Sunday Favorites: The Tampa Bay Hurricane

BRADENTON -- The Tampa Bay Hurricane, which occurred in 1921, permanently changed parts of Manatee County for good. Other landmarks that the hurricane destroyed were never replaced.

 

Before last Sunday, the last a hurricane to directly hit Manatee County was in 1921. Known as the Tampa Bay Hurricane, and later the Tarpon Springs Hurricane, the system began as a tropical storm, but strengthened to 140 mph (the modern equivalent of a category 4 storm) before entering Tampa Bay. Much like Irma, it made a last-minute turn, moving northwest and weakening to a Category 3 before making landfall near present-day Tarpon Springs.

While the hurricane of 1846, which I wrote about last week, changed the outlook of Florida pioneers, the hurricane of 1921 actually changed the landscape.

You may have heard of Passage Key, today it’s not much more than a sandbar with a few sprouting plants and an infamous reputation for attracting boat enthusiasts that are more comfortable sunbathing and fishing in their birthday suits. Present-day Passage Key is a nudist beach.

But in 1921 it was lush and full of wildlife, particularly birds, as it was designated a federal bird reserve by President Theodor Roosevelt in 1905. Back then, the island spanned over 60 acres and featured a freshwater lake and array of lush vegetation. Asa Pillsbury, of Snead Island, and his family homesteaded on Passage Key in 1908 when he was hired by the Audubon Society as the part-time warden. Pillsbury and his wife documented over 102 species of birds there. In his spare time, he constructed fishing boats, and was also the caretaker of present-day Fort Desoto, according to the book ”Lures of Manatee“ by Lillie Brown McDuffie.

But Asa’s career was stalled on October 25, 1921 when the Tampa Bay hurricane hit. Asa and his wife escaped by evacuating to a friend’s home in Palma Sola after becoming alarmed at some of the behaviors they observed in the birds on the island. They left just in time; the hurricane brought sustained winds of 75 mph and a storm surge of 10.5 feet. During the storm, a cyclone-induced tidal wave completely destroyed Passage Key, washing away the vegetation and transforming it into the sandbar-like destination it is today, according to McDuffie.

In addition to destroying Passage Key, the hurricane washed away high ground that used to be a characteristic of Bean Point on the north end of Anna Maria Island. These sandy cliffs were completely demolished; never to be returned again according to a 1984 interview Anna Maria Cobb Riles and Humbug Cobb gave to the Manatee County Historical Society.

Riles’ parents came to the area from New Jersey in 1896. At the time, the industrial revolution had polluted many northern metropolis areas and doctors sometimes recommended that people with health issues migrate south. Riles’ father, Samuel Cobb, came down in order to improve his health issues homesteading near present-day Holmes Beach. He named his daughter after the island, which was originally termed by Spaniards.

During the storm, Anna Maria who was just a girl at the time said the whole family watched as the two-story home they had built on the Gulf side of the island blew away. They were able to take shelter in a one-story structure not far away. They ultimately decided to rebuild on the Bay side of the island.

Cortez was also devastated by the hurricane. At the time, Cortez was a fruitful fishing community that exported seafood all over the state. The hurricane of 1921 destroyed all the fish houses in Cortez and all the docks after the storm surge completely flooded the area up to 67^th Street in Bradenton. The entire community had to be rebuilt, according to a speech Carl King delivered to the Manatee Historic Society entitled ”Boat Tour on Anna Maria Sound and the Manatee River.“

The hurricane shattered homes in the east as well, the Myakka River flooded so bad, it was an estimated that it measured .75 of a mile wide, according to historians Joe and Libby Warner in their speech ”To the Wilderness They Came, the Story of Myakka City.“

In addition all the wharfs on the Manatee River, large docks utilized by cargo vessels and steamships, were destroyed. Many of the wharfs were never rebuilt as the nucleus of the Palmetto and Bradenton communities had moved from the river inland due to newly developed road systems and railway transport.

The first bridge adjoining the cities of Palmetto and Bradenton was opened in 1919. Just two years later, Palmetto resident L.M. Ray felt the bridge giving way beneath his Model-T.

He crossed over to Bradenton during the storm in order to get supplies and on his return route he was pushed by full-force winds across the bridge even though he had his foot on the brake the entire time. He felt the bridge heaving as he crossed and noticed wooden planks flying off behind him. He finally made his destination, second floor apartment in Bradenton, but found all the windows had all been blown out, according to the book ”The Singing River,“ by Joe and Libby Warner.

The storm surge also damaged a fishing pier in St. Petersburg and destroyed a casino in Gulfport. In Tampa, much of the city was flooded, and three people were killed in drowning incidents and flying debris. Several buildings of the historic Ballast Point Pavilion were destroyed by the storm. In Pasco County, the hurricane destroyed the popular Mt. Zion Baptist Church, which was never rebuilt. The storm also decimated the Tarpon Springs, a large fishing community much like Cortez.

The hurricane quickly crossed Central Florida before entering the Atlantic, weakening to a minimal strength. It accelerated to the southeast, briefly strengthening to a Category 2 hurricane before reaching Bermuda.

Over the next few days, residents all over the state made repairs, calculated losses and told stories of good fortune and bad, heroism and tragedy. Fruit shippers and farmers around the Tampa Bay area hurried to save what they could of their crops, now scattered all over the ground – the hurricane was also caused over $1 million loss for Florida farmers.

So we should count ourselves lucky we escaped the grunt of Irma last Sunday and we should hope there will be another long stretch of time before another one of these monster weather systems targets our area again.