A physical layout of the original shopping plaza. From today's jaded vantage point, it seems almost unbelievable that, in 1959, a tiny -185,000 square foot- mall could have been promoted as "mammoth"...or that it was the largest shopping center on the entire west coast of Florida.


CORTEZ PLAZA TENANTS 1960 [PARTIAL LIST]:

BELK-LINDSEY / PUBLIX supermarket / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / WALGREEN DRUG (with luncheonette) / Adventurer's Cafeteria (outparcel) / Associate Loan Company / Camera's Incorporated / Carter's Shoes / City National Bank / Coach Butterfield Toys / Cortez Lanes bowling alley (outparcel) / Cortez Plaza Barber Shop / Fremacs For Men / Gordon's Jewelers / Inter-City National Bank / Jolly Roger Restaurant / Lerner Shops / Mary Jane Shoes / The Cotton Shop / Walter S. Hardin Realty & Insurance