T. C. Taliaferro House
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
This mansion features the Classical Revival Style and was built in 1890 for the family of Thomas Carson Taliaferro, who established the Bank of Tampa in 1883. He also served as the chief of the city's early volunteer fire department. Taliaferro and his bank were responsible for providing the financial incentives that convinced Vincente Ybor to relocate his cigar-making factories from Key West to Tampa.
Images
This historic home was built for the family of T. C. Taliaferro and is now the location of the Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women..
1902 currency from the Bank of Tampa bearing T. C. Taliaferro's image and signature.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Thomas Carson Taliaferro was born in Orange Courthouse, Virginia in 1859. His brother, James, was a logging contractor who also invested in railroads and banking. James and a business partner, a man named Mr. Ambler, visited Tampa in the early 1880s and decided to open a bank in the small community, which only had 800 residents. They sent Thomas Taliaferro there in 1883 to establish the bank and he became the cashier. The banking firm that owned it was Ambler, Marvin and Stockton. In 1886, the bank became a national charter and was renamed First National Bank. Thomas later became president in 1903 and served until 1927, at which point he became chairman of the board.
It appears The Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women acquired the house in the 1980s and received preservation grants to renovate. The Centre is named after its founder, actress, teacher and state politician Helen Gordon Davis (1926-2015), who served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida State Senate. A champion the rights of women and minorities, she led the effort to establish the Centre in 1977 as the Women's Survival Center. The organization was renamed in her honor in 2014.
Sources
"About the House." Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women. Accessed November 29, 2023. https://thecentre.org/history.
Connor, June. "Tampa's Early Banks Weathered Many a Storm." Sunland Tribune, Vol. 11, Article 10. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/sunlandtribune/vol11/iss1/10.
Greer, Diane D. "Taliaferro House." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. October 1, 1974. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/74000638.
"History." Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women. Accessed November 29, 2023. https://thecentre.org/history.
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