Black communities around Tampa Bay were erased. Should cities pay to save the history?
There is a push on both sides of the bay for local governments to take a more proactive role in raising money for Black history projects.
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Tampa s Black neighborhood known as the Scrub as it looked in the 1930s. The downtown neighborhood was later razed. [ Courtesy of Hillsborough County Public Library ]
Published 53 minutes ago
TAMPA â Historic Black cemeteries in Tampa were erased more than half a century ago with the help of the city government.
Tampa levied neighborhood improvement fees on Zion and College Hill cemeteries, took the lands when the owners could not pay, canceled those same fees when white developers owned the cemeteries, and then looked the other way when those burial grounds were erased.
Tampa saved a century-old Black cemetery after its owner died
Memorial Park Cemeteryâs owner died in 2019 and his heirs divested themselves of it. The city has since taken over maintenance.
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A pedestrian is seen at Memorial Park Cemetery in Tampa. The cemetery opened in 1919 and was recently cleaned up by the City of Tampa after the former owner had died and left the grounds in disrepair. [ CHRIS URSO | Times ]
TAMPA â Memorial Park Cemetery looks better tended without an active owner than when it had one.
The century-old, segregation-era Black cemeteryâs former owner, John Robinson, cared for the 20 acres on his own, a job he admitted was difficult. Overgrown tree branches dipped to the ground and covered sections of graves. Burial records were a mess.