Crews demolish the 1914-built Mt. Zion A.M.E. Church off S. Dakota Ave in south Tampa Thursday, January 17, 2008

NORTH HYDE PARK - The walls came tumbling down last week for an old-time church, the yellow-brick Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, 111 S. Dakota Ave.

The congregation was founded on a back porch in 1905, eventually moving to the South Dakota location. That building burned down in 1918, and the church was rebuilt in 1922.

The 145-member congregation moved to Riverview in February. The Dakota site will become an office building.

Exeter International bought the property last year for $846,000, records show. The Davis Islands company deals in deluxe overseas travel, according to its Web site. A company official could not be reached for comment.

Toward the end, the yellow brick church held mostly memories. The structure had been remodeled too many times to fit any historic preservation criteria. The original stained glass windows were lost years ago, member Lydia Wilson-Rodriguez said.

"They were taken out during remodeling and never returned," she said.

The church was the site of the annual Hyde Parkers Day for more than 25 years. The gathering, last held in November 2006, was for people who grew up in the former Dobyville area, also known as West Hyde Park. About 10 percent of Tampa's black population called Dobyville home during the height of its development in the 1920s.

At the opening of the new church in Riverview, the Rev. Ronald R. Fortune said of the Dakota building: "The roof leaks, and the termites are eating the whole place up." He said the church also lacked enough parking.

"It was in bad shape, and it was time to move on," said Henry Dupree, 60, of East Tampa, who first visited Mount Zion as a youngster. "But there are a lot of memories there."

Dupree said three or four generations of his family have attended the church. He became a member in 1997 and attends the Riverview church.

"It's a lot better - definitely worth the drive," Dupree said. "And we have all kinds of parking."

Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 835-2104 or jfroelich@tampatrib.com.