You may recall that at the beginning of 2006, the Tampa Bay History Center daily note was dropped by the Tribune. Rodney Kite-Powell and Travis Puterbaugh had already written three months of entries for “on this day in Tampa Bay history,” when the local paper went in a different direction. We here in the sticks were happy to publish those items, and began on January 27 with an entry about the Jose Gaspar catching fire.
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and so it is with the history center’s daily items of note. But it is not the last you will see of history here in the Sticks. Travis and Rodney have agreed to let us know of any new interesting information they dig up. Plus we’ll have the inside scoop about their new building. And Sticks of Fire has been invited to participate in the 2007 Florida History Fair. You can see that history will remain part of the diet here.
Of course, we will finish out the year with entries, and we still have the first 26 days of January that were never published in 2006, so we’ll use those for the beginning of 2007. We look forward to new exciting stuff from your friends at the history center.
Thanks a bunch, Travis!
Meredith
3 years ago
Sad to see the daily bits go…I liked ‘em. I look forward to seeing more history stuff on Sticks.
OtisIsHungry
3 years ago
How about some predicitons and prognostications for the history yet to be made next year? Put up a post and invite contributions, please.
piratechic
3 years ago
Thanks, I enjoyed the bits ‘o’ history.
james
3 years ago
I always wondered why it’s called the Tampa Bay History Center when the vast majority of it’s exhibitions focus on Tampa. Lakeland, St. Petersburg, Pass-A-Grille, Safety Harbor,Tarpon Springs and other cities have there own history musuems. Just another case of the good ole boys in Tampa thinking that they are the end all and be all of the area. What they say goes. Call is what it is boys the Tampa History Center.
Rodney (TBHC)
3 years ago
Thank you for your comments and compliments regarding our ‘This Day in History’ pieces and the TBHC in general. I am compelled to reply specifically to James’ comments regarding the TBHC’s mission. While our focus is on Hills. County history, we are called the Tampa Bay History Center simply because this area’s past is too big to confine to just one city or even one county. Events in one part of our region have an effect in other parts. Hillsborough’s other two cities were (and, of course, still are) important to the region’s history, as are the cities, towns and neighborhoods in this and other Bay Area counties. That said, Tampa was and is the economic hub of the area, and for a long time was the only (and is still the largest) city in West Central Florida. It would be difficult to discuss the overall history of the Tampa Bay area without a good dose of Tampa history. We have worked with the region’s other historical and cultural institutions in the past and we look forward to maintaining and enhancing those relationships in the future. Please feel free to email me if you have any other questions or concerns. Again, thank you all for your interest in our region’s history.
rk-p