College Hill & Belmont Heights — Tampa Bay Neighborhood Songs >
← All Tampa Bay Neighborhoods
East Tampa • Historic African American Community

College Hill & Belmont Heights

Ring the Bell for College Hill & Belmont Heights, East Tampa Pride — album cover with a large bronze bell reading Our Heritage, Our Community, Our Home, a young Middleton baseball player in a number 34 jersey, George S. Middleton High School, a Middleton M Pride banner, a community mural reading Honoring the Past Building the Future, a Cyrus Greene Park sign, an American flag, fireworks over a sunset, neighbors gathered in the street, and street signs for N 24th St, E 21st Ave, E 25th Ave, and E 27th Ave. Banner: History, Heritage, Community, Culture, Pride. East Tampa, Florida.

♪ Ring the Bell for College Hill & Belmont Heights

▶ Watch on YouTube
♪ Sign Up — Free Local Business Giveaways & Monthly Neighborhood Updates
No spam · unsubscribe anytime · from Ignacio Toraño, Agile Group Realty.

🏠 Get involved: College Hill-Belmont Heights Neighborhood Association

This Fourth of July, College Hill–Belmont Heights has more to celebrate than fireworks in the Tampa sky. This is a neighborhood with roots, resilience, and a history written by families who built community when opportunity was not always equally offered.

One of Tampa's Earliest Historic African American Communities

Located in East Tampa, Belmont Heights stands as one of Tampa's earliest historic African American communities. Its story reaches back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, when Black families, freed people, and working families came to Tampa seeking land, work, stability, and a future they could pass down. They built homes near the rail lines, found work connected to Tampa's growing industrial economy, and created a close-knit neighborhood where people knew their neighbors, supported local businesses, raised children, and looked out for one another.

The streets of College Hill–Belmont Heights still carry that sense of connection. From Hillsborough Avenue down toward I-4, and from 15th Street across toward 30th Street, this neighborhood has long been a place where history and everyday life meet. Around N. 24th Street, E. 21st Avenue, E. 25th Avenue, E. 27th Avenue, and the nearby blocks that connect East Tampa, generations have made memories that matter: front-porch conversations, church gatherings, school events, family cookouts, little league games, and neighbors helping neighbors through every season.

George S. Middleton High School: An Anchor of the Community

At the heart of that history stands George S. Middleton High School. Founded in 1934, Middleton was the first secondary school built specifically for Black students in Hillsborough County. During segregation, it was much more than a school building. It was an anchor for education, leadership, athletics, culture, and ambition. Students and families believed that education could open doors, even when the world outside the neighborhood placed barriers in their way. That determination is part of the spirit that still lives in Belmont Heights today.

Faith, Family, and Self-Built Strength

Belmont Heights was also shaped by the strength of its churches, its local organizations, and its working families. In an era when segregation restricted access to jobs, public spaces, and resources, Black Tampa residents created their own support systems. Churches became gathering places for worship, education, mutual aid, celebrations, and organizing. Local Black-owned businesses helped build economic independence and gave families a place to gather, work, and be seen.

That is what makes this neighborhood's story so powerful. Belmont Heights did not wait for someone else to define its value. The people here created value through hard work, faith, education, homeownership, family pride, and a deep belief that the next generation deserved more.

What Freedom Means Here

The Fourth of July is often celebrated with flags, music, food, and fireworks. In College Hill–Belmont Heights, it can also be a time to reflect on what freedom truly means. Freedom means having the chance to build a home. It means being able to educate your children. It means preserving the name and identity of your neighborhood. It means honoring the elders who held this community together and making sure young people know the ground they stand on has a story.

This community has seen change. It has seen redevelopment, new housing, new investment, and new conversations about growth. But progress means more when it respects the people who were already here. The pride of Belmont Heights is not something that can be replaced by a new sign, a new development, or a new name. It lives in the memories of longtime residents, in annual reunions, in neighborhood gatherings at Cyrus Greene Park, and in the commitment of people working to protect the area's history and boundaries for future generations.

Celebrate Loud This Fourth of July

So this Fourth of July, celebrate loud. Celebrate the families who came to East Tampa with little more than determination and built a community. Celebrate the students, teachers, coaches, pastors, workers, small-business owners, and parents who made Belmont Heights a place of purpose. Celebrate the young people who will carry this story forward. Celebrate the streets that have watched generations grow up, move away, return home, and continue building.

College Hill–Belmont Heights is not just a place on a map. It is a legacy. It is East Tampa pride. It is a neighborhood built by people who understood that community is one of the greatest forms of freedom. Happy Fourth of July, College Hill–Belmont Heights. 🇺🇸

Lyrics — Ring the Bell for College Hill & Belmont Heights
[Intro – Spoken] East Tampa, can you hear it? From Hillsborough down to I-4— From 15th Street to 30th Street— This one is for every family that built a home, Every elder who held the line, Every child with a dream. Ring that bell! [Hook] Ring the bell for College Hill, Ring the bell for Belmont Heights, Raise your flag, turn the music up, Let the whole East Tampa shine tonight. From the front porch to the park, From the schoolyard to the block, College Hill, Belmont Heights— We are pride that never stops! [Verse 1] Back when the rail lines brought the workers in, Families came with hope and grit. Built a future with their own two hands, Made a neighborhood out of open land. From E. 21st down through E. 25th, Every block got a story that the elders give. N. 24th, hear the school bell ring, Middleton pride taught the whole city dreams. They said doors were closed, but the people found keys, Built churches, businesses, families, dreams. Ain't no history written only in stone— It is every family that called this place home. [Pre-Hook] So wave that red, wave that white, wave that blue, For the ones before us and the ones coming through. Every name, every face, every light on the block— East Tampa strong and we will not stop! [Hook] Ring the bell for College Hill, Ring the bell for Belmont Heights, Raise your flag, turn the music up, Let the whole East Tampa shine tonight. From the front porch to the park, From the schoolyard to the block, College Hill, Belmont Heights— We are pride that never stops! [Verse 2] Hillsborough Avenue, let the whole town know, Past E. 27th where the memories grow. Cyrus Greene Park, where the families meet, Cookout smoke, kids running through the heat. Grandmamas laughing, cousins in the yard, Uncles telling stories 'bout working hard. Baseball dreams and a neighborhood name, Built on love, built through struggle, built to remain. We honor the teachers, the coaches, the saints, The mothers who prayed when the road got strained. The fathers who worked when the sun came up, Made a way for the future because giving up was never enough. [Bridge – Call and Response] Leader: Who built the block? Crowd: We built the block! Leader: Who kept it strong? Crowd: We kept it strong! Leader: College Hill! Crowd: Stand up proud! Leader: Belmont Heights! Crowd: Say it loud! [Breakdown] One time for the history! Two times for the family! Three times for the children growing up with a legacy! Fireworks in the sky, but the brightest light is here— A neighborhood with a heart that will never disappear. [Final Hook] Ring the bell for College Hill, Ring the bell for Belmont Heights, Raise your flag, turn the music up, Let the whole East Tampa shine tonight. From the front porch to the park, From the schoolyard to the block, College Hill, Belmont Heights— We are pride that never stops! [Outro – Spoken] This Fourth of July, we celebrate more than freedom. We celebrate family. We celebrate history. We celebrate East Tampa. College Hill! Belmont Heights! Ring that bell!