The airport has not moved. Only the direction in which the compass points has shifted since the runways were first laid out in 1928.
Compass heading at most airports is constantly changing by varying amounts. Whether or not runways need to be re-designated/renamed depends on how fast magnetic declination changes at that location and how long it has been since the runway was laid out.
Also, if the runway was originally laid out at anything from 175 to 184 degrees they would have named it “Runway 18”, the nearest 10 degree increment. Since the magnetic declination at Tampa has shifted over 7 degrees since Drew Field was first opened, the current heading would be between 182 and 191. A current heading of 185 and above would be called “Runway 19”.
I’d imagine Florida would have the largest magnetic declination?
Sorry, my fault...I should’ve included (/sarcasm) with my comment.
As an ex-Navy controller, I was checked off on that stuff a long time ago. But, thanks for the refresher course...
Are runways labeled by magnetic or true headings?
True headings makes more sense to me, but I don’t know.
In Boy Scouts, we always figured in the local declination to find true.
I would think that airplane navigators would have access to the latest declination and be able to adjust find true headings, then line up with runways (labeled in true headings).
Or in times of stress, you just fly by the compass?
We had better repaint the numbers, or many years in the future, when the aliens come to land on our desolate, empty planet, they will have trouble lining up on the runways.