West Tampa Black History Walking Tour

Fred Hearns is leading a walking tour of West Tampa's Black history on Saturday, November 28, starting at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park. It's a 90-minute walk that covers about eight blocks of the neighborhood, roughly a mile along public sidewalks and brick streets, with stops at sites tied to the area's Black history.

If you're not familiar with Hearns, he's one of Tampa Bay's foremost historians and the Tampa Bay History Center's first curator of Black history. He's spent decades preserving the stories of the city's Black residents, and he brings a long career as a journalist, community leader, and former City of Tampa human rights director to the tour.

Along the route, the group stops at the former site of J. W. Roberts City, the neighborhood's first brick cigar factory; the University of Tampa's I. W. Phillips Field football stadium; Clara Frye Memorial Hospital, which served Black patients during segregation; Tampa's first public housing development; and the childhood homes of prominent local Black figures. It's a look at the neighborhood's history through the actual places that shaped it.

The tour runs from 10 AM to 11:30 AM, rain or shine, and is limited to 25 participants. Tickets are $25 per person, purchased online in advance, and History Center members save 20%. You'll meet inside the park at the Bob Buckhorn River Center, 402 N. Laurel St., by the flagpole.