Feb 16, 2018
By Emily McCain
TAMPA — Central Avenue was once the center of black life in Tampa. Ray Charles wrote his first song there, and it was the birthplace of The Twist.
It was the heart of The Scrub, the first African-American neighborhood in Tampa. There were as many as 200 black-owned businesses in and around it. Emancipated slaves and freemen built it. Central Avenue thrived for years until the death of a 19-year-old young man.
Police, suspected of a burglary killed Martin Chambers. His death sparked riots that lasted three days and ultimately destroyed Central Avenue.
Fred Hears is a noted historian and local to Tampa, who leads the tours. He works in partnership with the Tampa Bay History Center to host the tours on the last Saturday of every month, aside from some summer months. Nancy Dalence, the Curator of Education at the Tampa Bay History Center, has worked closely with Hearns since the tours began in the fall of 2016.
She says Hearns is one of the best black history historians in the area who brings his accounts to the tour. The tour explores Central Avenue as it is today. It begins at the Robert Saunders Public Library on N. Nebraska Ave. It was named after Robert Saunders, who led the Tampa Chapter of the NAACP. Expect to explore the inside of the library, which archives and displays much of the history of Central Avenue. It features a Hall of History which has interactive displays showcasing Tampa’s past.
The library had a $7 million renovation in 2015, which turned it into a trip to the past. There is a stone wall outside that was preserved from the old library that stood at the same site. The tour then moves outside the library toward Perry Harvey Sr. Park. Larger than life statues and history carved into the sidewalk, the park tells the history of Central Avenue. The displays are thanks to a $6.3 million renovation that took place in 2016.
“Everybody (who) has been on tour has just been amazed at how much history they did not know,” Dalence said. “Just so many connections to great stories, and it is an essential part of our history. Moreover, people did not know it was here, and thanks to Fred, now they do.”
This was created by USF student Emily McCain for Jeanette Abrahamsen’s Advanced Reporting class in 2018.
