In the Beginning...

In the Beginning... (HMMSM)

Location: Tampa, FL 33602 Hillsborough County
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Country: United States of America
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N 27° 56.714', W 82° 27.516'

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Inscription

Uncle Sam Chooses Tampa for Base in 1939

On July 14, 1939, the Tampa Morning Tribune announced the war department's decision to build the "Southeast Air Base" in Tampa. The land selected was a 6000 acre marshy area known as Catfish Point. As part of President Roosevelt's New Deal Program, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) paid local unemployed citizens for land clearing and road construction work. Runways, buildings, and airplane hangars were built by private contractors. Construction was competed less than two years later and the base was officially dedicated as MacDill Field on April 16, 1941.

"What is now MacDill was mostly pine and palmetto trees with some small farms that had hogs, chickens, and maybe a cow or two... and when riding horseback through there, we were always mindful of the rattlesnakes."
- Louise Lykes Ferguson
(on growing up near Catfish Point)

The Rattlesnake Cannery
As workers cleared the old Catfish Point site, they encountered thousands of rattlesnakes, and helped give birth to the world's only Rattlesnake Cannery. The attraction near Gandy and Westshore Boulevard even had its own post office. Entrepreneur George End ran the cannery and rattlesnake attraction until his untimely death in 1943.
George End's Cause of Death: Rattlesnake Bite.

Behind the Scenes
(Portraits of George B. Howell, Jerry Waterman, R. Ambler Liggett, and Mayor R.E.L. Chancey)
Many civic, community, and political leaders in Hillsborough County worked hard to bring the new air base to Tampa. The base promised jobs and a boost to the sagging post-depression economy. It's said that before selecting Tampa as the site for the new Florida air base, Army officials enjoyed visiting the city and particularly enjoyed the history and culture of Ybor City.

Tampa's Other 1930's WPA Projects
Bayshore Boulevard Sea Wall
Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory
Peter O. Knight Airport
Details
HM NumberHMMSM
Series This marker is part of the More Than Words series, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects series.
Tags
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, October 3rd, 2014 at 11:44am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)17R E 356505 N 3091991
Decimal Degrees27.94523333, -82.45860000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 27° 56.714', W 82° 27.516'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds27° 56' 42.84" N, 82° 27' 30.96" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)813, 727, 305, 863
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 122-156 N Ashley Dr, Tampa FL 33602, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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