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Tampa commission spotlights Juneteenth Homestead and Farm as local landmark
Summary
At its May 27 public hearing, the City of Tampa Barrio Latino Commission featured the Juneteenth Homestead and Farm in Ybor City as part of Preservation Month, describing its 1924 primary house, outbuildings and continued agricultural use and noting its February 2020 local landmark designation.
Tampa's Barrio Latino Commission on May 27 featured the Juneteenth Homestead and Farm, a locally designated landmark in Ybor City at 2401 East 11th Avenue, during a Preservation Month presentation.
The presentation by city historic preservation staff said the property, built in 1924, remains largely intact and retains a primary house, a later detached garage, a functioning greenhouse, a chicken coop and an orchard. Ron Veil, a planner with the City of Tampa Historic Preservation office, described it as “one of our local landmarks.”
Dennis Fernandez, architecture review and historic preservation manager, introduced the item and drew commissioners' attention to preservation materials included in the meeting packet. “I do have the May edition of the Tampa Bricks and Mortar newsletter in your packets,” Fernandez said, noting the commission would hold its election of officers later in the hearing.
Veil placed the site within Ybor City and showed historical documentation, including a 1929 Sanborn map, to trace property ownership and the house’s footprint. He said the families who lived there cared for the site across decades and that the property’s features reflect its agricultural use: rows of crops, a greenhouse and free-range chickens were cited in the presentation. Veil noted the property received local landmark designation in February 2020.
The presentation emphasized the property's continuity of use and encouraged commissioners and the public to view the site; Veil said the house and outbuildings remain “pretty well contained as it was back in the day.” The item was presented as an informational preservation-in-progress segment rather than a docketed design-review case.
No formal commission action related to the Juneteenth Homestead and Farm is recorded in the portions of the hearing available in the transcript excerpt; staff indicated other administrative items and elections would occur later in the meeting.
Background: the Juneteenth Homestead and Farm sits between 20th Fourth Street and 20th Fifth Street along East 11th Avenue in eastern Ybor City. Staff materials shown at the hearing included historical photographs from 1949 and later images documenting continued family stewardship.
