This Fourth of July, Jackson Heights is celebrating its deep roots, its families, and the generations who built one of East Tampa's proudest neighborhoods. The new anthem, "Jackson Heights, Light Up the Sky," is a tribute to the people, the porches, the school, the park, and the heritage that still shines from Columbus Drive to Lake Avenue.
Roots in the Florida Ground
The story of Jackson Heights goes back to 1868, when Thomas Butler Jackson brought his family to this part of Florida and established roots on the land. What began as roughly one hundred sixty acres of homestead, worked by hand with dairy cows and fruit trees, became the foundation for a neighborhood that would carry the Jackson name for generations.
Long before the modern city skyline and the wide roads, this family planted something greater than crops. They planted a sense of belonging and pride that residents still carry today. From Lake Avenue and 34th Street, where the family first worked the land, the neighborhood grew outward into the street grid East Tampa knows now.
A Neighborhood Built by Its People
Jackson Heights is part of the powerful story of Black Tampa. Through every era and every hard season, families, teachers, and neighbors laid the foundations of a strong community. Parents raised children with grace, and ordinary people built a lasting future from this very place.
The neighborhood stretches roughly from 31st Street to 40th Street and from 18th Avenue up toward Columbus Drive, a grid of porches, corners, and family streets where everyone seems to know everyone. Each block holds a story, a name, and a light worth raising on the Fourth of July.
Jackson Heights School and a Legacy of Learning
Near 34th and 27th, the bells of Jackson Heights School once rang for generations of students. The school taught children how to dream and gave families a place to gather around education and pride. Even where the original building is gone, the legacy of that learning lives on in the people it shaped and the futures it helped launch.
Al Barnes Park: Where the Young Ones Play
On 32nd Street, Al Barnes Park is the neighborhood's gathering place for recreation and youth sports. Named in honor of a coach, teacher, and mentor whose name still leads the way, the park hosts baseball in the daylight and big dreams in the summer air. It is the kind of place that shows young people somebody cares, and it keeps the community's future moving forward one game at a time.
Local Flavor and Everyday Life
Jackson Heights is also a neighborhood of familiar local stops where history and heart meet. From soul food kitchens to neighborhood bakeries and the businesses that keep the area moving, these are the places where the community comes together over a meal and a conversation. They are part of what makes Jackson Heights feel like home.
The neighborhood also honors those who came before. The Jackson Heights Cemetery holds names carved into stone that still speak across the generations, a reminder of the struggles, the songs, and the strength that taught this community how to stand together and keep moving on.
A Fourth of July Anthem for Jackson Heights
"Jackson Heights, Light Up the Sky" was written as a Fourth of July celebration for everyone who calls this neighborhood home. It honors the Jackson family's early roots, the school, the park, the local businesses, and the deep Black-Tampa heritage that has carried the community through every generation.
When the fireworks burst this Independence Day, let the whole city know: this neighborhood has deep roots and it continues to grow. From Columbus Drive to Lake Avenue, 31st to 40th, Jackson Heights, light up the sky. 🇺🇸