Macdonald-Kelce Library Blog

UT on Davis Island???

Above: Artist rendering of the Davis Island property to be converted into the UT administration building, c. 1932.

On July 27, 1933, the Tampa Junior College Board of Trustees approved the Tampa Bay Hotel as the new home for the college that was to be renamed the University of Tampa. To this day, the building, now Plant Hall, is owned by the city. It was leased to the new University for one dollar per year for ten years. In 1941, the agreement was amended to a 99-year lease. A little-known fact discovered in the Macdonald-Kelce Library's Archives and Special Collections’ MS-02, George B. Howell Papers is that the future University of Tampa was very close to purchasing property on Davis Island. When city leaders learned that a Tampa Junior College board member had gone to Boston to work out the purchase, they moved quickly to offer the old hotel, which by that time had ceased to be one of the city’s crown jewels and was increasingly seen as a burden. 

George Blaine Howell was born in Ithaca, New York, May 5, 1892. He received a baccalaureate degree from Dartmouth and his law degree from Cornell. After serving as a lieutenant in the World War I,  he returned to Ithaca and a law practice with his brother John Howell.

Embarking on a trip to Havana in 1920, Howell came to Tampa where he was introduced to and soon married Mary Trice Clewis in 1922. After being offered a position as head of the trust department with his Tampa father-in-law’s Exchange Bank, the Howell’s moved their family to 2509 Bayshore Blvd. Tampa in 1926. As the head of one of Tampa’s most successful banks, he was asked to serve on the board of the fledgling Tampa Bay Junior College and headed its finance committee. Here he was intricately involved in the young college’s purchases including property. It was for that reason he wrote to Davis Island property holders (see image below) in regard to purchasing property for the young college (soon to be university).    

Above: pp. 1 and 2--letter Howell wrote to Davis Island property owner Russell Robb.

Apparent in the letter is Howell's disagreement over the Tampa Bay Hotel as the new home for the university.  It evidently didn't anger him so much that he resigned from the board of trustees. He continued to serve the University of Tampa for a number of years. 

George Howell ran the Exchange Bank until the onset of World War II, when he took a leave of absence from the financial institution to purchase the Tampa Ship Building Corporation, which he soon renamed TASCO. During the war years, it was Tampa’s largest employer. In addition to Merchant Marine ships, it built ships for the U.S. Navy and later began building semi-truck trailers with an eye toward post-war needs. At war’s end, Mr. Howell resigned from TASCO and returned to banking, severing ties with Exchange Bank and taking over First Savings and Trust Company, that he later turned into Marine Bank and Trust

At the request of Eddie Rickenbacker (whom he had met and befriended in the Air Service during World War I), Howell was asked to serve on the board of Eastern Airlines, which he did. In addition to the boards of Eastern Airlines and UT, Howell served on numerous others during his life. His civic service and philanthropy made the Howells a much beloved family in the Tampa area.

George B. Howell passed away October 17, 1960 and is buried in Myrtle Hill Memorial Park. The Howell family continue to live in and serve the Tampa Bay community to this day.
 

Above: Davis Island Map, c. 1930. Red-marked areas are those properties the future UT considered purchasing.