Cars parked at Shop-Rite Supermarket in Brandon, Florida on March 31, 1958. Credit: Burgert Brothers / Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library
Unincorporated, but census-designated, Brandon is a part of Hillsborough County. It’s been around forever, too, with the railroad arriving around the same time Tampa was incorporated in the late-1800s.
The Brandon Regional Library, part of the Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative (HPLC), is home to many historic photos of the neighborhood and surrounding areas in general, from old Shop-Rites, to Billie Carrington’s New York Exchange Restaurant in downtown Tampa, the Tampa Urban League Harlem Branch, and the Alafia River.
But there is history from Brandon, proper, too.
Karen McGinnis Vaughn is working hard to recognize and protect Brandon’s past after founding Preserving Brandon, a group that will have its final meeting of the year this weekend. The guest speaker is Alice Fabela with the Hillsborough County Library System, who will help attendees navigate HPLC’s digital archives where said photos, records, and so much more reside.
“We’ll also have time to catch up on several projects and updates we’ve been working on together throughout Brandon. There is so much history woven into the places, people, families, and stories that make our community what it is today,” Vaughn wrote in an invitation. “When we preserve that history, we aren’t simply looking backward—we’re making sure future generations understand where they came from and why the places they call home matter.”
There’s no cover for the Preserving Brandon meeting happening Sunday, Sept. 27 at GFWC Brandon Junior Woman’s Club.
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This article appears in Sept. 24 – 30, 2026.
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