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Historians celebrating Tampa's birthday by remembering it's past
Lloyd Sowers reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Local historians are marking Tampa's 136th birthday Saturday with Archives Awareness Week.
In a lecture at the Tampa Bay History Center Wednesday, historian Brad Massey talked about the area in the 1920s, including prohibition, which, he says, didn't go over well with many in Tampa.
"Alot of the political elite were known to drink even after prohibition goes into effect," he told attendees.
Massey says people with money who drank weren't often bothered by the law, while the poor were cited frequently.
READ: Tampa celebrates 136th birthday by reflecting on its past
He says Tampa resisted enacting prohibition even as most of Florida enacted it. "Heading up to prohibition, there's only seven counties where you can still purchase and consume alcohol, and Hillsborough is one of them," Massey said.
Some have suggested tunnels under Ybor City were built to smuggle liquor during prohibition.
Massey isn't a believer.
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"There were other ways, less labor-intensive ways, than digging out a tunnel under Ybor City," he said.
Massey wouldn't rule out the possibility that bootleggers hid alcohol in the tunnels that were long rumored and finally confirmed five years ago.
More likely, he says, the tunnels were built for drainage.