“If you’re troubled and can’t relax
Close your eyes and think of this
Armenia, city in the sky
Armenia, city in the sky.
Just take off, there’s no risk
If you ever want to disappear
Just take off and think of this
Armenia, city in the sky
Armenia, city in the sky.”
(Written by John Keene and performed by The Who)
TAMPA, Fla.—You’d be hard-pressed to find an Armenian residing on Armenia Avenue, unless one moved here between the time this article was written and when it was published.
Yet, the signage maintains its vigil above Howard Avenue by Exit 42. An unsuspecting Armenian motorist might be overwhelmed by curiosity and investigate its whereabouts, only to come up Armenian-less.
We do know this much about the locality. It is home to many Latin-American restaurants, including a number of Colombian cuisines and bakeries.
We’ve also learned that it was known as Armina Avenue originally and was once lined with cigar factories, including the Armina Cigar Factory. It was part of the then-independent city of West Tampa.
Several historic buildings are located on the street, including the bonded Havana Cigar Company.
“It doesn’t appear to have any relevance to our readers other than the name,” quips Appo Jabarian, editor of USA Armenian Life. “It’s a sad Armenian event.”
But wait! Further scrutiny unraveled a development on site called the Armenia Gardens Estates. It’s within the city limits of Tampa with a population of around 3,000, located on Sligh Avenue to the south, Waters Avenue to the north, and Rome Avenue to the east, with Egypt Lake to the west.
I placed a call to the Armenia Garden Estates, looking for possible residence here to join my people for a month or two away from the frigid cold of the Northeast.
There are 77 apartments for rent here at reasonable rates. Homes were selling between $90,000 and $250,000. I inquired about rental.
“Are there any Armenians at the Armenia Gardens Estates?” I asked.
“Not as far as I know,” a woman answered. “Cubans, yes. Armenians, no. But don’t hold me to it.”
“Where did the name come from, then?”
“If you find out, let me know. I’m a little curious myself since I work here,” she wondered.
The woman did say this. Armenia Avenue runs through the Armenia Garden Estates, which enhances this mystery all the more.
So I delved a bit further to discover other Armenian innuendoes here and there. My search uncovered a Mount Ararat High School in Topsham, Maine, with fewer than 1,000 students enrolled. As to how many Armenians live there remains to be seen. The school does have a high proficiency rating academically.
We have an Armenia, Wisc., an Armenia Township in Bradford County, Pa., and Little Armenia in East Hollywood, Calif., which is not a surprise considering the number of Armenians in California. The section in Hollywood has a website: www.littlearmenia.com.
But alas! Most of the people living in Little Armenia are Asians.
Other places with cities named Armenia include Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras, Bangladesh, and Hungary.
Of personal note is the Island of San Lazzaro in Venice that has housed the Armenian Mekhitarist Monastery for centuries. A number of stores in this tourist city bear Armenian names.
Like Tampa, many streets are listed as “Armenia,” including in Singapore, India, Morocco, Cyprus, Germany, France and the Czech Republic.
Sherman, N.Y., has an “Armenian Road.” Chile harbors an “Armenia Plaza.” And there are three “Armenia Streets” in São Paulo, Brazil. The Armenian Houses of Zamose, Poland, were built by 17th-century Armenian merchants.
Residents of Chenna, India, have accepted Armenian Street in their infrastructure, though it’s locally known as Aranmanaikaran Street—a real mouthful even by our standards. This one is named for the Armenians, who were some of the earliest settlers in the city of Madras.
Translated, it means “the street of palaces.”
An Armenian church is perhaps the most visible Armenian monument in the city, built in 1712.
As the song above goes, wherever you might turn, there may be an Armenia Street waiting to make your acquaintance. We tend to have an honorable—yet ubiquitous—presence everywhere.
Tom Vartabedian
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Nice information.
I’ve been to Armenia Avenue in Tampa, and I have to agree with my friend Tom. I didn’t think it was worth writing about, but Tom did. Somewhere I think I heard it was named so because of the 1895 massacres.
Just to add to the list of cities named Armenia, there is a town called Armenia in Belize, I’ve been there.
“Most of the people living in Little Armenia are Asians.” That’s totally not true. I happen to live in this particular neighborhood, 6 months out of the year. There certainly are Asians who live in the neighborhood of Little Armenia; however, the number of Armenian residents in this neighborhood happen to be so much more. There are also an equal number of Latinos who live in Little Armenia. Therefore, the two biggest groups in this neighborhood happen to be Armenians and Latinos. As a matter of fact, if a person were to take a leisurely walk in the neighborhood of Little Armenia, he or she will notice the enormous number (hundreds) of Armenian shops and businesses along Hollywood, Sunset, and Santa Monica boulevards. You can find just about anything Armenian in this neighborhood. It’s for this particular reason that the name of this East Hollywood neighborhood became Little Armenia, back in October of 2000.
Armenians should be happy to see the name Armenia is spreading all over the world. In this case the name Armenia is associated with people building new life. Now compare that to Turkey which has left a trail of death and destruction throughout history.
Years ago while in Prague, I saw “Armenia Street” on a city map. My curiosity got the better of me, so I took a couple of buses to get there, only to find a Polish church (with four kids playing baseball!). Nothing Armenian looking in the neighborhood, but still, it was fun to find it.
When I was in law school, there was a case in our Professional Responsibility class regarding this street. An Armenian merchant/ship owner was given the task of naming the street that ran from his dock through Tampa. Naturally, he named it after his homeland.
I recently moved to nearby St. Petersburg, Florida, and this street did pique my curiosity. There is a small Armenian community in the Tampa Bay region though, also to my surprise, even a church in Pinellas Park. Still not directly related to the street name though.
In Providence, RI, the back street of Sts.Vartanantz Armenian Church has been renamed to Armenia Street. Many of the organizations who use Sts.Vartanantz Church facilites, list 7 Armenia Street as their address.
Just to add another armenia, there is a town in Italy near Turin,called Armeno,
that means Armenian in Italian language.