The Jackson Rooming House

On a corner of Zack Street, surrounded by parking lots and downtown towers, stands a weathered two-story house wrapped in chain-link fence. It doesn't look like much today. But for most of the 20th century, this was one of the most important addresses in Tampa for Black travelers, and some of the greatest musicians in American history slept under its roof.

Moses and Sarah Jackson

The house began as a family home. Moses and Sarah Jackson built it as a private residence around the turn of the 20th century. Sources differ slightly on the year: the city dates it to about 1899, the historical marker says the late 1890s, and many accounts give 1901.

Its location changed its future. In 1912, Tampa Union Station opened less than a block to the east. Under segregation, Black railroad workers and travelers arriving by train could not stay at the city's white hotels. The Jacksons saw the need and opened their home to guests. According to the marker, that may have started as early as 1910. By about 1915, the family had grown the house into a two-story boarding house with 24 bedrooms, while still living there themselves.

A Home Away From Home on Central Avenue

The house sat near Central Avenue, the heart of Black business and nightlife in Tampa. The Jacksons offered more than a bed. Guests could get meals, laundry, and even taxi service. The boarding house was run for decades by the Jackson women and their families.

Entertainers touring the South needed somewhere to stay, and the Jackson House became the place. James Brown, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, and Cab Calloway are among the guests named in news coverage, and other accounts add Count Basie, Nat King Cole, and Duke Ellington. A well-known story says Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited or stayed during his 1961 trip to Tampa. That story is widely told, but it hasn't been confirmed, so I'm sharing it as just that: a story.

The Last One Standing

The Jackson House was not the only place in Tampa that served Black visitors during segregation, but according to its historical marker, it is the only one that still stands. The neighborhood around it was largely cleared during urban renewal. When the house was added to the National Register in 2007, it was believed to be the last free-standing home left in downtown Tampa.

The family kept the rooming house open until 1989 and held on to the property long after. The City of Tampa designated it a local landmark in 2004.

The Fight to Save It

Decades without repairs have taken a heavy toll. The house has suffered partial collapses, and its survival has been in doubt more than once. Today it is owned by the Jackson House Foundation, which plans to rebuild it and open it as a museum of Black history.

• Funding: The Vinik Family Foundation gave a $1 million grant to start the restoration, and the foundation has reported more than $2 million in donations.
• Land: In 2023, Tampa City Council approved a land swap meant to make the restoration possible.
• Documentation: USF researchers made detailed 3D scans of the building to preserve its original construction.

The property is privately owned and fenced for safety. You can read the marker from the sidewalk, but please don't enter the site.

Why This House Belongs in the Series

"Famous homes" usually means mansions. This series is about the houses that tell Tampa's story, and few houses tell more of it than this one. The Jackson House is about who was welcome in Tampa and who wasn't, and about a family who made room for the people the rest of the city turned away. It also shows how much of a neighborhood can disappear, and why the buildings that survive matter. You can hear more about the area in our Downtown Tampa neighborhood song.

"I've lived in Tampa my whole life, and this is one of the stories every Tampa kid should know. I hope I get to walk through the restored Jackson House with my own kids someday." — Ignacio Toraño