
So there was once a businessman named Gavino Gutierrez from New York who went on a quest for wild guava trees. As it turned out, Gutierrez’s quest lead to the vital growth and development of Tampa for being a ‘motherland’ of guava trees. In the 1970s, the long-time newspaper columnist for the Tampa Tribune and Tampa Times, Steve Otto coined us as ‘The Big Guava’ as a reference to New York’s “Big Apple”, thanks to Gutierrez, and it stuck.
Here are 15 more facts about Tampa that you might now know..
- The name Tampa is believed to come from the phrase “Sticks of Fire.” Due to the Tampa Bay having some of the most notorious lightning storms around, I wonder where the Tampa Bay Lighting got their name from..
- We have a terrible pirate problem. It seems like no matter what we do, we get invaded by pirates every year! (Just kidding, we love it.)
- The movie industry love us! Tampa has played a part in quite a number of films including, but not limited to; “Blood Sport”, “Cocoon”, “Edward Scissorhands”, “Lethal Weapon III”, “My Girl”, “Parent Trap II”, “Once Upon A Time In America”, “Oceans 11”, and “Infiltrator” were all filmed in the Bay Area.
- Babe Ruth hit his longest home run during a game in Tampa, clocking a total of 587 feet.
- The world’s first scheduled passenger flight flew from St. Petersburg to Tampa in 1914 – It took 40 minutes and the tickets costed $5!
- The iconic Tampa restaurant Bern's Steak House has the largest working wine cellar in the world.
- In 1851 John Gorrie invented the first mechanical refrigeration system in Tampa.
- Did you know the Cuban sandwich isn’t Cuban? It is believed that it was likely invented in Tampa. (Those from Miami might disagree)
- Florida Brewing Company, the first brewery in Florida, originated in Tampa.
- Cigar City – Ybor, inside of Tampa, was considered the Cigar Capital of the World!
- Snow – Tampa is home to the smallest official park in the world “Snow Park” (according to Riley’s Believe It or Not!)
- Tampa’s number one export? Phosphate.
- When Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders were waiting to ship out for the Spanish-American War in 1898, they were stationed in Tampa.
- Tampa is home to the world’s longest continuous sidewalk, Bayshore Boulevard. It’s 4.5 miles long!
- During Prohibition, Tampa was one of the top sellers of illegal liquor in the country.