85 years ago…
April 8, 1921 – Tampa City Commissioner Henry Snow proposes that the city buy Little Grassy Island in Hillsborough Bay (later a part of Davis Islands) for the purpose of building a large park, which would house, among other things, the Florida State Fair Grounds. The city purchased the fifty-acre island for $25,000 ($232,000 in today’s dollars), but did nothing with it. David P. Davis bought the island three years later for his development, Davis Islands.
Courtesy of the Tampa Bay History Center.
Dan
3 months ago
Snow Park was dedicated to Major Henry E. Snow in 1921. The original marble monument was erected in 1926, shortly after Major Snow’s death.
Major Snow’s obituary in the Wednesday, October 13, 1926 issue of The Tampa Daily Times refers to him as “one of Tampa’s best known and best loved citizens.” It further states that “no man who has ever lived in Tampa has given more generously of his time and his resources to the promotion of the city’s best interests.”
Tampa was Major Snow’s adopted city. He was born in Harwichport, Massachusetts in 1861. He married the former Miss Bisland Carket of Natchez, Mississippi in May of 1884. They had four sons, Ralph, Milton, Everett and Spencer, and a daughter, Betty. Major Snow was elected as a member of the city’s Board of Public Works in 1910 and was reelected three times. When the commission form of government was adopted by Tampa, he was elected a member of the commission. At the end of his term he refused to stand for reelection. The City Hall, Lafayette Street bridge, fire station, library, sewer system and miles of paved streets were all built during his term of service.
A pioneer “drummer” in Tampa, he later organized a wholesale grocery business, Snow and Bryan which began in business on May 1, 1903 and was dissolved in 1921 when Major Snow retired.
Major Snow was one of the founders of the South Florida Fair Association, was an ardent supporter of the Children’s Home, Salvation Army and took an active part in the affairs of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla and was Grand Marshal of the annual parade for several years.
Special thanks to Sonya Street, Office Support Specialist III and Jim Rainey, Team Super, City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Dept., for providing this information about Henry E. Snow.