SULPHUR SPRINGS
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SULPHUR SPRINGS |
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NAME: Sulphur Springs COUNTY: Hillsborough ROADS: 2WD GRID: 3 CLIMATE: Anytime BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime |
COMMENTS:
Take the byrd street exit off 275 in hillsborough county. Look for the tall sulphur springs tower. When you get off the exit go east towards nebraska. The spring and the old community is located at the corner of nebraska and byrd. It is posted but you can wander around and see plenty. You might find a hole in the fence. (i didn't say that) REMAINS: Spring, Gazebo, Old Bridge, The Old Club, The Spring Movie Theatre (renovated), early iron bridge site |
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The area about the sulphur spring here has been a favorite picnicking place since the turn of the century. There was a separate community by the same name here beginning in 1924 with the establishment of a post office. The place is very busy since tampa has grown out to absorb the area. The spring is polluted now because of storm run off into neigboring sink holes. The old shopping district is across nebraska. Check out the renovated spring movie theatre and the old club on the water front. Also, the site of the old iron bridge that used to cross the hillsborough river is marked with a plaque next to the club. Remains of the shore part of the bridge are still there. There used to be a large two story hotel next to the spring but it was torn down for additional parking for a dog track. The gazebo was built at the same time as the tower when the owner of the hotel realized the tourist potential of the spring. Many came to bathe in the spring to help their ailments in the late 1800's and early 1900's. One can see many post cards of the attraction in the florida state picture archives. Drive around in the neigborhood east of nebraska and look for houses that are at least 100 years old. Submitted by: Mike and Aaron Woodfin THE SULPHUR SPRINGS HOTEL: Developer Joshiah Richardson built the hotel and mall in the 1920s. Sulpher Springs was a booming resort at the time. Once called the Nebraska Hotel the two story Sulphur Springs Arcade featured Mediterranean Revival style architecture with a wide interior hallway dividing the rooms with rows of columns and arches lining both floors. During it's hey day shoppers enjoyed two drug stores, a furniture store, a jeweler, a restaurant, a hardward store, beauty and barber shops, a dime store, a bank, a pool hall, a post office, a doctor's office, a sheriff's substation, a bakery, a grocery store and a department store. Street cars brought people north from Tampa to visit the spring-fed swimming hole and scenic area. An effort to save the hotel sprouted in 1975 when the demolition plans were announced. Hundreds signing the petition, but the bulldozers arrived in 1976 and razed the building for a dog track parking lot. Mike Woodfin
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