Bayshore Baptist Church at 2200 Dekle Avenue

Bayshore Baptist Church at 2200 Dekle Avenue (at intersection with DeSoto Avenue), group standing before parked cars near front and side facades . 1932. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Desoto Building, 1304 Desoto Avenue South, Tampa, FL. 2021. © Chip Weiner

Constructed in 1928, the Bayshore Baptist Church joined the Hyde Park growth explosion. The church, built in the Spanish mission style, was to hold 400 members in its auditorium. In the mid-1950s, the church moved to its new location. On Thanksgiving Day 1956, the congregation of over 1,000 members celebrated their first service in the new building at 3111 Morrison Avenue at MacDill. In 1983, architect Peter Pizzi bought the building and converted it. Now known as the Desoto Building, it was transformed into a multi-unit office building. Notice the missing bell tower dome.

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again Vol. 2