The Davis Islands Civic Association Centennial Celebration Historic Tour on March 16, 2024 will end at the Mirasol Apartments in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Mirasol Apartments/Google

The Davis Islands Civic Association will celebrating the archipelago’s centennial by offering this month’s tour highlighting the historic architecture of the area.

In the 1920’s during the Florida Land Boom developer David. P. Davis began renourishing two existing islands with sediment dredged up from the bottom of Tampa Bay. Before the project was even complete, when the available residential lots were still underwater, Davis had sold every one. A lot of his story is told in the “Decade of Change: Florida in the 1920s” exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center.

Construction of Davis Islands began in 1925 and Mediterranean, Spanish and Italian architectural styles became the most popular choices for homes and apartments throughout the islands. Examples of the historic architecture can still be seen in buildings like the Palace of Florence and Mirasol apartments, both stops included along the tour.

The self-guided tour is on Saturday, March 16, showcasing various homes and commercial buildings architecture throughout the islands. Volunteers stationed at each location can answer questions and provide visitors with historic background.

Tickets for the Davis Islands Civic Association Centennial Celebration Historic Tour on Saturday, March 16 are available now for $20 (and will be $30 on the day of).

The tour will begin at 10 a.m. at Marjorie Park Marina (named after Davis’ late wife), and end at 2 p.m. at the Mirasol with a book signing by historian Rodney Kite-Powell, author of “History of Davis Islands.”

“When you learn more about these buildings,” said Kite-Powell, “you appreciate the past. When those buildings are gone, it is harder to envision what this community once was.”

The Davis Islands Civic Association has noted that tour participants must be 18 or older and that historic homes along the tour are not handicap accessible.