Albertus Hotel and Restaurant

The 35-room 3-story Albertus Hotel at 956 Twiggs Street was a popular place for travelers when it first opened close to Union Station, seen in the background in 1916. Train travel was widespread, and the area grew along with the rest of the city. The hotel offered a restaurant on the first floor and was near downtown. As the 1930s passed, the area became depressed. It was a block away from “The Scrub,” an African American area full of Black Businesses and homes that became known as Central Avenue Park. From the 1940s through the early 1960s, newspaper reports are peppered with tales of murder, prostitutes, and gambling at or near the hotel.

View of the Albertus Hotel and Restaurant at 942 Twiggs Street, front and side facades 1922. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

942 Twiggs Street- 2021. © Chip Weiner

Starting in 1946, plans were being developed to level the entire 75-acre Central Avenue community, initially to build a new civic center, county courthouse, and park. That plan never came to fruition, but the area was slowly demolished over the next 20 years. In the 1950s, some homes were razed and replaced by a public housing complex. The final blow came during race riots in the summer of 1967 following the shooting of a Black teenager after a robbery at the Tampa Photo Supply Warehouse. As the news spread around the Black community, peaceful protests turned to rioting and looting that night. It burned many of the remaining area businesses. The Albertus was most likely a victim of that urban shift.

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again Vol. 1