Vernor's Ginger Ale, Tampa

Vernor's Ginger Ale, looking toward Platt Street Bridge. 1948. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Tampa Convention Center Tunnel looking toward the Platt Street Bridge. 2021. © Chip Weiner

Tampa Street used to dead-end into Platt Street. On the other side of that intersection sat the Vernor’s Ginger Ale Plant in 1948 when this picture was made. In 1923 when the street was still called Carew (now Channelside Dr), the Lee Baking Company built this structure for $300,000 and distributed Holsum Bread baked in Duhrkop ovens. A few years later, Lee sold to the Seybold company, which moved the business to Horatio and South Dakota Avenues and was known as Sunshine Bakers. In 1929, the Alsobrook- Overland Company leased the building for five years. The Gulf Coast Beverage Company moved in after that, and Vernor’s Ginger Ale bought them and the building in 1946 to open this bottling plant.

Some older residents might remember the landmark 32-foot-tall neon sign the company had featuring two leprechauns see-sawing over a barrel of ginger ale above the arched entry. Vernor’s moved to Gray Street in 1956, and the property was sold as sub-marginal in 1959 for $49,500. The $140-million Tampa Convention Center opened in 1990, taking over the spot. A tunnel constructed as part of the complex where this photo was taken now stretches from the Platt Street bridge to Franklin St. The circular lights in the photograph are part of the installation of 31 LED ring lights in a permanent project called Circles Unity, 2021, commissioned for Lights on Tampa 2021.

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again Vol. 1