Perry G. Wall II explained

Perry G. Wall II
Office:Mayor of Tampa
Termstart1:January 3, 1928
Termend1:January 8, 1924
Order:41st
Termstart2:1930
Termend2:1932
Office2:Chairman of the Florida Committee on Taxation and Finance
Office3:Harbourmaster of Tampa
Termstart3:1932
Termend3:1936
Birth Date:November 22, 1867
Birth Place:Hernando County, Florida
Death Date:January 25, 1944
Death Place:Tampa, Florida
Education:East Florida Seminary
Bingham Military School

Perry G. Wall II (November 22, 1867 - January 25, 1944) was an American businessman and politician in Tampa, Florida.

He was the grandson of Judge Perry Green Wall, who had been a pioneer on Florida's west coast and then a judge in Hamilton County, Florida.[1] [2]

Wall lived in Spring Hill, Florida.[3] He studied at East Florida Seminary in Gainesville, Florida, and Bingham Military School in Asheville, North Carolina.[2]

He was a partner in the Knight & Wall hardware business with Henry Laurens Knight in Tampa.[4] The two men founded the business in 1884.

Wall was active in multiple civic and political groups with alliance to the Democratic Party. For two years beginning in 1897, he served on the Hillsborough County School Board. He served on the Executive Committee of the white supremacist White Municipal Party that effectively excluded African Americans from Tampa's mayoral elections for decades from 1910.

Wall was mayor of Tampa, Florida, from January 8, 1924, until January 3, 1928.[5] During his four-year term, Tampa experienced a building boom. Major projects under his leadership included the residential areas of Temple Terrace and Davis Island. While construction had begun in his predecessor's term, the Gandy Bridge to St. Petersburg was opened while Wall was mayor; when constructed, this bridge was the longest automobile toll bridge in the world. A 1926 photograph captured him at a baseball game while he was mayor.[6]

Following his mayoral stint, Wall was chairman of Florida's Committee on Taxation and Finance. He was then appointed as harbormaster in Tampa, serving from 1932 to 1936.

Wall was married to Mattie Houston. Together they had two children.

He died in Tampa on January 25, 1944.

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Pioneer Florida: Perry G. Wall, Founder Of Wall Family, Came To Florida in 1820s . D. B. . McKay . The Tampa Tribune . Tampa, Florida . March 11, 1956. 72. newspapers.com.
  2. Web site: Knight and Wall Hardware. TampaPix . June 3, 2020 .
  3. "TO FAITHFULLY DISCHARGE MY DUTY": THE LIFE AND CAREER OF PERRY GREEN WALL . Kyle S. . VanLandingham . Sunland Tribune . Tampa Historical Society . Tampa, Florida . 23 . November 1997 . 3–12.
  4. In the Peninsular State: Knight and Wall Company . 24–26 . Iron Tradesman . June 1916 . 75 . 5 . W. R. C. Smith Publishing Company . Dalton and Atlanta, Georgia . Google Books.
  5. Web site: Perry G. Wall - 41st Mayor Of Tampa. June 17, 2014. City of Tampa, Florida . City of Tampa.
  6. Web site: Mayor Perry G. Wall and realtor H. E. Opre in stands at ball game: Tampa, Fla. . May 14, 1926 . Burgert Brothers Photographic Collection . HCPLC.org: Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative . Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System . ocm48872175.