- Address: 851 Zack St., Tampa, Florida
- Built: 1901; expanded through the 1920s; frame vernacular
- Significance: Safe lodging for Black travelers; NRHP listed in 2007
- Current work: Emergency stabilization following east-side siding failure; access easement secured for restoration staging
Built in 1901 by Moses Jackson, the Jackson House gave Black travelers a safe place to stay in the Jim Crow South. Located just blocks from Tampa’s Union Station, it sat within The Scrub, one of Tampa’s oldest historically Black neighborhoods.
Its 24 rooms hosted countless musicians, laborers, and community members who were barred from local hotels. Legends like Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are all rumored to have passed through its doors. But for the last 35 years, the house has been boarded up, weather-beaten, and largely left to fend for itself.
Emergency Repairs
The old home’s status changed this month—though not in the way anyone hoped. Part of the house’s east-side siding collapsed, exposing the rotting wood frame beneath. Instead of derailing the long-sputtering restoration effort, though, the incident appears to have jolted it forward.
Crews are now stabilizing the structure with emergency bracing, while the Jackson House Foundation prepares to select a construction firm by August 22. Just days earlier, the City Council approved a 10-foot easement around the house—giving workers long-awaited access to safely stage equipment and scaffolding. It’s a quiet but crucial win: for years, that lack of clearance prevented even basic repair work from moving forward.
The work ahead won’t be fast, and much of the house will likely need to be rebuilt using salvaged or matched materials. But the Jackson House Foundation is aiming to preserve as much of the original structure as possible. If restoration succeeds, the Jackson House will once again serve as a visible record of Tampa’s Black history.
