1931
1900s Imagine a Saturday night street
1920
Courtesy Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.
Moonshine still in a wooded area in Riverview.
Courtesy Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System.
Early State Road #5 in a rural setting near the bridge in Riverview.
and fun. The river was so clear that you
dance on U. S. 301. One old-time resident
could stand on the bridge at night and
commented there was so little traffic you
see the fish, or toss a rock or cast net and
could take a nap in the middle of the road,
see the “fire.” Riverview was originally
and for Riverview Days, U. S. 301 was
established around the Alafia and every
closed to all traffic during the parade. It
year is a new chapter in its history. The
couldn’t happen today; but, many years
visions, hard work and memories of early
ago U. S. 301 was just a quiet two-lane
settlers inspire the sense of community
country road, and farms, fields and
that Riverview residents enjoy today.
woods made up the Riverview landscape. The Alafia River was a focal point of the community. Fishing, boating, swimming, crabbing, collecting oysters, jumping off the 301 bridge, rope swings to the other side, camping along the bank – the Alafia was the source of food, transportation
When Jean Ann Hancock Leske’s grandfather, Horace James Hancock, saw a need in the community back in the 1930s, he went to work to find a solution. He turned the Riverview hotel into a gas station and a grocery store.
Riverview | MY TOWN!
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