24-02-2025
Tampa's Doby House to get historic designation
TAMPA — The home of a prominent early 1900s Black entrepreneur who donated land for a school and cemetery for Black residents received additional protections from future development last week.
The Tampa City Council passed a measure to give a local historic landmark designation to the former home of Richard Doby.
The West Hyde Park home at 1405 W. Azeele St., which was constructed in 1912, is a remnant of a once 'thriving community in the early twentieth century, home to many of the Black Americans.' They worked as cooks, servants or nannies for the white families living in Hyde Park, according to a proposal from the city.
The neighborhood, called Dobyville, was built on land purchased and in part developed by Doby, a businessman in ice delivery and trash collection and later real estate. He donated land for the West Hyde Park Grammar School for Black students and Zion Cemetery, the latter north of city limits, during a time when Black citizens were forbidden from being buried within the city.
A proposal presented to the council last month said Dobyville was estimated to have around 3,000 residents in the 1920s, and 'was considered one of the finer segregated Black neighborhoods.'
The school along with a 14-block strip in the neighborhood were demolished to make way for the construction of the Leroy Selmon Crosstown Expressway. Zion Cemetery was built over and erased after a developer wanted the land.
Tara Nelan, who bought the home in April 2020, was the applicant. Nelan said she was familiar with the history of the neighborhood, but didn't realize her home belonged to Richard Doby until she began doing research with more time on her hands during the pandemic.
Nelan said she's honored to play a small part in keeping Doby's story alive within Tampa's history.
'Mr. Doby was known to have been a pioneer in the Black communities in Tampa over 100 years ago,' she said.
City Council member Bill Carlson commended Nelan for taking on the project in a neighborhood where several homes have been torn down and mansions built on top.
Dennis Fernandez, manager for the city's architectural review and historic preservation said, some of Doby's relatives are still in the area.
'Dobyville is such a significant part of our history,' he said.
