Original material by C.B. McCall • Compiled by Marcy Shortuse • Photos from Beacon archives
The story of Gasparilla, on which Tampa Bay’s renounced Gasparilla celebration was originally
founded, began with the personal narrative of Juan Gomez, refuted sub-captain of infamous
pirate Jose Gaspar. Several years after the Gasparilla celebration had become a colorful part of
Tampa’s history, Juan consented to a one-time printing of a portion of his narratives for public
enjoyment.
September/October 2019 GASPARILLA ISLAND 37
Editor’s note: On a little hidden shelf in the
home of the late Eunice Albritton, a pamphlet
was found during the estate sale that signaled
the end of The Fishery property. While her
house will remain, the contents were removed,
and this little booklet was taken away as well.
According to André-Marcel d'Ans, a
contributor to a series called “Tampa Bay
History,” the very first written version of the
legend came in this “advertising brochure” of
the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railroad
Company. The leaflet was given to visitors who
used the Plant System, the Boca Grande Hotel
(and The Gasparilla Inn & Club. Boca Grande
was then the principal town of Gasparilla
Island, and therefore, in theory, it was the old
haunt of the king of the pirates.
“Taking the best of everything when a
capture was made, he chose the best of the
islands in. Charlotte Harbor, for his own secret
haunts,” declared the leaflet. In fact, at the
beginning of the 20th century, Gasparilla Island
became “the winter home of the bluebloods.”
The railroad brochure does not bear any
date. Everything else indicates that the leaflet
circulated a little after 1900 and that it
provided the inspiration for the promoters of
Tampa's first Gasparilla festival in 1904.
CH&N Railway began construction of its rail
line in 1905, with the first segment – between
Port Boca Grande and Arcadia – completed in
1907. The American Agricultural and. Chemical
Company, the railway's owner, probably did not
begin to promote Boca Grande as a winter
resort until formation of the Boca Grande Land
Company, chartered by the State of Florida on
April 29, 1907, to buy, sell, and develop real
estate. Prior to that date there was nothing to
promote. Therefore, it seems unlikely that the
“railroad brochure” on Gasparilla the pirate
could have been published any earlier than
1907.