Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Power

In 1955 Florida Power Corporation bought the northern part of Weedon Island and built a power plant there. The power plant property includes some of the prehistoric mounds, the former Weedon house site, and a 1930s movie studio. The power company used the movie studio as a warehouse until it burned in 1963. The power plant is now Progress Energy's Bartow Power Plant.

Here's a glimpse of the power plant through the mangroves along Gandy Boulevard:














If you were to take a few steps further towards the water and look to the east across Old Tampa Bay, you'd see the Interbay Peninsula, home to South Tampa, Port Tampa, and MacDill Air Force Base.














Squint a bit, and you'll see a very large airplane landing at MacDill AFB.














Today MacDill Air Force Base is home to the 6th Air Mobility Wing, U.S. Central Command, and the headquarters of the U.S. Special Operations Command, along with 51 other Mission Partners. Nearly seventy years ago it was a brand new base, training pilots for World War II. Base commander on December 7, 1941, was General Clarence Tinker, also known as the first Native American to become a Major General in the United States Army. Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma was named in his honor.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:22 PM

    Hello,
    I happened to find your site while doing some light research on residential architecture in South Tampa. It was very enlightening and interesting to read some of your entries since I haven't been particularly concerned with Florida architecture or architectural history in the past.
    I am actually now a beginning architecture student attending school in upstate New York and a major assignment for this new semester is to research our "house". I've lived in the Interbay area all my life and haven't noticed anything particularly indicative of architectural style or theory. Thus, I am completely lost as to where to start and would greatly appreciate any hints on where to look in terms of style or any historical impetus to build.
    It has been very a very enjoyable experience to browse your entries over this past break and I look forward to future ones.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Every house has a style or is the result of some theory -- some are just more obvious or glamorous than others!

    There are some interesting things going on in Interbay, depending on the era of the house.

    Give me a call at the office - perhaps I can help you find a starting point.

    Glad you enjoy the blog!

    ReplyDelete

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