This photo represents a window back in time to the 1950s. Central to the scene at MacDill and Swann Avenues in 1958 is Singletary’s Standard Service station, selling gas for $.29 and giving away Green Stamps with each purchase. Beyond the station is the Palma Ceia Laundry which offered pick-up and delivery service but gave a 10% discount to customers who brought their laundry in. Beyond the laundry was Joseph D’Arpa’s glass shop, specializing in jalousie windows. The mailbox in the center of the image was one of the hundreds throughout the city where customers could drop letters and packages for pick-up.

Singletary’s is long gone, and the property now serves as a parking lot for Italiano Insurance Services. The 5,000 sq. ft. Palma Ceia Laundry building is in disrepair and is currently being offered for lease as a proposed 4,000 sq. ft. medical office building. Joseph D’Arpa’s structure has been demolished, and the U.S. Postal Service continues to remove thousands of the familiar blue collection boxes every year, citing the expense of maintenance. Biggar & Biggar Realty, pictured here, opened their office in the late 1950s. While they no longer do business, the building still carries their moniker. Interestingly, although mass transit has declined in the city, this intersection still sports a bus bench for routes headed north on MacDill Ave.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved