What’s the story behind Tampa’s “Sultan’s Clock”?

Photo by Yours Truly.

This clock, located by the northwest corner of East Kennedy Boulevard and Marion Street, doesn’t have a plaque or any other marker explaining its origin, nor have I been able to find much about it online.

It appears in a couple of Getty stock photos…

…but beyond a handful of photos, there doesn’t seem to be anything written about its history.

Here’s how it appears when looking north from the corner of Kennedy and Marion:

I’m increasingly becoming a regular at Tampa Bay WaVE, the local entrepreneurial incubator / co-working space / meeting place, which means that I see the clock pictured more often. It’s rather unusual, so I tend to snap a photo of it every time I’m in the area.

The clock is now a Pokéstop in Pokémon Go, where it’s called The Sultan’s Clock:

“The Sultan’s Clock” probably isn’t its official name. The names of many places in Pokémon Go came from its predecessor, Ingress, where players gave certain locations fanciful names. For instance, there’s a local car wash that’s called the “Car Swallowing Wave”.

I hope that it sticks around. It currently stands beside a street-level parking lot that will eventually house a building, and I worry that it may get torn down when that new building eventually goes up. It’s little things like this that add character to a city, and I’d hate to see this clock go the way “Cantankerous Quincy”, an old clock in South Tampa, did.

If this were Toronto, I’d know to go to Mike Filey, who’s a family friend and historian who’s forgotten more about Toronto more than most people will ever learn.

Is there anyone in Tampa who can tell the story of the Sultan’s Clock?

Joey deVilla

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Patrice Fischer says:

August 4, 2016 at 5:05 pm

I believe it is an homage to the University of Tampa's iconic Henry Plant mansion which is nowadays a museum open to the public. Very famous for its lighted displays @ Xmas time.
I have lived in the area for almost 34 years, and have I ever visited in person??
Well, no.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_B._Plant_Museum#/media/File:Old_Tampa_Bay_Hotel3.jpg