completed a complex restoration. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Burgert Brothers studio 608 Madison Street The title for this image in the USF Collection is incorrect. The building housing the Burgert Brothers studio in 1917 was on 1515 Broadway was built in 1907 by the Sanchez and Haya Real Estate Company as the first 3-story building in Ybor. A cigar factory with the same ownership was the first company to officially make a cigar in Ybor City. This building housed several retail stores on the first floor. Promoting itself as “La Primera Fotografia de Ybor,” the Burgert Brothers took the second floor in 1917. Images of the parlor where they took many portraits show perfect natural light coming through the north-facing windows. On the bottom right is seen the dry goods store of Isadore Kienitz, a Jewish merchant from Romania. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Ybor Agora 1515 7th Avenue, 2020 In the mid-1940s, the building was owned by Mr. & Mrs. E.J. Ficarrotta and housed Ficarrotta’s Glass. They sold it in 1946. In 1992, Blue Chair Records opened selling CDs and cassettes; it promoted local artists and later hosted in-store concerts. In 1995 Sara Romeo, head of Ybor’s Chamber of Commerce, opened Romeo Stylish Furniture. She moved her business out in 1999 due to parking problems and construction concerns, but continued operating Romeo Art and design here. Agora Ybor, that opened in 2009, now occupies it. According to the current tenant, the building burned down in the late 20th century and was rebuilt as a one-story structure. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Seminole Service Station 5020 Florida Avenue, front facade of service station, 1935 This Burgert photo was taken in 1935 as the Seminole Service Station was being completed. It followed a trend of high-pitched roof Tudor revival style architecture popularized by Seaboard Oil Company. An ad appeared on October 20, 1937 in the Tampa Times selling the station as a business opportunity for $300. By November 3, the price had dropped to $250. In 1946, it was known as Miller’s Service Station and was for sale again in 1949 for an unknown price. It was purchased and renamed R.D. Hower and Sons in 1950 and in 1951 was once again for sale. In the 1970s the building housed Colonial Motors, a used car lot, and by 1978 reverted back to car repair as Quality Auto Air. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Independent Bar and Cafe 5016 N Florida Ave, 2020 The Independent Bar and Café, one of the original craft beer houses in Tampa, opened shop in 2009. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN B & B Supermarket 3722 Henderson Boulevard, 1956 As a company, B&B Cash Grocery was founded in 1923 and had approximately 30 stores at its peak. In the late 1940s, B&B began expanding its holdings in Tampa and this store was built. The shopping center was originally named B&B Plaza until it later changed to Henderson Boulevard Shopping Center. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Fresh Market 3722 Henderson Boulevard, 2020 The center is still owned by B&B Corporate Holdings, a division of the original company. During the 1960s the son of the founders changed the name of their stores to U-Save to elicit a more budget friendly name. U- Save closed this location in the summer of 2005 and Fresh Market opened in October of 2006 after a major rehab. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Seaboard Oil Company Corner of Columbus and Highland, front and side facade of service station, 1935 The Seaboard Oil Company were distributors for The Pure Oil Company and opened or purchased several service stations in the area in the 1930s. Their signature buildings glistened in blue and white design with Tudor revival architecture, and they sold Woco Pep gasoline that claimed to be anti-knock, quick start, and to give cars “smooth the giant power.” Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Avelar’s Paint and Body shop 201 W Columbus at Highland, 2020 In 1950 the operation was named Tip Top Service Station and in 1964 L. J. Cobb Garage. In 2004 the station sold for $89,000. Avelar’s Body Shop now inhabits the building. Look closely, you can still see her beauty peeking through the cracks. Credit: Chip Weiner
THEN Swimmers and crowds at Sulphur Springs Pool, 1922 In its heyday in the 1920s, the Sulphur Springs area (also known as Florida’s Coney Island) was a go-to fun spot for tourists and many folks in Tampa. Streetcars brought hundreds of people to the area to enjoy the shopping arcade/hotel, 40-foot water slide, alligator farm, and the Sulphur Springs Dog Track. This pool was part of the larger Sulphur Springs Park. The natural mineral spring flowed into the Hillsborough River and was a source of recreation and drinking water for the city of Tampa. Credit: Chip Weiner
NOW Sulphur Springs Pool, 2020 By the 1950’s, pollution from the surrounding sinkholes that feed Sulphur Springs was discovered and monitored. The spring closed to swimmers in 1986 due to concerns about contamination. An in-ground chlorinated pool was constructed on the site, seen in the background, and opened in 2000. The spring is still used as a water source for the city but fenced off from visitors. Credit: Chip Weiner