TAMPA — Central Avenue was once the hippest place in Tampa. It’s where Ray Charles made his first recording and where Hank Ballard discovered “The Twist,” the dance that inspired his song popularized by Chubby Checker. Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald also regularly performed there. But nothing remains of Central Avenue today. “So much of the hardscape of the African American community has .
Richard Doby is the name behind Tampa's forgotten Black town of Dobyville, where the neighborhood is working on adding it to the Historic District registry.