Tampa began to boom with the arrival of Henry Plant’s railroad in 1884 and his Tampa Bay Hotel (now the cornerstone of the University of Tampa) in 1891. In 1897, pastor Fr. William Tyrrell, S.J. announced that a new church would be built. Ground was broken for our present church on February 16, 1898. The beautiful new structure was dedicated on January 15, 1905, and its name and that of the parish became Sacred Heart.
The Jesuits built the church – at a cost of $300,000 – and named it Sacred Heart. Today, the building looks strikingly similar to the original. The Romanesque architecture remains. The exterior is a combination of granite and white marble. Inside, most of the design is just as it was a century ago. Read more history...